July 10, 2015 (Poway) –CAL FIRE announces the arrest of Benjamin Cohen, 44 from Poway. He is suspected of intentionally starting 11 fires in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

By Miriam Raftery

File photo by Jim Pelley: Vallecitos Lightning Fire

June 26, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – CAL FIRE Captain Kendal Bortisser and County Fire Chief Tony Mecham advise that a plan is in place to ensure additional fire protection for the San Diego region in anticipation of dry thunderstorms and lightning predicted to move through Southern California this weekend.

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

January 7, 2015 (Spring Valley) – The State Controller’s Office has issued its final review report on the San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District’s administrative and internal accounting controls.

“Our review did not identify any significant deficiencies with the District’s administrative and internal accounting controls,” the report states. None-the-less, the report indicates the state plans to charge the district for the cost of the investigation. report indicates the state launched the investigation  because it had “reason to believe that the Annual Report of Financial Transactions submitted by the District is misstated, incomplete, or incorrect.”

December 6, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Following recent rain, CAL FIRE’s San Diego Unit has lifted the suspension of burning within State Responsibility Area (SRA) in San Diego County effective Monday, December 8, 2014.

By Miriam Raftery

October 22, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)—CAL FIRE Tony Mecham, head of the County Fire Authority,  has contacted East County Magazine to dispute statements and factual claims made by two candidates running for the San Miguel Fire District Board in their responses to our candidate questionnaire.  

Chief Mecham states that he is not endorsing any candidate but adds, “There are numerous statements that are factually false.”

Update October 9, 2014, 3 p.m. --CAL-FIRE'S air tanker fleet is back in the air effective 11 a.m. today, CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Nick Schuler has informed East County Magazine, after inspections found no structural or agfe-related problems.

By Miriam Raftery

October 9, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Retired CAL FIRE Chief Chief Bob Robeson called East County Magazine this morning with additional details on the crash that killed a CAL FIRE pilot in Yosemite and grounded CAL-FIRE’s 22 S-2T air tankers including details on backup aircraft available through the federal government.

October 1, 2014 (San Diego) – Santa Ana Winds are set to sweep into the area, and CAL FIRE is boosting preparations.

“On behalf of CAL FIRE San Diego Unit and County Fire Chief Tony Mecham, I would like to advise you on some of the preparations that are being made in anticipation of the hot dry weather and Santa Ana winds that will be occurring over the next few days,” says Fire Captain and Public Information Officer Kendal E. Bortisser. Those preparations include:

Photo courtesy National Park Service: Merced River with Half Dome in background

EVACUATIONS IN YOSEMITE DUE TO WILDFIRE

By Miriam Raftery

September 8, 2014 (Yosemite)--A wildfire burning in Yosemite National Park has forced closure of some of the Park’s most popular trails. Strong winds have whipped the fire into a 700 acre conflagration that on Sunday forced evacuation of over 100 hikers and climbers, including 40 on the trail to Half Dome, some airlifted out by helicopter.

A quarter of all rural stations were closed –at the same time—during April

An East County Magazine special investigative report

By Miriam Raftery

July 31, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The County Fire Authority has touted its successes in preventing the May wildfires in North County from destroying thousands of homes despite a county-wide disaster declaration.  Granted, a lot has improved since the devastating 2003 and 2007 firestorms in our region--the worst in California's history. But if fires were to start in East County today, the outcome could be tragic. An East County Magazine investigation raises serious doubts over  inadequate volunteer firefighter staffing and the ability to respond even to routine house fires and medical calls in some rural communities.

Last October,  our investigative report,"Closed for Fire Season" revealed that Boulevard’s fire station was closed for two months during fire season and Jacumba’s station also had some dark days- -including one when a resident died of a medical emergency after a delay in emergency services arriving. The County responded by funding emergency staffing and according to Supervisor Jacob’s staff, these two stations remained open every day  for at least several months thereafter, an ECM records check in late April revealed.   

But on July 9, Craig Williams, an information technology provider for the Campo Fire Department, advised ECM that “without any notification to the community leaders."  two days ago Cal Fire “moved the overtime, off-budget, paid Cal Fire firefighters out of Boulevard to Jacumba Hot Springs. Now  Boulevard is stuck with Fire Authority `volunteers’ only, just like Campo.’”

Worse,  a new investigation by ECM reveals that this is the tip of an iceberg--with many stations understaffed and some closed for months. 

FIRE IN CAMPO BURNS A STRUCTURE

By Nadin Abbott

May 13, 2014 (Campo)--Santa Ana winds fanned  a structure fire in Campo into a brush fire that fueled a full wildland fire response. Wind drove the fire to jump across State Route 94,  from the south side of the freeway to the north side.

Reports on whether the burned structure was a trailer or shed were conflicting, nor was information provided on whether the structure had been occupied. In this poverty-stricken area, it is not unusual for people to be living in shacks, sheds and trailers.

Randy Surla, an area resident, defied the mandatory evacuation order. “I am staying put,” he explained. “This is the only house I have and I am going to protect it as best as I can.”

Photo: Interior Secretary Sally Jewell thanks a Golden Eagle hotshot firefighter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs

By Nadin Abbott

Photos by Nadin and Tom Abbott

May 8, 2014 (Spring Valley) The number of fires this year is higher than normal.  Interstate 8 has closed due to fires twice already this year during the Gun Fire at Mount Laguna and the Jacumba fire just this week.  Drought and climate change are key factors, officials warn—and this could be our worse wildfire season on record.

“The drought is expanding throughout the state of California” as well as the Southwest region, said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell during a Wildfire Awareness Week event at CAL FIRE Headquarters in Spring Valley on May 6th. 

She cited a new report just issued by the White House, noting that climate change “increases the risk from drought.”