Fire prevention focus at combined MAC meeting

By Rhea-Frances Tetley

Staff Writer

 

The combined Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) meetings for the Crest Forest and Lake Arrowhead areas was held at the San Moritz Lodge on Thursday, May 7. The evening was filled with important information on the wildfire potential and mitigation measures for the area, including insurance info for homeowners. This meeting was declared by Chairman Steve Garcia at 9:45 p.m. to be the second longest MAC on the mountain, only superseded by the MAC meeting held after the 2003 Old Fire over 22 years before.

MAC members in attendance from Lake Arrowhead were Steve Valentine and Jenny Heuter and from Crestline were members Steve Garcia, Tel Prezler, Gilbert Flores and Sara Green. Garcia called it the “Big MAC of meetings or maybe the “MAC Daddy,” which received groans from the full audience.

A video was shown of an overview of the San Bernardino County Fire District since 1926 with 61 fire stations highlighting its past, present and future. It responded to 138,000 calls last year protecting over three million residents. It is one of the largest in the nation with fire equipment ranging from Sno-Cats and snowplows to aircraft and fire boats, in addition to engines designed for many specialized situations for effective responses to emergency situations such as water and snow rescues. They even have back-up crews trained for a variety of emergency situations, including wildland rescue. They have the largest collection and variety of snow equipment in the country. Plus, they work in conjunction with the county sheriff’s department and their vast selection of emergency equipment.

Because of the diversity of the needs of this department when inventors have new equipment or innovations, they often come to San Bernardino County to test and develop them, such as the new sound firefighting equipment that is now being tested.

The district is so large, it has hired over 400 new employees in just the past five years, plus their seasoned veterans. It is large because many smaller stations and city departments have joined the County Fire district over the decades including Lake Arrowhead in 1985 and Crest Forest in 2013.  County Fire through mutual aid agreements also works with local municipal districts when needed for resident safety.

The future looks bright with the new innovations. The district is testing drone swarm response to some early fires and other robotic systems. Looking forward, technology will be a valuable element in fire science in the future. Working creatively and collaboratively with other agencies and using modern and yet to be invented technology is the future of firefighting. “They are risk adverse and resilient, desiring to be serving the community in the best way,” said Chief Dan Munsey.

With the engines, hand crews, dozers, cameras, common communication channels, variety of equipment, new robotics and mutual a id with USFS and Cal Fire, the San Bernardino County Fire chiefs intend to respond with robust responses to keep small fires small and cut losses in the future.

“We all want to live confidently up here, in harmony with Mother Nature,” said Jerrad Dowden who has 14 years in firefighting and is now a wildland fuel specialist with Peter Brierty. County Fire is trying to create buffer zones with large parcels that are abated of brush around homes to give firefighters an opportunity to protect them from a fire, through defensible space. It is up to everyone in every neighborhood to be fire safety aware and use the resources available to keep their area defensible and safer.

They shared the story of the bark beetle invasion 25 years ago and its successful fight. They are now worried a similar invasion is upon us. The forest is now threatened with the Golden Spotted Oak Borer (GSOB) that has now been found in Crestline from someone who brought infested oak wood from the Big Bear area; it originated in Arizona.

County Fire is offering 13 chipping events in the county this spring. They will be at the San Moritz parking lot on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. A Residential Assessment Program (RAP) is also being offered to homeowners with a check list of what to address before the inspectors come by and cite for violations. Every homeowner has a responsibility to be informed of fire dangers and needs to be actively involved in community fire safety procedures. Becoming a Fire Wise community also saves homeowners on their insurance premiums.

Fire abatement inspections will be transferred from Land Use Services to County Fire beginning June 1; the transition should be smooth for the residents with no visible change.

The fire departments are using fire science knowledge to predict and make plans to do the “most good for the most people in a community.” If a person doesn’t have a way to evacuate, they need to look forward and notify neighbors and have their “to-go bag” ready. The county will try to coordinate methods to remove those without transportation, but it cannot guarantee they will have time so do so.

The old-fashioned goat method of weed control can only be used in areas without wild goats and sheep as the transfer of viruses could wipe out the wild goat population from the forest. There must be a responsible separation between the domesticated goats and the wild ones. Modern goat herders use shock wires to both protect their herds from predators and stop their escape.

Chief Dan Munsey said with over three million residents, fire protection requires planning and efficient execution to protect the people. “We are the highest-rated disaster county in the nation. Fire is not a seasonal concern; it is year-round. We are an all hazard, full-service department.”

Erik Hostetter proudly announced that Cal Fire will never be seasonally closed again.  All their engines are staffed and the Pilot Rock conservation station is fully staffed with five engines and crews. They have the Prado helicopter and aircraft at the Hemet airport ready to be deployed to fire emergencies. There are 61 air firefighting resources statewide. They have been training with live fire drills out at Las Flores Ranch this spring.

Cal Fire and County Fire have already suspended residential burn permits and open burning in State Responsibility Areas and unincorporated areas due to the increasing fire danger. Rising temperatures and rapidly drying vegetation have created conditions making wildfires more likely and possibly more difficult to control. Under this suspension, all open burning is prohibited. Campfires are permitted only in developed campgrounds or parks.

Laura Dyberg and the fire safe councils she has managed for 28 years were highly touted all evening, honoring the work she has accomplished to make the communities safer and better were highlighted. The website www.FireSafeNow.org is filled with many resources to make the community safer. They are offering twice monthly curbside chipping, for those who register, green waste pickup, dead tree removal, plus document shredding  this summer at Rim High School.

Dyberg reminded everyone that having each building’s address visible from the street is very important for ambulance and other first responders. The Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council has a program for assuring all addresses are visible.

Brenda Meyer spoke on upcoming insurance workshops and how the insurance companies arrived at this point of pulling out of the state and how non-admitted carriers from out of state can offer lower rates and write policies. Currently the liability for policy holders of the FAIR Plan is $800 billion dollars, 40 billion is in high-risk areas.  Insurance is becoming a problem nationwide as disasters seem to be increasing. The FAIR Plan was created as a result of the 1960s Los Angeles riots.

Robin Bull, Supervisor Dawn Rowe’s representative, reminded everyone to be signed up for and download the app ReadySBCounty to be notified in case of an emergency.

Lt. Craig Harris explained how the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department is an integral part of any emergency and how they use their high-low sirens to notify residents of an emergency or evacuation. It is important to have your “to-go bag” ready and accessible when notified. He also explained water, gas and electrical services must be safe before reentry from an evacuation can be permitted, which is why it seems to take a while to return. He invited everyone to National Night Out in August at the sheriff’s station in Twin Peaks. Their Explorer program is growing so those interested should contact the station and get involved.

This school year the sheriff and CHP have been enforcing the school bus stops. Those drivers that pass a stopped school bus with its lights flashing as they load and unload students have been receiving $1,000 citations.

CHP Officer Julian reported that all their officers were recently radar trained and certified; they are doing speed checks on Highways 18, 330 and 138 and other roads to try and reduce the accidents and speeding. Last week, in one afternoon, they issued 34 speeding violations and this enforcement will continue all summer.  When speeds limits are enforced, the CHP sees a direct correlation with lower accident rates. Last month there were no fatal crashes, and DUI crashes have dropped 84 percent from last year.

Other community news

The Lake Gregory Community Advisory Committee represented by Candace Pearson and Nathan Godwin announced the playground next to the San Moritz field and dog park is almost complete. The grand opening ribbon cutting will be on May 27 at 4 p.m. after school is out so the kids can attend.

The dredging of Lake Gregory is underway; various areas will be done at different times this summer. The yellow curtains at the San Moritz field end of the lake stop silt from escaping the area being dredged. They are also working on a culvert that needs replacing on the lake trail. Memorial Day weekend Saturday is the grand opening of the beach at Lake Gregory.

Friday, July 3 will be the fireworks show over Lake Gregory; more details will be forthcoming.

Dirk Rinker and Candace Pearson talked about upcoming Crestline Chamber of Commerce events: Corks & Hops on June 6; and Jamboree Days on July 3 and 4.

Crest Forest MAC Chair Steve Garcia closed the meeting, thanking all who had attended. The entire two-and-a-half-hour meeting with all the PowerPoint presentations and videos can be seen on the Lake Gregory Company’s Facebook page or on their webpage, www.lakegregory.com, under “community events.”