Amador County – About 15 people attended an Upcountry Community Council fire committee meeting last week and heard a report on the new Community Conservation and Wildfire Protection Plan for the Pioneer, Buckhorn and Volcano area, drafted by the Amador Fire Safe Council.

Fire Committee Co-Chair Rich Farrington said Friday local fire volunteers, Chief Ray Blankenheim and Charlie Blankenheim were called out on an emergency, and missed some of the discussion last week, after a presentation by Jim Simmons, chief writer of the plan for the Fire Safe Council.

Farrington said Simmons, the former Cal-Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit Chief has “an incredible amount of expertise,” and the report, almost 500 pages, detailed hazards and made recommendations to make it easier to qualify for grants. The study shows where the forest is really overgrown, showing the need to “reduce those fuels” to reduce the potential for catastrophic forest fires.

Farrington said: “I think the wildfire plan is excellent,” but did not consider 20-year-old study of the hydrants, which in 1995 said the fire flow, or flow of water, was not adequate.

Farrington said he realized it could take 50 years to bring the hydrant system up to code, but he thought people would not mind paying a dollar a month toward that. He also thought County Supervisors and Upcountry water districts “would like to see that started.”

Fire brigades aren’t allowed to turn on hydrants unless there was a fire Upcountry, Farrington said, and the Amador Fire Protection Association wants the Amador Water Agency to provide a written policy of what they can do to test or repair the hydrants. He said with paid firefighters, they might be able to put in an hour a day working on the hydrants.

Simmons said an upgrade of all of the hydrants could cost more than $1 million, but services can help, including pressure testing. Hydrants then can be color coded with paint to show their flow. They can also check water storage tanks to make sure they are filled, and check to see that hydrant threads match fire department standards for connectors.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said the agency was working closely with AFPA on a program to check hydrant working conditions, to identify those that need maintenance, and schedule the work accordingly. It would also confirm existing hydrants that are out there.

He said Central Amador Water Project probably had 500 hydrants in its retail system alone, and AWA probably operated and maintained a total of 1,000 hydrants throughout the county.

He said AWA will meet with AFPA and report to the AWA board and UCC, and “we may have something written up more formally as well.”

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