By Miriam Raftery

February 26, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Readers across East County have sent photos and video of a large controlled burn yesterday in Rancho Cuyamaca State Park, voicing outrage over the burning of habitat including mature trees, given than 99% of the pine trees in the park burned during the 2003 Cedar Fire.

Questions have also been raised over why the burn was allowed in windy conditions, why a helicopters was dispatched to use water from Lake Cuyamaca on a controlled burn, and why more notice was not provided to the public and the press that a major controlled burn was underway by State Parks in conjunction with Cal Fire.

By Nadin Abbott

February 5, 2014 (Jamul)—It was standing room only as Director Baldwin called the Rural Fire Protection District meeting to order in Jamul. In question was whether the Rural Fire District should dissolve and join the County Fire Authority. In phase three of the takeover, the County aims to absorb both the Pine Valley Fire District and the Rural Fire Protection District.

If the Rural District dissolves, the money that the County now puts into the District, to the tune of $3.6 million will continue. If the district does not dissolve, those funds will go away, and the district will only have the $1.6 million that it collects from residents. In effect, if the Fire District does not dissolve, it will have to reduce service and will only be able to staff the Jamul and Otay Stations, Director Dale Amato warned. The rest of the stations will have to go dark, or rely on volunteers—and there will be a significant degradation of fire protection service.

View video of groundbreaking

January 27, 2014 (Boulevard)--Drive 60 miles east of San Diego out Interstate 8 and you’ll reach Boulevard, a sparsely populated rural community of about 1,750 people. Your view will encompass manzanita trees and granite boulders, but no shopping malls or gleaming high rises. In fact, you won’t see a lot of newer buildings at all, and you won’t be surprised to learn the town’s fire station is a converted court office.

That last part won’t be true for long though. On Thursday, County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Dianne Jacob joined County officials and community members to break ground on a new $3.5 million fire station, which will serve a 78-square-mile area.

January 20, 2014 (East County) A full brush response has been dispatched south of Community Building Rd near Dulzura. Fire crews are using Highway 94 to reach the area. According to the Incident Page Network this is a 1 acre brush fire with a slow rate of spread and no current structure threats.

A separate fire at Graves in El Cajon prompted by a vehicle striking a storage facility was upgraded to a second alarm but is now under control.  SDG&E has been dispatched to the scene due to electrical damage. Due to the heavy smoke Fire requested Gillespie close down the landing strip briefly due to visibility issues.

A new fire is burning in Poway at Twin Peaks Road; a helicopter has been requested.

SDG&E now offers critical weather page to look up conditions in your neighborhood

January 11, 2014 (San Diego's East County ) -- A red flag warning for a moderate to strong Santa Ana Wind event along with low humidity is expected Sunday evening through Wednesday afternoon for San Diego County. Wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are likely with some isolated gusts of 65 mph on some ridge tops and canyons.

“Though Cal Fire has year round staffing in Southern California, these conditions warrant adding additional resources on for the duration of the red flag conditions that bring an elevated threat of wildfire," said Chief Dale Hutchinson, Cal Fire's Southern Region Chief. Cal Fire has placed additional firefighters on duty to staff extra equipment to augment normal staffing levels in the areas affected.

Cal Fire is asking everyone to be extra cautious during the heightened fire danger period in order to prevent wildfires. One less spark means one less wildfire. Be aware of the following activity restrictions and tips:

January 2, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--During the past ten years, the U.S. Forest Service’s fleet of firefighting planes has dropped from 44 aircraft to just eight planes.

Now California’s Senator Dianne Feinstein has added language into the Defense Bill that would double the current fleet size to 16 planes – still far short of a decade ago.

Part II in our "Wind Fire" series

By Miriam Raftery

December 17, 2013 (Campo) – Yesterday’s explosion and brush fire sparked by a Gamesa wind turbine owned by Infigen at the Kumeyaay Wind facility in Campo, California has ignited new questions about the safety of wind turbines in this fire-prone region, where several of the worst wildfires in California history have previously scorched hundreds of thousands of acres.

In June, Infigen settled a lawsuit with Gamesa stemming from an earlier catastrophe at the same wind facility in 2009, when an explosive blast resulted in replacement of all 75 wind turbines, as ECM reported in an exclusive report.  But now Boulevard Planning Group Chair Donna Tisdale reveals, “The 75 turbine blades from the 2009 catastrophic failure that you covered are still laying on the ground at the wind farm and are highly flammable.”

December 14, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – A red flag warning is in effect from noon Saturday through 6 p.m. Sunday due to high fire danger conditions including strong, gusty east/northeast winds, warmer temperatures and low humidity.

Winds of 15 to 30 miles per hour are forecast with gusts up to 65 possible in mountain passes.

Hot items also on the agendas in Boulevard, Lakeside and Lemon Grove this week

By Miriam Raftery

December 1, 2013 (San Diego's East County)--San Diego Supervisors meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 3 and 4 at 9 a.m. The hottest item is a public hearing Tuesday on a county proposal to levy fees to recover the actual cost of services provided by the San Diego County Fire Authority including fire plan reviews, inspections and other technical work.  In the past, such services have been provided to individuals and businesses without full cost recovery. 

The Agenda does not state how much the proposed fees would be or how much revenue the county expects to raise.  But coming on the heels of a statewide fire fee that is going up at year’s end,  the proposal is likely to fuel controversy among taxpayers. The item is first on Tuesday’s agenda.  

View December 3 agenda.  View December 4 agenda.

East County Magazine's special report on the Cedar Fire, originally aired on KNSJ, is now online. Listen here:

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Our editor, Miriam Raftery, covered the Cedar Fire back in 2003 for several publications and our own publisher, Mark Hanson, lost his home in Lakeside's Wildcat Canyon. Thus we were able to reconnect with a broad network of contacts to create our special report, which includes some never before told stories and interviews with fire survivors, firefighters and elected officials including Cal Fire Captain Mike Mohler,   Lakeside resident Mark Hanson,  Lakeside Fire Chief Andy Parr,  burn survivor Rudy Reyes,  Supervisor Dianne Jacob, San Diego Councilman Mark Kersey, Santee Councilman Brian Jones, retired Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Ostrander, Kathy Kassell, cofounder of the Cedar Fire Rebuild Resource Group, and other eyewitness stories from California’s worst wildfire ever. 

We conclude with reflections on what’s changed since then, as well as a reading from The Fire Outside My Window by Lindra Millers Younger.

November 1, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- Hear dramatic eyewitness accounts, some never before told, from survivors of the Cedar Fire, firefighters who battled the blaze and saved lives, and elected officials sharing their memories of the worst wildfire in California's history. We've spent weeks compiling these special interviews, reflecting on the past as well as how far we've come -- and what is still needed to keep us safe before the next firestorm strikes.

Our one-hour special report will air today at 5 p.m. on KNSJ 89.1 FM, and again tomorrow at 9 a.m.  Please tune in and sharet his information with your friends.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos of anniversary event by Pam Wilmers and Miriam Raftery

October 27, 2013 (Lakeside) – “It started as a single flame in rugged, remote backcountry…The perfect alignment of extreme weather, fire weather and circumstances quickly transformed that flame into an enormously powerful and unstoppable force known as the Cedar Fire,” Lakeside firefighter Chuck Palmore said at yesterday’s 10-year anniversary of the Cedar Fire commemoration at the Lakeside Fire Station.  The Cedar Fire touched the lives of thousands of people, he noted. “A decade later, we gather together here today to reflect and reconnect, to share with each other our journey that has taken us from victim to survivor to thriver.”

The Cedar Fire remains the worst wildfire in California's history in size (280,278 acres, or 438 square miles), buildings destroyed (2,820, including over 2,200 homes), and people killed(15). Of those who lost homes, most have rebuilt or moved on.  But for the families of those who perished, the scars will forever remain. 

Molly Sloan lost her daughter, a granddaughter, and her daughter-in-law.  She and other family members came to this memorial service to display a photo montage in tribute to their loved ones’ memories.

By Miriam Raftery

September 28, 2013 (Lakeside) – On the tenth anniversary of the Cedar Fire, community leaders and fire survivors will gather to dedicate a historic memorial commemorating the worst wildfire in California history.  The ceremony will take place on October 26 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.at River Park Fire Station #2, 12216 Lakeside Avene in Lakeside, a community that suffered devastating losses when the firestorm trapped people caught unaware of the inferno raging during the fire's first night.

The event will also honor first responders and celebrate fire survivor families’ lifelong connection as guests pause to “reflect, remember and reconnect.”  There will be exhibits, disaster prevention program information, book signings by Sandra Younger, author of The Fire Outside My Window, a VFW band, food and beverages, a moment of remembrance, and appreciation of community support.

Speakers will include Supervisor Dianne Jacob, Fire Chief Andy Parr, David Kassel from the Cedar Fire Rebuilding Resource Group, and Fire Chief Andy Parr. Presentations will be made from the offices of Senator Joel Anderson, Assemblyman Brian Jones, and Congressman Duncan Hunter.

October 18, 2013 (El Cajon) – A brush fire east of the El Cajon Boulevard offramp on Interstate 8 in El Cajon burned a half-acre yesterday. Heartland Fire and Rescue crews from El Cajon and La Mesa responded at 11:30 a.m., finding the fire slowly climbing an embankment near the freeway. Crews put the fire out in less than ten minutes. Trolley service was temporarily stopped as a precaution.

The cause of the fire has been listed as undetermined due to numerous possible ignition sources found along the embankment, such as lighters and cigarettes. In addition, there was a large amount of vegetation and numerous homeless encampments in this area.

ECM Special Report reveals  rural fire stations shut down for weeks, seriously under-staffed in peak fire season

By Miriam Raftery

October 10, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – An East County Magazine special investigation raises some burning issues and reveals that lives are at risk in rural East County areas.

Since the Cedar Fire a decade ago, our County has promised to improve fire protection by consolidating rural fire agencies into a County Fire Authority. But our report exposes glaring deficiencies--and asks some critical questions:

• Could a man who died at De Anza Resort in Jacumba Hot Springs have been saved if the two closest fire stations had not been closed, dramatically delaying emergency response time?
• Why was Boulevard’s fire station shut down for 28 days in August, 30 days in September, and at least the first seven days in October – during peak fire season? 
• Why were both Boulevard and Jacumba Hot Springs fire stations unmanned on September 30, when a man found unconscious died after medical help took an hour or more to arrive, according to eyewitness accounts?
• Why haven’t funds promised by SDG&E  to mitigate dangers from new energy projects been spent in the communities most  at risk?
• Why, even when stations were open, were  there only two-man crews which firefighting professionals say is inadequate for structure protection or rescues from a burning building?
• How many other stations across East County may be similarly short-staffed or closed?

Our investigation raises grave concerns about public safety, but so far, officials have not provided any satisfactory answers.