The Mountain Area Safety Taskforce will meet at the Idyllwild Nature Center on Wednesday, December 11. The event brings together representatives of all the agencies, governmental and nonprofits, engaged in preventing and responding to wildfire in our community, as well as citizens seeking a better understanding of their own responsibilities.
Taskforce members included CalFire and Idyllwild Fire, USFS, Riverside Sheriff’s Office, and Riverside County Emergency Management Department on the governmental side, and Mountain Community Fire Safe Council, Mile High Radio Club, and Mountain Disaster Preparedness on the nonprofit side.
MAST’s mission is “Helping to prevent catastrophic wildfires in Riverside County.” They produce a master plan for evacuations and defense of mountain communities during wildfires. This also includes much information which is not public facing, regarding vulnerabilities and shelter-in-place areas.
During the pandemic the meetings became virtual events, and this year has marked the return of in-person public forums. If you are new to the hill, they are the best way to get to know the special responsibilities that fall on those who live in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) zones, and the roles of our various governmental and non-governmental organizations. If you are a long-time resident, this is the time to get updates and bring questions.
Although the meetings have been scheduled quarterly, the September meeting was canceled because fire agencies were responding to incidents during a very busy summer.
Recent meetings included briefings on MCFSC’s efforts against the Golden Spotted Oak Borer, both preventing infection and removing dead and dying trees. The group administers grants that help property owners take care of this important part of forest health and fire abatement. We have also learned about the County’s Rivco Ready program, which sends address-targeted emergency messages to registered cell users (rivcoready.org.) The Firefighting organizations report on fuels reduction projects and incident responses. The Sheriff’s office is there to address questions about evacuation warnings and orders.
The time to prepare is before a fire, and the time to learn about evacuation protocols is this coming Wednesday, not the next time smoke appears around our valley.
If you have questions related to fire protection, emergency response, fuels reduction, or forest health that you would like addressed by one of the MAST agency cooperators, please submit them to Leighanne Calacuay: Leighanne.Calacuayo@fire.ca.gov. This will enable the proper agencies to provide a fuller response.
Mountain Area Safety Taskforce Public Forum, Wednesday December 11, 11 a.m. Idyllwild Nature Center, 25225 Highway 243.
