By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
There was no quorum at the July 3 meeting of the Lake Arrowhead Municipal Advisory Council with only two council members – Steve Valentine and Jenny Hueter – present but the first responders were there in force. They shared a great deal of valuable information.
“It’s already been pretty busy,” County Fire Battalion Chief Jerren Grundy said, noting they are averaging 19 calls a day with 136 in the month of June. Year to date there have been 1,583 calls.
Chief Grundy said the vegetation fire by Silverwood Lake burned 485 acres and, as of July 3, was 85 percent contained. Its cause was still under investigation. County Fire, Cal Fire and the U.S. Fire Service all responded.
That fire caused damage to the guardrails on Highway 138, leading to its closure. Because of that, the Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area posted on Facebook that it will be closed indefinitely.
“We have seen an insurgence of sick and injured hikers in the Deep Creek area,” Chief Grundy noted. “Our guys are getting good at those calls.” He added they often use the sheriff’s air ship to rescues the hikers.
A name has been selected for the new fire boat on Lake Arrowhead, the chief said, but County Fire was not yet announcing it. Chief Grundy did share the three finalists: Arrowhead Guardian, Smoke on the Water and Arrowhead King. He added that the name chosen was his favorite. They have been training on fighting shoreline fires from the fire boat.
“Fire season is upon us,” Chief Grundy said. He was on the Lake Fire – “The rate at which it was burning was pretty alarming. It’s really dry out there. I think we may see a lot of potential this fire season. Make sure your homes are hardened. We’ll come out and do an assessment.”
County Fire recently promoted three battalion chiefs, one of whom is a Lake Arrowhead resident. Jason Serrano, the assistant chief of the Mountain Division, was pleased to introduce Battalion Chief Nic Turner to the MAC. “He has 20 years of fire experience. I watched him come up through the years,” Chief Serrano said. “I will love having him assigned here.” To that, Chief Turner said, “I look forward to being in my own backyard.”
Chief Serrano also said he is “extremely proud of the cooperator relationships exhibited by keeping the Lake Fire small. We have a phenomenal relationship with our cooperators. I attribute that to the monthly meeting we have that is coordinated by Supervisor Dawn Rowe.
“It took tremendous effort to keep the Lake Fire in a smaller footprint.”
Battalion Chief Erik Hostetter of Cal Fire said they are doing suppression repair activities on the Lake Fire. “If we break it, we fix it.”
As has been stated often in the recent past, Chief Hostetter said there is no longer a fire season – it’s a fire year. Cal Fire has additional engines, crews and dozers in place locally.
The chief told the MAC about the new Zone 0, which covers the area from zero to five feet from a home. There needs to be complete removal of anything flammable, Chief Hostetter said. That includes fences. “We don’t like anything touching your house.”
“We ask you to help us. Give us the defensible space to defend your home,” the chief pleaded.
The current fuel moisture was at 69 percent, Chief Hostetter said. “Anything below 60 is critical. We are four to six weeks ahead of where we should be.”
The fires in January, the chief noted, were an “eye opener. I’ve been doing this 33 years. I had never been to the Palisades in January for something that extreme. It was a game changer.”
He echoed Chief Serrano, saying that “we are all working together. The Silverwood fire was a perfect example of working with our partners at the Forest Service and County Fire. The last time that piece of dirt burned was October 2003. The potential was there to really do some damage but no structures were lost, no one was hurt.” He added they evacuated some campers safely.
Valentine, the MAC chair, asked about the fuel moisture, wondering if it is likely to drop below critical. “We will drop below critical,” Chief Hostetter said. “This time next month I imagine we’ll be just above 60 percent going into the hottest part of summer.
“Staffing is there,” the chief added, “but the public can help us. If you see something, say something. Early detection really helps us a lot.”
Law enforcement officer Arun Pillai of the San Bernardino National Forest asked everyone to let him know if they see any unlawful activity in the forest – building a fire, OHVs operating where they shouldn’t, hunting, fishing.
“We get a big transient population up here in the summer,” Pillai said. “If you see someone camping where they shouldn’t, let me know.” When asked if it’s possible to close the forest to keep the homeless out, he said it is not as the forest is public land. “We can’t close the whole forest because we don’t like homeless people,” he said. But they can close portions of the forest for public safety risk.
“I push the education factor through citations,” Pillai said.
CHP Lt. Isaiah Kee shared some May statistics: They had 237 calls for service, issued 498 citations and made 25 arrests.
Referring to a recent car fire on Highway 330, Lt. Kee said a man had kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and was being pursued. The officers put down spike strips, causing the car to crash into the side of the mountain. They took custody of the suspect and the victim with no injuries.
Heat from the vehicle, he said, caused the car to catch on fire. It became fully engulfed, leading to the side of the mountain catching on fire. “That’s how quickly things evolve,” Lt. Kee said. “The fire department came in. I am learning first-hand how critical it is to have the relationships we have.”
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