By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Heartland Fire & Rescue Chief Rick Sitta delivers good news at El Cajon Council meeting

June 9, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – If you live in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa or Lemon Grove, your fire insurance rates will soon be going down. That’s because Heartland Fire & Rescue, which provides firefighting services for all three cities, has received a class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office (ISO).   

The  ISO rates 47,000 fire departments across the United States and of those, only 98 have attained a class 1 rating, including only 8 fire districts in the entire state of California.  “Class 1 communities are very rare, and some of these scores are the highest we’ve ever seen,” says Stephanie Ruscansky from the ISO, who notes that only a small fraction of 1% of all agencies rated attain a Class 1 rating.

June 3, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- As drought conditions continue to increase fire danger in the region, CAL FIRE has suspended all burn permits for outdoor open residential burning within the State Responsibility Area of San Diego and Imperial Counties. This suspension takes effect June 1, 2015 and bans all residential outdoor burning of landscape debris including branches and leaves.

East County News Service

May 28, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Creating defensible space around your home is more important than ever amid the drought.  But that doesn’t mean hacking down landscaping to bare earth.  Now Cal-Fire has posted information on plants that are fire resistant and drought tolerant. These ideal choices not only provide color and beauty with minimal water – they also provide a safe area for firefighters to operate and increase the odds that your home will survive a wildfire.  

For details, click “read more” and scroll down, or visit http://www.ReadyForWildfire.org/landscape_ideas.

By Cathy Ozbun, Julian Fire Plugs

May 2, 2015 (Julian) - On Saturday, May 23th, the Julian Fire Plugs will be hosting the Julian Arts & Crafts Fair. The fair will be held in the Rabobank parking lot at 2033 Main Street in Julian, from 10:00 am until  4:00 pm and will showcase work by many local artists, crafters and artisans from Julian and other nearby communities.

Fire Prevention Urged for Memorial Day Weekend

April 19, 2015 (Sacramento) -- As Californians make their Memorial Day weekend and summer vacation plans, CAL FIRE and federal fire agencies want to ensure vacationers obtain necessary campfire permits and learn how to have a campfire safely.

The California Wildfire Coordination Group (CWCG) has unveiled a new fire prevention website, www.PreventWildfireCA.org , which for the first time offers an online campfire permit section.

“The new online system makes it easier for Californians to get a permit, while still taking the time to learn  how to have a campfire safely,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, CAL FIRE director. “It is critical that a responsible adult be in attendance of your campfire at all times and that it is completely extinguished before you leave to avoid sparking a wildfire. One less spark means one less wildfire.”

By Chris Jennewein

Reposted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo: The San Diego Sheriff’s new Bell 407GX patrol helicopter

April 12, 2015 (San Diego)--San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore and other county officials unveiled a new $4.8 million patrol helicopter, bringing the agency’s fleet to eight with a ninth on the way later this year.

By Paul Kruze

April 10, 2015 (Spring Valley)--In spite of tight finances and the looming possibility of a separation and divorce from CALFIRE, the San Miguel Fire Board of Directors majority went forward with a staff recommendation to purchase two new fire engines at its March 11th meeting.  The Board also took action on the County's proposal to takeover an unfinished training facility that has languished due to lack of funds.

Update April 5, 2015 (San Diego's East County) -- Cal Fire has ended the no-burn proclamation due to improving conditions, higher humidity and availability of fire resources..

April 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Effective immediately, Cal Fire has issued a no-burn proclamation suspending burning permits and other uses of open fire, except for campfires in established campfire facilities in public campgrounds.

The order is due to the “extreme menace” posed by critical fire weather and acute dryness of vegetation and/or fire suppression forces being heavily committed to control fires, according to Dave Nissan, Deputy Chief of Cal-Fire’s San Diego unit.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Wikipedia Commons courtesy of SamBoy

March 25, 2015 (San Diego)—The Cocos Fire charred nearly 2,000 acres and burned down dozens of homes in San Marcos and Harmony Grove in May 2014.  On Wednesday, Judge Howard Shore ruled that a 13-year-old girl was responsible for intentionally and maliciously starting the devastating blaze.

Update: Video link to full episode of Dateline Escape: The Great California Fire that aired March 8:

http://www.nbc.com/dateline/video/dateline-escape-wildfires/2849489?onid=209511#vc209511=1

March 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – This Sunday at 9 p.m., NBC TV will air a special edition of Dateline called “Escape: The Great California Fire.” 

NBC Sports’ Josh Elliott will host the special hour with survivors of the Cedar Fire, who will chronicle their stories of survival before and after the 2003 Cedar Fire, the worst firestorm in California history.

Left to right:  Brian Kramer, CalFire Engineer Brian Hodo, Pat Landis, Jan Payne, Firefighter Dallas Tinsman, Sheana Fry, Firefighter Anthony Rossetti, Cathy Ozbun, Kathy Payne, Les Turner, Greg Hidley, Ron Ozbun

March 6, 2015 (Julian)—Julian Cuyamaca Fire Department  CERT and RED CROSS have partnered to develop a Disaster Action Team (DAT) to serve San Diego County back country. Disaster Action Team volunteers are the heart of American Red Cross disaster relief efforts. DAT members respond immediately to a disaster when called by emergency dispatch. The eight volunteers in the photo were trained on March 5th how to assess the scope of the damage, meet with the affected family or families to determine their immediate disaster-related needs, and ensure that those needs are met. Depending upon individual requirements, the Red Cross can provide assistance in the form of secure shelter, food, clothing, medical needs and mental health counseling.

East County News Service

February 26, 2015 (Spring Valley) – As a result of an East County Magazine (ECM) inquiry, San Miguel Fire District’s Board voted this week to make its finance committee a permanent standing committee, which means that the committee’s meetings will now be open to the press and public.

Previously, the finance committee was deemed an ad-hoc committee by the district, which argued that it did not need to allow public access.  ECM contacted Californians Aware (CALAWARE), an organization that protects public access under Califoirnia’s sunshine laws.

Source: Heartland Fire & Rescue

February 14, 2015 (El Cajon)-Heartland Fire & Rescue crews in El Cajon responded to reports of a brush fire in the 1500 block of Orange Avenue in El Cajon Saturday afternoon at 4:41 p.m.   Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke coming from a hillside behind a home at 1522 S. Orange Avenue.

Photo: Ceonothus (wild lilac) on Middle Peak in Cuyamaca

February 7, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - Cleveland National Forest is slated to continue prescribed burning from now through June of 2015, depending upon weather and fuel conditions. But at least one environmental organization has raised questions about impacts of the burns.

January 19, 2015 (Julian)--California State Parks will be conducting a prescribed burn in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park with CAL FIRE’s assistance on Wednesday January 21st. The prescribed burn will occur on the south side of Middle Peak in the Park.