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Reducing fire risk depends on communitywide efforts

Issued precautions mean nothing if they're ignored

Kristin Berquist

(Updated: Friday, June 19, 2009, 10:56 AM)

Mountain communities are no strangers to the precautions and preventative measures recommended to lessen the fire risks that arrive with the hot summer months. But knowing and doing are two very different things.

That's why the Eastern Madera County Fire Safe Council Inc. is currently working on three fuel reduction projects with three upcoming projects pending for the fall. Council Executive Officer Bob Buckles and Outreach Coordinator Roger Maybee work to partner with individuals, land owners and various agencies like Cal Fire, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of Fish and Game, Department of Water Resources and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

Projects include clearing for fuel breaks on Roundhouse Road, Goat Mountain, Quartz Mountain, Crooks Mountain, Mudge Ranch Road and Cascadel Woods.

Maybee, who meets directly with the land owners, said the overall response is positive. Once people see the progress made by the council, land owners are usually willing to come on board to help in the efforts. Maybee, a fire safe consultant, facilitates community meetings with land owners and local emergency response agencies and can also provide information and assistance for the homeowner to reduce fuel hazards around properties.

Retired District Ranger Larry Ballew is one of five members on the council's board of directors. The Fire Safe Council is working hard to make fire safe communities in Eastern Madera County, he said. Projects are mainly funded through grants and are planned to tie in with partnering agency's projects, Buckles said.

"We found a long time ago that government is good at planning things but implementation really takes the devotion of people and the land owners," Ballew said. "That is where our success has been. The local people, under local leadership can make these projects happen quickly and very effectively," Ballew said.

The Fire Safe Council recently built a fuel break along Road 620 that extends onto Sandy Brinley's 60-acre property. Brinley said she keeps her property fire-safe by clearing the property each year, weed-eating within 100 feet or more of all structures and has built a road along the front of the house to act as a fuel break.

"We're all concerned about it (fire)," Brinley said. "We live in an area that's real vulnerable."

Brinley said it's been a pleasure to work with Fire Safe Council, noting that the council did extra clearing on her property next to the fuel break. "They have experienced people that do a good job," she said.

Brian Curtis of the Cascadel Woods Property Owners Association said mountain-area homeowners are well aware of the fire risk. The association has tackled past projects such as thinning trees, clearing underbrush and trimming trees along the roads for fire truck access. Curtis said the association also mows the meadows each year to reduce fire hazards.

With 140 to 150 homes in the association, Curtis said providing information and education for the residents is crucial. The association averages three meetings during the annual fire season to discuss fire safety issues and what to do in case of a fire.

Karen Guillemin, fire prevention specialist with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Cal Fire transitioned into its summer preparedness levels for fire season on May 11, staffing fire stations and equipment on a 24-hour basis and hiring additional firefighters.

Cal Fire requires a "defensible space" of 100 feet around all structures to increase the protection of the home while providing a safe area for firefighters.

"This is something that is really important in the wild land area," Guillemin said. "It could be the difference between saving their homes if a fire were to come their way and not being able to."

The first 30 feet of clearance around a home or structure is referred to as the Lean, Clean and Green Zone, Guillemin said. This includes mowing down weeds and grass, removing any dead or dying bushes or shrubs and removing all flammable vegetation. Cal Fire suggests that this area be used for walkways and gravel paths, but will allow for low-growing, fire resistant plants.

Ray Laclergue and his wife Bonnie Bladen own Intermountain Nursery in Auberry. Bladen suggested using succulents such as Sedum and Portulaca that hold water in the leaves. Tight, low-growing ground covers that don't have a lot of oxygen space underneath are good for planting around the home.

In fire-prone areas Laclergue recommends using rock mulch or decomposed granite mulch next to the home instead of wood mulch. In a fire storm, wood mulch can blow up into the eaves and create a greater fire hazard, Laclergue explained. The Hen & Chicks succulent also goes well with rock mulch, Bladen added.

Native, drought-resistant plants that don't mind twice weekly watering are ideal landscaping choices for the first 30 feet surrounding a structure. Mounding Margerum, ornamental, native or fruit producing strawberries, and the Santa Barbara Daisy help add beauty to the defensible space.

In the first 30-foot zone of defensible space, tree limbs within 10 feet of a chimney or stovepipe must be removed and no dead or dying tree limbs can hang over the house or other structures. All needles must be cleared from the roof, rain gutters and eaves, Guillemin added.

The Fuel Reduction Zone in the remaining 70 feet is used to create vertical and horizontal spacing between plants. When masses of plants are grown closely together it creates a "fire ladder" that will burn quickly toward a home or structure, Guillemin said. Spacing between plants removes the ladder fuel and improves the chances of stopping a wildfire before it reaches the home.

Laclergue said plants such as the Coyote Bush are fire retardant but are often planted too close together, resulting in mounding and creating a fire hazard. Eucalyptus, Artemisia and any native Chaparral should be avoided altogether due to their flammable natures, Laclergue said.

Large trees do not need to be cut down as long as there is no undergrowth beneath them, Guillemin said. Branches must be trimmed at least 6 feet from the ground and any grass in the Fuel Reduction Zone must be no higher than four inches.

"I understand how much work it is. I have to do my own home," Guillemin said. "I understand it's a work in progress, it seems to never end. But I also understand that if we don't complete our hazard reduction then we're putting everyone who lives in this area at risk for a catastrophic fire because it won't be able to stop."

Cal Fire performs inspections throughout the summer months to ensure that residents have established the minimum clearance around their structures and to give helpful hints on how to create a defensible space. Inspections are done by the engine companies as well as Volunteers In Prevention, a fire prevention program that trains volunteers to assist station personnel in conducting the inspections. Cal Fire encourages those interested in joining to contact their local station, Guillemin said.

Dave Martin, district ranger at Bass Lake Ranger District in North Fork said the homeowner and Forest Service have a mutual interest in reducing fire risk on private property. Just as the homeowner doesn't want a wild fire to threaten their home, the Forest Service doesn't want a fire that starts on private property to spread out into the forest. Reducing fuel hazards by maintaining a defensible space around structures is the best defense, Martin said.