July 6, at the Ranch House
Bob Dress chaired the large meeting.
There was a moment of silence to give thanks to the community and all the folks who gave their time and effort to get through this emergency.
Bob noted that special Thanks are due all the CalFire personnel who helped, and has special praise for the job done to save his and Lynn’s home.
Representing CalFire from Sacramento were Ted Endberg, Chad Augustin, and Mike Carr.
Mike Carr is a Battilon Cheif and the Lead Public Information Officer with Incident Team 4. California has 10 Incident Command teams that can come into local units to coordinate resources and government contractors. He pointed out that CDF and CalFire are the same, the name was changed to recognize it as a full service fire department.
He gave the state update:
There were 1,780 fires statewide, 1,450 are now contained. 526,000 acres have burned. 20,000 personnel are engaged in fire fighting.
In Mendocino County, 41,000 acres burned. 45 fires are now burning in the county with 45% containment. Things are looking well, we are getting more resources and federal and military help. There was 1 probably heart related fatality, a local volunteer member. Overall the fire fighting was pretty safe with only a few of the injuries that are typical.
Next Chief Endberg spoke:
The Jack Smith fire was several fires that grew together and burned 1,538 acres. The Orr Series fires have burned 3,700 acres, including Montgomery Woods. The state prioritizes based upon threats to communities, power lines, structures and so on. Mendocino moved up and down the priority list. Currently the Butte fires are threatening communities of several thousand people.
Now the Jack Smith fire is in patrol and mop up stage. Although it is considered “contained” there is always a possibility that a fire will jump a containment line. Containment lines may be water, jell, a crew, or whatever. Since most of the fires during this event only partially burned the areas they covered it is not considered a “clean burn” and there are pockets of vegetation which may still burn. Aircraft will be keeping an eye on the fires countywide.
Locally with the 16 fire engines, 2 air tankers and 10 hand crews available for 2 million acres CalFire is stretched in the best of times and must rely on local agencies and community involvement to make homes fire safe.
Chief Endberg said this community needs to improve defensible space, addressing and signage. He and the crews often got confused by the roads and their odd names. He requested that reflective material be used for all signs and that they not be overgrown by grass. A green reflective sign with white numbers for addresses can be purchased at Mendo Mill.
Each household needs to develop an individual fire plan with a central safe meeting place for the family, escape routes, and, preferably a community safe refuge to go to when engines are coming in on our narrow roads. He also noted that communications is vital.
If you choose to stay during an evacuation notice you need to keep in mind there is a reason the sheriff has asked you to evacuate. Engines and crews have to respond to locations of unevacuated residents which prevents them going to the best locations to put out the fire, resources are committed to those who stay instead.
He said community involvement is essential and it appears this community has that.
He noted there are a lot of low branches on the roads and that slows down the equipment. At least a 14’ clearance is needed. Also, bridges need to have load limit signs, determined by a civil engineer and alternate routes to avoid the bridge must be marked.
Mike Carr spoke:
He said that from a team perspective he wants to thank Lynn & Bob for the helpful tie in with the community so that accurate information could be distributed. It is important to have a link between the community and CalFire during an emergency. He noted that you may not receive info as comprehensive as you wish, but it will be accurate.
A lesson learned by folks during southern CA wildfires was to prioritize items to pack and do “grab and go” fire drills.
He said there were a few fires reported on Friday, June 20th and then there were more strikes on Saturday morning. He wanted folks to be clear that what saved communities were the weather conditions. Typical local temperatures and winds would have pushed the fires much more. Weather is absolutely critical, with winds being of major importance.
When asked when to call 911 re: the JS fire he said if the smoke is inside the fire it is probably not a problem but if you see smoke or fire outside the fire lines call 911. He asked that people don’t flood 911 and limit calls to a legitimate threat.
Bob Dress said that CalFire has shared some contacts with him for training and equipment.
Restoration: Calfire may fix some damage caused by fires suppression activities. Things like torn up bidges, culverts, and fences. They are not responsible for damages caused by the fire itself. They will look at road damage and determine if they should repair it. They will send a forester to assess rehabilitation needs like erosion control on fire breaks. With so many areas to cover, it will take some time for all this to begin and areas will be prioritized. He has no idea how our community will fare in the priority list but if a community can supply a map of areas of concern it will aid the process. Juanita Joy noted her daughter Jen has a degree in botany and is interested in helping with restoration.
Community training on the use of basic fire fighting techniques and the safe use of hand tools can be provided if a community representative contacts the fire office, but they are going to be too busy to train folks for a while.
Water: They have the ability to truck in water to continue to fight the fires and there is also “that big resource to the west.”
Controlled burns: there is very limited funding for the vegetative management program, which is a cost share. There has to be a very clear benefit re: fire defense improvements, it takes a lot of bureaucratic red tape and at least 9 month to put together a project. Sometimes during off season months the Conservation Camp inmates do public service projects but they are not allowed to work on private land.
Zephyr noted that the fire seemed to be stopped at the controlled burn that Redhawk did on Parcel 4 a few years ago.
In answer to a question by Chuck from Running Springs Ranch they said that if there is an area of rare plants or an area of concern there can be a modified suppression area, if it is brought to the attention of the CalFire Field Officer. It is best to be on site to guide efforts.
When asked if we need to change our road names CalFire said no, but the road signs need to be clear and standardized. .
CalFire explained that fire often lies dormant and then in the afternoon as the sun shines the fuel temperature heats up and becomes more combustible, in a fire there is often a lot of heat without smoke so fire can jump up at any place in a burn.
Independent contractors: Equipment must pass safety standards and the operators must be trained according to OSHA mandates before they can be added to the State “Emergency Resources Directory” and be hired by CalFire. Private parties can hire whomever they wish to do work on their land.
As weather temperatures rise above 100F and the winds change we can expect more smoke and burning in the interior of the fires.
Ross B. and a few others in the room said they saw an unusual number of contrails that did not dissipate as they should have the afternoon before the lightening storm. CalFire didn’t have any information about this.
Julia Rogers of the Fire Safe Council said Greenfield deserves a standing ovation. She tells everyone about us and says we are a success story. She gave brief descriptions of literature she brought for people, mostly dealing with how to create defensible space. She also said she would like to do another printing of the comprehensive pamphlet; “Living with Wildfire” and needs to raise $1,600 to do so.
Teams were organized to address the different tasks to be done and creation of a Volunteer Fire Company. Issues that were brought up but didn’t get work teams were; RanchHouse fire preparedness, Security during an emergency, and Mapped locations of water availability.
Teams Formed:
Overall Coordination
Strike Team, Structure Protection, & Emergency Services
Medical
Road Signs
Communications
Maps & Addresses
Bridge Load Ratings
Restoration
Resource Development (raising funds)
Minutes by Sequoia
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