Being informed is being fire-safe is being informed. This page presents essentially important information that each of us should know.

OOps . . . A NOT SO PRETTY PICTURE!

The greening grass is beautiful from my kitchen window. Spring is creeping in and soon the frost or dew will make this scene enviable. I'll put it on the web page, I thought!

But just as I took it I realized – trees with limbs and leaves almost touching the ground? Under, our old picnic table a crumbled bunch of tinder-dry kindling? And when I described the fresh green grass to a friend, he wisely reminded, "And it will grow!" and it will dry, I echoed.

This pretty scene is a fire blowup waiting for the right conditions. Remember, firefighters call branches like these "Fire ladders," a place for hungry flames from tall, dry grass to jump and climb into the tree, devour it, then ascend skyward, taking their cinders and flaring leaves up hundreds of feet to travel and drop elsewhere. In windy conditions It is common for fires to jump hundreds of yards or a mile ahead to touch off another. And in high winds, as we had here, and if the fire finds fuel (anything burnable), there is no fire "line" to stop and hold, there's a fire "wave" and it moves over, around, and through, at will.

We'll use the table remnants for kindling in the wood stove, and These trees will be trimmed up high before summer arrives . . . I promise. (–Anonymous)

AMUST-SEE SIGHT FOR US ALL:

DV Neighbors, set aside some time to study this phenomenal Web site. It is a "shows-all" sight by University of California, County of San Diego, with special funding from the Board of Supervisors, County of San Diego http://www.wildfirezone.org/ . There is "must-know" separate treatment of the main topics of fire prevention: •Access zone, •Structure zone, •Interior zone, •Animal & livestock, •Defensive space zone [applies to our Land-Safe page here], – accompanied with a check-out quiz. It has an extensive list of resources.

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CAL-FIRE'S WEBSITE HOMEPAGE. This is an excellent starting point to critical home fire protection information. The present page has the following topics:

< Fire Information. On major emergency incidents, Cal Fire will create a website

< COMMUNIQUE – Cal Fire's official quarterly magazine - online

< Living and Building in the Wild land Urban Interface (WUI)

< California-evade Tahoe Basin Fire Commission

< California Climate Action Team

< Winter Safety

< Make Your Home Safe With 100 Feet of Defensible Space

See all of the helpful resources on our LINKS page.

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READY FOR FIRE SEASON?

1) BRUSH PILING UP?

FREE CHIPPING SERVICE for Fuel Reduction ~ Both the County Fire Safe Council and our local RFPD have crews that will come and chip your brushpiles. Last week the 2-man RFPD crew came and reduced our 5 big piles of trimmings and brush to welcome chips for mulch and groundcover. Contact RFPD about getting on the list for their program by calling (619) 669-1188 or logging on to http://www.sdrfire.org/chip.html. The FireSafe Council flyer and application can be downloaded here.

2) DO YOU HAVE A REFLECTIVE ADDRESS SIGN?

These signs are not just attractive; they could be critical in helping medical and fire responders find your residence. Do you have yours? Why not? Susie Norton is our resident sign-maker, and is a whiz at getting them to you ASAP! Contact information on the attached order form.

3) HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR REVERSE 9-1-1?

Register your landline,cellphone, email, and voIP numbers: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/ready/signup.html

4) ARE YOU LEAN AND GREEN?

DId you know that bare ground is NOT the best protection for you home and property? Cleared-to-earth ground allows embers to blow freely across open areas until they find a place to stop and concentrate. More on the FireSafe How-To's page.

Do you know?:

• Clearing your property to the bare ground is NOT acceptable fuel reduction! Cleared-to-earth ground allows embers to blow freely across open areas until they find a place to stop and concentrate. If it's a structure, there's a good chance it will ignite. Leaving shortly-mown grass and low, widely-separated shrubs is best; it acts as a filter, slowing and stopping the embers and dispatching them, letting them burn out individually where they cannot cause a lot of damage.

• Shrubs should be separated from each-other by the distance that they are tall. Six foot shrubs should be six feet apart. If you have shrubs approximately as tall as you, you should be able to "fly" through them – hold your arms straight out and pass through without touching any plant.

• Never trim more than 1/3 of a healthy plant. Removing 1/2 puts a plant or shrub in danger. Those of us who pick sage for cooking or a sprig for a nice smell in our cars, If we remove half the sprigs from a plant, it will not return.

• Clearing should BEGIN with the entrance and exit routes to your structures. Firefighters will not drive uncleared driveways where there's a chance of its burning after they pass – trapping them in.

•Properly handled, goats can clear an acre a day, and F.S.C. grants are available to support goat programs.