The fire season has ended. I know fire professionals in the state who prefer to say that it never really ends, but when the rain and snow comes we feel like the main threat is over. An extended period of dry winds off the desert could change that, but barring that, we won’t worry about…
Thanks to some terrific people, the Woodies are going strong. As readers of the Town Crier know, the Woodies, the volunteer group who prepare firewood and abate properties, recently had four chainsaws stolen when a trailer was broken into. The saws have not been recovered. But several people in the community heard about the…
Our local fire season thus far has not been remarkable, but it has been for others. We did get smoke from the Sage fires recently, but we were never seriously threatened. Other communities in the West have not been so fortunate. The Rocky Mountain states had very large and destructive fires in June, and the…
The Woodies are the rock stars of California fire safe councils. As the volunteer arm of the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council, they abate homes and cut and split firewood for those in need. People driving past the HELP Center on a Friday morning have probably noticed a very busy group of people in…
They had to evacuate the Air Force Academy. You don’t normally think of an imposing military academy in danger of destruction by wildfire, but this past week the academy in Colorado Springs was in exactly that position. Last year it was Texas setting records for fires; now Colorado is rewriting its fire record books. Nine…
May and June see lots of clean-up work as people on the mountain make sure their homes meet fire safety codes and are ready for inspection. For those of us sensitive to fire issues, it’s great to see people removing the leaves, needles, and branches that fell during the winter, taking out the occasional dead…
Our community day of fire awareness, also called the Firefighter’s Muster, held this past Saturday, was gorgeous. Despite the cold rain earlier in the week, the sun was brilliant and warm, the temperature perfect.
It’s time for a Fireman’s Muster! On April 28, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a gathering of all sorts of people connected to fire prevention and suppression, at the Idyllwild Community Center site on Highway 243 and Ridgeview Drive across from the Shell Station. The day is dedicated to providing fire…
We have gotten a bit of winter recently, but we should not forget that this has been a relatively dry season, and that will have consequences. Without much moisture in plants, we can expect an early start of fire season. The Forest Service and CAL FIRE have already arranged their staffing to cope with drier…
We at the council are looking for a fire safe future that endures. In more popular terms, we seek a sustainable future, one that involves successful community action that can easily continue for generations, providing both fire safety and a healthy forest. We think this is possible. Perhaps our biggest problem is how fire prevention…