Amador County – About a year after it began, the Amador Fire Safe Council, on tuesday will present its Pioneer and Volcano Community Conservation and Wildfire Protection Plan, to the Upcountry community.

Cathy Koos-Breazeal and Jim Simmons of the Amador Fire Safe Council will give, a summary of findings and recommendations of the plan to the Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee Tuesday, with a discussion to follow.

Koos-Breazeal said Friday that the plan began with a public “stakeholder” meeting January 2010, at Amador Pines, and the final meeting will be Tuesday, then the plan will be taken to the Amador County Board of Supervisors. She said the plan already has the support of local and regional agencies, so the “signature page is kind of a formality.”

The Pioneer and Volcano population is probably 5,000 to 8,000 people, Koos-Breazeal said, and Fire Safe Council has been doing stakeholder meetings throughout the last year, at various homeowner association and other group meetings. Meetings have been really well attended, and they “received really good feedback.” Another good aspect, she said, is its “real strong conservation element.”

The county-wide fire plan divided the county into nine units, and “Pioneer/volcano was the most at risk of all those areas in the county.” The plan they put together includes 300 pages, plus maps, and shows neighborhood evacuations, fuel reduction, and other plans, and lists priorities of the work.

Koos-Breazeal said most agencies will not give funding if your plan does not include numbered priorities, for the different fire plan projects. In the Pioneer and Volcano plan, fuel reduction and public education are the top priorities.

A map shows fire hydrants in the area, she said, and there are “not that many in the Upcountry.” Most come from Amador Water Agency systems. A map also shows helicopter landing zones, a few of which are formal heli-pads, while other areas are just designated as “you could land here.”

After the Pioneer and Volcano wildfire plan is completed, the Fire Safe Council will start work on the Pine Grove plan, using further funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.

Koos-Breazeal said the plans are used for planning by fire agencies and the County Planning Department, and are required by federal agencies.

The Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee meeting is 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.