Wildfire prevention goals released for San Luis Obispo County

Fire officials in San Luis Obispo County along with CAL Fire have released goals for wildfire prevention through the county.

On the wings of what was a very destructive 2018, fire officials are looking at the failures and successes of last year as they map out the 2019 fire season.

“The problem is on our hillsides. We’re not dealing with the dead to live ratio of vegetation out there so that dead vegetation no amount of water is going to bring it back, it’s dead. Once it’s dead, it’s gone,” said Chris Elms, Cal Fire Public Information Officer.

According to the CAL FIRE SLO Unit, the plan for 2019 includes: conducting over 8,500 defensible space inspections, 2,000 to 4,000 acres of prescription burning, and manually reducing over 500 acres of hazardous fuel and vegetation.

“We’re looking very closely at areas of the county where we can have some impact that can be beneficial with our resources to create defensible space. We’ve done that up in Cambria where we did fuel reduction projects along Cambria Pines Drive and open that road up,” said Elms.

Through the San Luis Obispo County Fire Safe Council, grant money was allocated to purchase a skid steer masticator and a remote-controlled chipper to help reduce dead and overgrown vegetation across the county, according to San Luis Obispo County Fire officials.

“We currently have eight or nine grants totaling over $5 million and there are projects all over San Luis Obispo County,” said Dan Turner, SLO County Fire Safe Council Manager.

The new equipment will aid the year-round work already being done by engine companies, hand crews, and bulldozers, according to San Luis Obispo County Fire officials.

The fire prevention non-profit says stakeholders really pay close attention to the consequences of these fires and how fire behavior has changed.

“This isn’t a timber harvesting issue this is a chaparral, principally chaparral driven fires,” said Turner.

Cal Fire officials point to misinformation when asked about comments made on the national level about California fire mismanagement, highlighting Governor Gavin Newsom’s commitment to addressing the issue.

“He’s dedicating an incredible amount of money and resources to cal fire and the mission of preserving our forest,” said Elms.

With $200 million already earmarked for forestry management by the legislature, Newsom is calling for an additional $105 million in wildfire safety funding.

For more information and ideas on how to create defensible space around your property visit www.readyforwildfire.org