Emily Kilgore, fire prevention specialist for the Cal Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit, said there were seven Firewise neighborhoods approved in Tuolumne County, with several others on the way. The evaluative details include the construction makeup of the houses in the neighborhood and the percentage of houses in that area that need clearing before a plan is submitted. Firewise USA is a program for local residents to reduce wildfire risks within their own communities and is a national program set up by the National Fire Protection Association.
“I think it’s important to have firewise communities in all areas of the community, especially the city,” said Sonora Fire Department Chief Aimee New. “It protects the neighborhood as a group and people help each other out.” As a group of involved and motivated community members, they’ve created evacuation plans, to-go bags and a phone tree to check on vulnerable residents. Next comes the ongoing process of enforcing defensible space — a buffer between homes and wildland or foliage — and creating fuel breaks with the highly flammable, manzanita ensconced, rolling knolls of the Dragoon Gulch recreational trail.
New said the program allows neighbors to plan together through a committee, but her oversight guides the Firewise communities about how the plans will actually take shape. The communities surround the neighborhoods of Alpine Lane and Calaveras Way, and as of Tuesday, includes 146 homes.
From there, the Fire Safe Council will tackle smaller areas of fuel reduction, while Firewise communities will zoom in on even smaller zones to neighborhoods. Overall, it gives communities a fighting chance to combat wildfires, Kilgore said. “Cal Fire will do fuel reduction on a very large scale,” Kilgore said.
Several organizations work in tandem to provide resources to communities seeking to get their Firewise USA approval, whether it be OES, Cal Fire, the Highway 108 Fire Safe Council or local fire agencies such as Sonora Fire Department. The requirements are not extensive and are mostly befit safety precautions and defensible space. Kilgore said the minimum requirement is three homes to a maximum of 3,000.
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- Tuolumne County Promotes Expansion of Fire Safety Councils in Neighborhoods | News
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