Valley Center Fire Protection District

THE CHAPARRAL REBELLION: BACKCOUNTRY FIRE AGENCIES FIGHTING TO MAINTAIN INDEPENDENCE FROM COUNTY

By David Ross

Part I of several parts

On June 11, I became part of the story of the Chaparral Rebellion when my house on Palomar Mountain partially burned (photo, left).

In the 1980s a group of Western states fought federal intrusion in states rights called themselves the Sagebrush Rebellion. In San Diego County today a group of backcountry fire agencies are fighting to retain their autonomy from the two-headed coin that is the San Diego County Fire Authority and Cal Fire.

You might call this movement the Chaparral Rebellion.


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