Australia is one of the areas on the globe that deals with wildfires every summer, much like the American West, so we should pay attention to what they experience in their fire season. And this past season in Australia is one to worry about. Australia had many fires throughout the season (September through March), which…
It looks as if federal funding for fuel reduction in the national forests will be cut in this year’s budget. The final budget may include more money, but given the various pressures on the Forest Service for other missions, I expect this reduction to stay. With some recent exceptions, the pattern for fuel treatment dollars…
There is a current and real threat to most of the oaks in our community — the GSOB or the Goldspotted oak borer. This beetle has killed tens of thousands of oaks in San Diego County, and has now been positively identified in Idyllwild. So far it has been found in three trees around the…
Another year to enjoy our mountains! On this topic, the vision of the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council is “Fire Safe Communities in a Healthy Forest.” It is not that our members are people who have always wanted to cut brush, prepare firewood, or write and administer federal grants (though they are good at it)….
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…
Each major fire we have tells us something important. What we learn may be something new or it may be confirmation of something observed before. Colorado’s Waldo Canyon Fire of June this year confirmed something we knew about shake roofs: they are dangerous in fires. I have mentioned the Waldo Canyon Fire before in this…
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…
