wildfire prevention

WYNOLA HOMEOWNERS PITCH IN TO CREATE DEFENSIBLE SPACE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD

By Miriam Raftery

June 6, 2023 (Wynola) -- Cal Fire leaders have warned that the heavy rains this past winter have fueled growth of brush across the backcountry, setting the stage for what could be a severe wildfire season.

But in Julian, the Wynola Estates neighborhood is working together to protect residents and their homes from wildfires.

After requiring homeowners to clear overgrown trees and shrubs from the community’s 80 properties, the Wynola Estates Fire Safe Council organized a community chipping event. Over 30 thirty residents have come together to collect foliage for chipping.


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SDG&E SEEKING $100M IN FEDERAL FUNDS TO ADVANCE WILDFIRE SAFETY EFFORTS ON OR NEAR TRIBAL LANDS

Federal Funds Would Support the Strategic Undergrounding and Overhead Hardening of Power Lines around Tribal Lands
 
April 13, 2023 (San Diego) – As part of its commitment to reduce the impact of infrastructure costs on electric rates, this month, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) submitted an application to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) seeking up to $100 million in federal funds through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Grant program, which is part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). If awarded, the grant would help offset the costs of wildfire hardening efforts on and around federally recognized Tribal Nations’ land within SDG&E’s service territory. Pending final approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the federal funds would be matched with an additional $100 million from SDG&E.
 
“Our region has the most federally recognized Tribes of any county in the nation, and all are located in areas facing the highest risk for wildfire. These funds would help us continue to work with Tribes to provide safe and resilient energy in the face of a changing climate,” said Caroline Winn, CEO of SDG&E. “If approved, this grant would not only help advance wildfire safety initiatives planned on Tribal lands which have experienced wildfires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs in the past, but also plays a key role in in our strategy to reduce energy costs for customers.”

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CDFW INITIATES MASSIVE WILDFIRE PROTECTION EFFORT AT WILDLIFE AREAS, ECOLOGICAL RESERVES STATEWIDE

Source:  California Department of Fish and Wildife

CDFW photo:  heavy equipment is deployed to create fire breaks on CDFW wildlife areas in Merced County.

July 1, 2021 (San Diego) - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has undertaken the largest wildfire protection and resiliency effort in its history, working to safeguard nearly all of its wildlife areas, ecological reserves and the surrounding communities from wildfire ahead of peak wildfire season this summer and fall.


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CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD SHIFTS FROM BORDER TO FIRE PREVENTION

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative commons by S.A.

March 20, 2019 (San Diego) -- Instead of putting up razor wire at the border, California’s National Guard troops will soon be wielding shovels, rakes and chainsaws to clear brush, thin trees and help prevent the spread of wildfires.


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SAN MIGUEL FIRE DISTRICT AND CAL FIRE SEEKING VOLUNTEERS FOR WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS AND PREVENTION CAMPAIGN MAY 25

 

May 22, 2013 (Spring Valley) – Maybe becoming a volunteer Firefighter is a bit much, but please consider being a volunteer “Fire Preventer.”

The San Miguel Fire District in cooperation with its partner CAL FIRE, is ramping up its “Before the Threat, Are You Ready” preparedness and prevention campaign. This massive public education effort provides critical preparedness information with an old- fashioned door-to-door contact.

Again this year they are hoping teams of community volunteers join CAL FIRE Firefighters in a door-to-door campaign in the Districts high hazard urban interface areas. Two major fires in four years have shown all of us the need to be prepared and to create defensible space, to have an evacuation plan, and have the supplies necessary to take care of your families for up to a week.


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DON'T DELAY PAST MAY: IT'S TIME TO PREPARE FOR WILDFIRES

 

Residents Urged to Clear Defensible Space, Plan for Family Readiness

May 22, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – California has already seen 1,569 wildfires this year, about 500 more fires compared to the same period last year and 85 percent more fires than in an average year. With the long, hot and dangerous summer a real possibility, County Supervisor Dianne Jacob and public safety officials today urged residents to protect their homes against wildfires by creating a 100-foot buffer zone.

“Now is the time to prepare for what is shaping up as a tougher-than-usual fire season,” said Supervisor Jacob. “The firestorms of 2003 and 2007 taught us that homes with defensible space are far more likely to survive than homes without it.”


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GOVERNOR SIGNS SENATOR KEHOE'S WILDFIRE PREVENTION PLANNING BILL

September 13, 2012 (Sacramento) – Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) announced today that her legislation to protect development from wildfire has been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.

“SB 1241 will save lives and property.  It will also ease the financial burden for fire suppression on both state and local governments through early, consistent, and meaningful fire hazard planning statewide,” stated Senator Kehoe. “We have fires in California every year.  As more people move into State Responsibility Areas and high fire hazard severity zones, it’s become critical that local governments plan for fire hazards in these high risk areas as early in their land use planning process as possible,” Kehoe said.


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IT’S WILDFIRE AWARENESS WEEK: CAL-FIRE PROVIDES INFO TO HELP HOMEOWNERS PREPARE


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A DEFENSIBLE SPACE: JOSEPH DILIBERTI FIGHTS TO SAVE HIS ARTFUL DEHESA HOME

 

By Richard Darvas

 

$63,000 bill stemming from $25,000 weed abatement charge raises questions over fire district's use of private contractor

 

May 3, 2010 (Dehesa)--As World War II drew to its nuclear close, Joseph Diliberti was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Sicilian parents. From an early age, however, Diliberti discovered his perennial roots in nature. Whether crab fishing in Long Island or hunting in upstate New York, outdoor activities were a family affair.

 

“I love this ‘cause I feel like I’m home,” the retiree observes several decades later, as he traces his arm in a circular motion to indicate his present rural home in Dehesa.


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COURT RULES COUNTY VIOLATED LAW BY EXEMPTING VEGETATION CLEARING PLAN IN BACK COUNTRY FROM ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS

 

 

County argues timely removal of dead trees is needed to prevent devastating wildfires; opponents say plan destroys wildlife habitat with no public review

 


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BETWEEN WILDFIRES: ASK QUESTIONS!

 

Part 1 of an 8-part Series

 

By Anne S. Fege, Ph.D., M.B.A., wildfire ecologist/educator and retired Forest Supervisor, Cleveland National Forest

October 13, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)--By any accounts, we will always be “between wildfires” in southern California. That raises three wildfire questions that face San Diego. What will it take to keep houses from igniting? What will happen to nature, with repeated wildfires? What can we do, to live sustainably with wildfires and nature? These questions reflect the paradigm shift that is underway nationally, from wildfire prevention (Smokey, “YOU can prevent fires”) and wildfire suppression, to wildfire property risk reduction (knowing “how houses ignite” and retrofitting structures).


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WHERE'S THE PORK? NO MONEY FOR FIRE STATIONS OR FIRE PREVENTION IN SAN DIEGO'S PROPOSED STIMULUS PROJECTS

 

"The City and County never asked the fire departments. We are very disappointed," -- August Ghio, President, San Diego Fire Chiefs Association

 

By Miriam Raftery

 

March 5, 2009 (San Diego)--Why didn't a city and county that have suffered through the worst wildfires in California history request funds through the federal stimulus program for any fire protection projects?


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.