Applegater Fall 2020
21
Before (left) and after (right) photos of a mixed pine and oak woodland shows how thinning reduces the fuel load on the land, making it easier to fight wildfires. Photo: Luke Ruediger.
Lifesaving ‘PODs’ in the Applegate?
BY RICH FAIRBANKS
Applegate residents live in fire country and
have done an impressive job creating defensible
space around their homes. A 2011 survey
found that almost 90 percent of respondents
have built and are maintaining defensible space
around their homes. Many others have joined
together to complete fuel treatment on private
roadways. Yet, if we have a large, intense fire that
forces us to evacuate, are we really prepared?
Many years ago, my wife and I bought 20
acres on a road off Sterling Creek. Before we
even started building the house our neighbors
asked if we would agree to grant-funded fuels
reduction work for the road that serves six
households. We readily agreed. About every five
years, we and our neighbors apply for grants,
chip in money, or do the work to keep the
roadside brushed out. It looks great and ensures
a safer evacuation route in the event of a fire.
But what about our main roads, our
evacuation routes? Can Griffin Lane, Sterling
Creek Road, even Highway 238 handle a
sudden influx of hundreds of frightened
drivers evacuating through smoke and even
flame, while busloads of firefighters and
equipment try to get in to attack the fire? Are
these roads cleared of surface fuels? Have the
limbs been pruned up? Is there good line of
sight, so crews can see spot fires? If not, we
have work to do for successful evacuation
and firefighting.
Some of us locals are working to implement
fuel treatments along these critical routes.
Eighty-five people died in the Camp Fire in
Paradise, California, in 2018, many while
evacuating in their cars. Fire professionals knew
well in advance that Paradise was vulnerable.
A 2009 civil grand jury concluded that
roads leading from Paradise had “significant
constraints” and “capacity limitations” as
evacuation routes: sharp curves and inadequate
and hazardous shoulders. Such road conditions
“increase the fire danger and the possibility of
being closed due to fire and or smoke.”
We have formed a group called Prescription
for Safety (PFS) to begin the work needed along
our evacuation routes. One way to accomplish
this work and potentially bring in funding is to
identify “Potential Operational Delineations”
(PODs): mapped lines, such as roads, trails, and
recent fuel treatments, that can help contain
wildfires. These are targeted areas where fuels
treatments can help fire fighters.
Prescription for Safety hopes to develop
PODs in partnership with property owners
and fire professionals to help bring in funding
and do more roadside fuels work.
A lot of this work is already happening. As
an example, here is John Galego’s story:
We bought 38 acres with steep forest
in 2012 to build our home. The building
department informed me of the fire inspection
requirements. Where would I start, without an
unlimited budget for hiring someone?
In 2013, I learned that money is available
for thinning. I received an ODF grant for
five acres, covering half of the $5,000 cost.
We hired a local company to thin an area
bordering our access road.
The forester left the logs on the forest
floor, an acceptable practice, burned the
slash, and limbed up what he could reach.
We passed inspection and received the grant.
Then, between 2013 and 2019,
Douglas-fir trees near Griffin Lane and our
neighborhood access road started to die.
With the winter winds of 2018, the trees
started to fall over. In the fall of 2019, I
counted 90 dead firs in the roadside.
I have started to remove the dead firs,
but our roads are still threatened. I will
burn slash safely in the wet months. I have
learned how to handle a chainsaw and can
fell a tree. My work has not only made my
home safer; it has increased the chances
for successful evacuation in the event of
a big fire.
John and other members of PFS are
working to implement PODs through
brushing out our roadsides. We are starting
this work in the Little Applegate. Please reach
out if you want to get involved.
Rich Fairbanks is a local fire professional with
over 40 years of experience in firefighting and
forest management. He is working with local
residents on a project called Prescription for
Safety in the Little Applegate that is mapping
PODs and evacuation routes. For more
information, email him at
richfairbanks3@gmail.com.
A pair of photos show a wooded area along Griffin Lane before (top) and after (bottom) “fuel
treatment”—the removal of excess wood that would fuel a wildfire. Photo: John Galego.
