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Catastrophic wildfires like the ones at Lake Tahoe and Southern California this year could easily occur in Nevada County, according to experts who spoke before the Board of Supervisors this week.
"Absolutely it could happen here," said Steve Eubanks, supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest. "The fuel conditions are as bad or worse than Southern California and similar to Angora," which was the fire at Tahoe he was summoned to fight that consumed more than 200 homes.
Both Eubanks and Chief Tim Fike of the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District said brush clearing and fireproof building standards are essential to halt similar burnovers here.
Earlier this year, Fike served on the Grass Valley Fire, an ironically named blaze in a house-filled area of the San Bernardino Mountains that reminded him of home.
The blaze was in a classic urban interface with a forest, "extremely similar to Alta Sierra and Banner Mountain," Fike said, but with twice the homes.
"The fire started in the forest and went into the homes," Fike said. "It burned through structures like they were part of the forest because of the slope and winds."
State fire officials are starting to look at urban interface homes as a type of fire fuel now, which raises concerns about future construction, said City of Grass Valley Fire Chief Jim Marquis after the meeting.
"We have to change the way we build our structures so they don't catch fire," Marquis said. "They're ember generators - it's like a fuel jackpot" when a non-fireproof home is engulfed.
"Homes are fire sources, too, and add to the problem," Eubanks told the board.
Beyond construction standards, fuels reduction or brush clearing often makes a difference and did at Angora, Eubanks said. That reduction means not only the state-required 100 feet of defensible space around homes but also defensible space around vegetation.
The fuels reduction must be done in a worst-case scenario to work, Eubanks said. It also works better on a neighborhood basis to spread fire-protected areas out.
"There is a growing national understanding that we have to manage our forests," Eubanks said, and that means thinning them and where they are in urban interfaces. "The real key message is you can make a difference, it's not hopeless."
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To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
Eubanks said the main lessons learned from the fires is that clearing aroundkey to keeping fires
"Absolutely it could happen here," said Steve Eubanks, supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest. "The fuel conditions are as bad or worse than Southern California and similar to Angora," which was the fire at Tahoe he was summoned to fight that consumed more than 200 homes.
Both Eubanks and Chief Tim Fike of the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District said brush clearing and fireproof building standards are essential to halt similar burnovers here.
Earlier this year, Fike served on the Grass Valley Fire, an ironically named blaze in a house-filled area of the San Bernardino Mountains that reminded him of home.
The blaze was in a classic urban interface with a forest, "extremely similar to Alta Sierra and Banner Mountain," Fike said, but with twice the homes.
"The fire started in the forest and went into the homes," Fike said. "It burned through structures like they were part of the forest because of the slope and winds."
State fire officials are starting to look at urban interface homes as a type of fire fuel now, which raises concerns about future construction, said City of Grass Valley Fire Chief Jim Marquis after the meeting.
"We have to change the way we build our structures so they don't catch fire," Marquis said. "They're ember generators - it's like a fuel jackpot" when a non-fireproof home is engulfed.
"Homes are fire sources, too, and add to the problem," Eubanks told the board.
Beyond construction standards, fuels reduction or brush clearing often makes a difference and did at Angora, Eubanks said. That reduction means not only the state-required 100 feet of defensible space around homes but also defensible space around vegetation.
The fuels reduction must be done in a worst-case scenario to work, Eubanks said. It also works better on a neighborhood basis to spread fire-protected areas out.
"There is a growing national understanding that we have to manage our forests," Eubanks said, and that means thinning them and where they are in urban interfaces. "The real key message is you can make a difference, it's not hopeless."
ooo
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
Eubanks said the main lessons learned from the fires is that clearing aroundkey to keeping fires
