Road Clearance Update

Work along St Hwy 144 - Sycamore Canyon

As we head into the winter season we are nearing the completion of our annual vegetation road clearance project. We have just about completed 13 of the 15 miles designated for this year.

The roads that we have left to finish are:
W. Mountain Drive
Coyote Road
Westmont Road
Overlook Lane
Knoll Circle
Coronada Circle
Eucalyptus Hill Road
Woodland Drive
Alston Lane
Summit Lane

Calling For "Water"

Santa Barbara City Municipal Code requires homeowners to make sure that vegetation on their property does not encroach onto adjacent roadways. This effort includes keeping evacuation routes clear of flammable vegetation and thinning vegetation along the roadways.

It is very important to maintain the work that has been completed by our road clearance crews. On average we are able to treat each roadway on a 2-3 year rotation. Keeping up our roadways is not only important for your safety and the safety of the community it is the law.

Those property owners who have a fire hydrant on their property are required to maintain 3' of clearance in all directions. Please insure that your landscaping vegetation does not hide, conceal or cover any hydrant.

One At A Time

I haven't posted much on the Coyote/Circle/Westmont project area so I thought I would take this chance to highlight some of the great work that has been occurring on the project. The majority of this project area includes actual work on 7 acres located on the lower section of Coyote Road x Sycamore Canyon. A majority of this project area was burned in the 2008 Tea Fire and involves the crews in removing a lot of burned and dead material.

Work is being accomplished by a CCC Type 1 hand crew out of Camarillo, CA. Not only have they been doing some great hazardous fuels reduction work, this project area has presented them a perfect opportunity to sharpen their skills on the saw and to train others so that in times of emergency they are prepared to do the job quickly and safely.

In this video they are practicing a method of falling to prevent a very dangerous out of control situation, known as a "barber chair", from occurring on this large leaning dead tree.