We are Firewise
Tuolumne County supports expansion of neighborhood fire safety councils to promote defensible space and fight wildfires
Julie Johnson, an Arbona Circle resident within the city limits of Sonora, is in the later stages of starting a Firewise community in Sonora Knolls and Dragoon Gulch, or a neighborhood cooperative to promote fuel reduction and defensible space in the fight against destructive wildfires.
“Most people are on board and they’re excited to be a part of it,” Johnson said. “There’s the situation in California, how dire it is, and the fact we are located next to a wildland property. It’s more than just vegetation management, it’s community building.”
The communities surround the neighborhoods of Alpine Lane and Calaveras Way, and as of Tuesday, includes 146 homes.
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.
“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.”
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 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.
Emily Kilgore, fire prevention specialist for the Cal Fire TuolumneCalaveras Unit, said there were seven Firewise neighborhoods approved in Tuolumne County, with several others on the way.
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.
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.
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.
“Cal Fire will do fuel reduction on a very large scale,” Kilgore said.
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.
“If you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, everybody is playing their part in fuel reduction,” she said.
Ed Fernandez established the first Firewise community in the county, consisting of 185 homes
in the Lambert Lake Estates, Whispering Woods and Christian Heights area of East Sonora, a contiguous group of neighborhoods about a mile from The Junction shopping center.
“We live in a fire hazard,” he said on Tuesday.
Fernandez was motivated to start the Firewise community following the destruction caused by the Camp Fire in 2018, which killed 86 people and almost completely decimated the entire town of Paradise in Butte County, as well as the increase in insurance costs in Tuolumne County.
Fernandez said participation in a Firewise community can lead to discounts on wildfire insurance or personal loss insurance, many of which have been cancelled or retooled in recent years.
Dore Bietz, the County Office of Emergency Services coordinator, organized a Firewise public information event on Tuesday at Courthouse Square in downtown Sonora. That day, she and other fire officials contacted at least 25 different people, many of whom expressed interest in starting Firewise communities within their own neighborhoods.
Bietz said the cost of the tent and other resources were a result of a 2019 Cal Fire grant procured by current Supervisor Ryan Campbell before he took office. The grant is primarily focused on education, which makes the booth, pamphlets and informational resources available to current Firewise communities or for prospective ones.
“It is important for each individual, every homeowner and neighborhood to take personal responsibility to be firewise and prepare for wildfires,” Bietz said.
Defensible space requirements within the Sonora city limits are within the 30 feet of space outside a structure or dwelling. They include removal of vegetation from the roof, gutters, decks, porches and stairways, the removal of dead or dying trees, remove branches to a height of six feet or a third of the tree, cut all dying grass and remove all fallen leaves.
In a reduced fuel zone, up to 100 feet out from the dwelling, or along certain property lines, there are less stringent requirements, though some removal is necessary.