Planning For Fire Season

It is hard to plan for fire season with the chilly, wet weather we have been having. However, before we know it our warm, hot, windy weather will be back and it always pays to be prepared. As an added service to those homeowners who are within the Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District we have a defensible space chipping program to help you do just that.

Each year, in the spring, we rotate though the district with our crews to chip any brush that homeowners may have cut in order to meet the City's defensible space requirements. As an added planning and preparation tool, we have set the schedule for the upcoming 2011 chipping program. We often get questions about the timing of our crews. So folks, here it is...lets get ready!!!

Lower Riviera                               March 7th
Sycamore Canyon/Las Alturas      March 14
Eucalyptus Hill                              March 21
Las Tunas                                    March 28
San Roque/Ontare                       April 11
Las Canoas                                 April 25
Sheffield/Parma                           May 9
Westmont/Circle                         May 23
Coyote Road                              May 31
West Mountain                           June 13

Half Way There

This week marks the half way point in our annual Vegetation Road Clearance program. We have successfully cleared 9.4 miles of road throughout the Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District over the past 5 weeks.

Take a look at some of our work as you drive down Santa Teresita, Mountain Drive, El Cielito, Rockwood, West Mountain, Las Canoas, Northridge and Santa Teresita to name a few. Again, we appreciate all of the homeowner feedback, participation and ongoing cooperation with the project. You are helping us provide a more fire safe neighborhood for your families.


Crews checking for 13'6" vertical clearance along W Mountain Drive last week.



Removing The Hazard

While our road clearance crews have been busy battling the extreme temperatures this week, they are still hard at work making our neighborhoods more fire safe.

This week we would like to highlight one of the target hazards we aim to remove through our road clearance program. Working in conjunction with the City Arborist's certain trees are marked for removal for multiple reasons. While it is our goal to maintain existing trees, and avoid complete removal, sometimes that is our only option.

The pictures showcase one of the scenarios where we did remove the entire tree. In the center median of Marilyn Way there were three very large, dying and diseased Italian Cypress trees. As you can see from the pictures, not only are they a more flammable tree to begin with, but these three were diseased and dying. Our road clearance crews tackled the problem and quickly removed the hazard.

 

If you know of a location near a public roadway that you feel is a fire hazard to you and your neighbors please contact us. We would be more than happy to come out and take a look. We can be reached at 965-5254