Wednesday, July 18, 2012

2012 Vegetation Management Projects Prepare to Begin

Before - 2011 Hillcrest Road Project Site

After - 2011 Hillcrest Road Project Site
Starting next month, the Fire Department will be busy completing 20 acres of fuel hazard reduction work through two Vegetation Management Projects which include both the Eucalyptus Hill Road and Coyote Road areas.


Through these projects, the fire department will work closely with both individual property owners and neighborhoods to accomplish wildfire safety education, assist with completing fuel hazard reduction, protect natural resources unique to the area, and outline maintenance programs for continued hazard mitigation. By working with multiple property owners, there is a greater impact on reducing the community threat from wildfire. In addition, work through these projects allow firefighters a greater opportunity to effectively save lives and property as fire moves from the Wildland into the more densely populated areas of the City.

Vegetation management focuses on the removal of flammable vegetation outside a property owner’s required defensible space by preferentially removing exotic pest plants, thinning, pruning and limbing existing vegetation to remove fire ladders, limbing up of oak over story, pruning out dead material, and thinning out continuous areas of brush.

Funding used to complete these collaborative fuels hazard reduction projects between the City and residents of the high fire hazard area is provided by a combination of funds established through the Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District and a grant provided by a National Fire Plan grant from the Cooperative Fire program of the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Pacific Southwest Region, through the California Fire Safe Council.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

30 Foot Zone

The 30 Foot Zone
Question: What is the most important area to focus on with regards to defensible space?

Answer: The 30 foot zone.

This is the area directly adjacent to your home. Plantings in this zone should be low growing and irrigated. use non-flammable materials for paths, patios, and mulch. Shrub plantings should be minimal in this zone and be widely spaced. Trees should be planted so that canopies are no closer than 15 feet from a structure and spaced at least 30 feet from other trees to prevent canopies from touching once fully grown.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Behind The Scenes


Coyote/Circle/Westmont Project

Eucalyptus Hill Project
Now that our defensible space chipping services are wrapped up, our vegetation road clearance project doesn't start for two more months, and we are observing our vegetation management biological/environmental requirements during bird nesting season, you may find yourself wondering what we do.

Besides starting this blog off with a very long sentence, we are behind the scenes preparing for all of the work ahead of us this fall. Specifically, the remaining two projects funded in part by the National Fire Plan grant provided through the California Fire Safe Council. These remaining project areas, scheduled to be completed by December, will kick off in early August.

Work through these projects will occur outside of a homeowner’s defensible space requirement area (100' to 150' from edge of structure) in the large open spaces where multiple properties join together. Work on each parcel requires the Fire Department to enter into a signed Letter of Understanding. This document allows us to perform work on private property and also outlines future maintenance requirements. Work is performed according to the vegetation management specifications provided under the City’s 2004 Wildland Fire Plan.

The two project areas that we have scheduled for completion include the Eucalyptus Hill project area and the combined Coyote Road/Coyote Circle/Westmont-Las Barrancas project area. Treatment in these areas will occur on an estimated 15-20 acres and will be completed utilizing a combination of privately contracted crews and by the California Conservation Corps. crews provided by CAL FIRE.