Nevada County residents learned something about defensible space as they watched firefighters battle the recent Angora Fire at Lake Tahoe.

The fire turned more than 250 homes into rubble and ash.

The blaze caused the phone to start ringing at the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County last week with people wanting to know how to defend their land. Some couldn't clear brush themselves.

That's when council Executive Director Joanne Drummond got a just-in-time e-mail from a group called the American Conservation Experience.

The nonprofit group uses conservation projects as a forum to bring foreign youths to the United States. It had volunteers ready to clear defensible wildfire space at Tahoe when the Angora blaze broke out, canceling the trip.

"The very community we were supposed to help protect just burned down," wrote Chris Baker, project coordinator for the conservation group. Drummond responded to him quickly, knowing she had 25 elderly or disabled clients who needed brush cleared.

"Usually, we use the probation-release people, but they can only do two (jobs) a week," Drummond said.

With a heat wave looming, Drummond asked Baker to bring his crews here quickly. She figured they would complete about 20 jobs before leaving Nevada County at the end of the week.

Anita Yeager of Lake of the Pines was on the list. Tall grass and brush had overtaken the elderly woman's steep lot. After hearing about the Tahoe fire, she knew trouble lurked right outside her door.

"My propane tank is out there just 10 feet away," Yeager said. "I was afraid it would burn up the house."



American experience

On Tuesday, a conservation crew supervised by Lise Oesen of Copenhagen, Denmark, weed-whipped the lot and cut brush to prevent that from happening.

"We don't want the Tahoe situation to reoccur," Oesen said. "It's a good lesson for all the volunteers to see how you prevent wildfire."

Volunteer Minjun Kang of Seoul, South Korea, said he was happy to work in the heat in exchange for room and board and a chance to see the United States.

"I was surprised at the big nature," Kang said of the United States. "I live in Seoul in an apartment, so I can't see nature or have a garden."

Up the hillside from him, Dani Tiedge of Bonn, Germany, raked leaves and brush. Tiedge volunteered for a conservation project at the Point Reyes National Seashore in 2005 and sought a similar way to get back to California.

Tiedge surfed the Internet and found the American Conservation Experience was opening a branch in Santa Cruz, so he volunteered.

"I wanted to do something over a large period of time," Tiedge said, wiping his brow. "I think this is an important task. The people we are helping aren't physically able to do the work."

The experience also helps the United States' image around the world, Oesen said.

"We try to be the anti-venom for the anti-Americans. These kids come over here and they go back with beautiful memories of people and places in America," she added

They will also know they may have saved a bit of someone's Sierra paradise.

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To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.



• To learn how to protect your property from fire or to find someone who can help you, call the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County at 272-1122.

• Learn about the council's programs at its Web site, www.firesafe

councilnevco.com.