Amador County – The Amador County Firesafe Council this week spoke with the Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee about its “Firewise Program.”

Jim Simmons, retired CDF unit chief for Amador-El Dorado Unit, a consultant for Fire Safe Council, was planning to present the Firewise Program this week, entitled “Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Hazards – A Community Solution to a National Problem.”

Simmons and Cathy Koos-Breazeal of Amador Fire Safe Council talked about the program in late January. Simmons said forests in California are “man-made,” and do not resemble early 19th century forests, when European settlers first arrived. He said back then, wagons could drive through the forest floor. But forests have grown dense with brush, and led to the Pioneer and Volcalno area having high concentrations of fuels, and a need to manage the overgrowth.

Koos-Breazeal said probably the biggest issue of the “Firewise Program” was defensible space. The program aims to educate the public, to get them to take responsibility to address fire issues.

She said forests are not naturally thinned, and there have been a growing number of catastrophic fires in the last 8-15 years. She said the vast majority of forests have not had a fire in over 100 years. As a result, fire is much more likely to get into the tops of trees. Koos-Breazeal said brush is a fire ladder to get flames up into tree tops, then it “becomes catastrophic” and you “can’t stop it unless nature does it.”

Simmons said there is public resistance to the 100-foot clearance law for “defensible space,” but education will help that. He said other issues can be addressed to help with fire risk. One is inadequate road signs. Fire and emergency vehicles have gotten lost “because road signs are substandard or tacked on trees.” And on private roads, home owner associations say they don’t like or want signs. Changes in signage would help decrease risk.

Also, there are an “awful lot of single-lane roads,” and dead-end roads in the Pioneer to Upcountry area, which make it difficult to get engines in as people evacuate.

Koos-Breazeal said since community meetings have begun about a year ago, residents of Silver Lake Pines have worked to address issues raised. She was aware of the work, but surprised at the extent to which problems were addressed.

UCC’s Rich Farrington said Silver Lake Pines “took the information to heart.” The residents cleared brush from around fire hydrants, and “they are anxious to have them tested.”

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