Lassen County Times, Westwood PinePress Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 5B
Patrick Shillito
Staff Writer
pshillito@lassennews.com
While fire activity in
Lassen County has slowed to
a halt, fire activity in
Southern California has gone
out of control.
The wildfires in and
around San Diego County
have commanded national
attention, as well as national
aid from firefighters around
the country.
Locally, the Lassen/Modoc
unit of the California
Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection dedicated
most of its personnel, equip-
ment and resources to
Southern California.
So far, 13 out of the 15
engines on staff have been
dispatched tO the fires, along
with more than 100 of the 140
staffed personnel at the
Lassen/Modoc unit, includ-
ing one helicopter and its
crew.
Other agencies in the area
have also contributed to the
efforts down south through
equipment, personnel and
resources.
The Lassen National Forest
Fire Department has sent
four engines, along with 16
staff members.
Another 16 firefighters
from agencies in both Lassen
and Plumas counties assem-
bled a strike team. The fire-
fighters were from Susan
River, Susanville, Doyle,
Spaulding and Chester.
Twelve more firefighters
from the local Bureau of
Land Management unit were
also dispatched to Southern
California, along with one of
their type 2 Initial Attack
hand crew engine.
Even a inmate fire crew
from the California
Correctional Center joined up
with a strike team of crews
from other correctional insti-
tutions to combat the fires in
Southern California.
Susanville Interagency Fire
Center Manager Craig
Kincaid said the shortage of
staff due to the fires in south-
ern California and the expect-
:ed)iffdi'ease ii ti in Lassen
County - '"'
areamong the main
reasons why CAL FIRE
issued an emergency burn
ban for the county, expected
to end tomorrow, Oct. 31.
The ban was scheduled for
a week from Oct. 24, or until
CAL FIRE deems it safe to
burn again.
He also said because the
fire season for Lassen County
as officially ended, it took
some time to get all of the sea-
sonal employees back up and
ready to go.
"We wouldn't be able to
amass the same amount (of
firefighters) as we would dur-
ing fire season," Kincaid said.
"But say what you will
about response time,
California (fire agencies)
have responded very quickly
from up here."
The current shortage of
staff in Lassen County does-
n't mean there aren't agen-
cies and fire fighters in place.
Kincaid said a couple gov-
ernment engines and a couple
CAL FIRE engines from dif-
ferent regions have been dis-
patched to help cover Lassen
County while many firefight-
ing personnel are down
south.
"We're still good here,"
Kincaid said.
Fire activity has continued
to remain low in Lessen
County this past week.
SIFC responded to a total of
149 calls from Thursday, Oct.
18 to Wednesday, Oct. 24.
Dispatchers responded to
three reported vegetation
fires, 10 miscellaneous fire
calls, 58 medical aids, one
traffic collision, two haz-
ardous materials incidents
and 75 public assists.
The most recent fire inci-
dent of interest was a two-
acre vegetation fire caused by
an out of control debris burn
at 12:50 a.m. on Monday, Oct.
22.
The fire happened at 709-805
Coyote Lane in SusanviUe.
It destroyed an outbuilding
on the property as well as a
boat. Responding agencies
included CCC, Susan River
and CAL FIRE. No injuries
were reported.
Another fire was spotted
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Fires Collision FMS I Other
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Incident Types
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Medical
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Traffic
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While fires rage in Southern Californra, Lassen County experienced less fire activity last week. It should be noted that the number
of fires listed doesn't reflect the number of fires that actually occurred, just the number of fire incidents called into the Susanville
Interagency Fire Center. This includes false alarms.
out near Poison Lake around
roughly 12:50 a.m. Monday,
Oct. 22.
The vegetation fire, was
actually spotted by an LNF
crew en route to the fires in
Southern California.
They responded and put the
fire out, leaving other agen-
cies to finish the mop up pro-
cess so they could continue
south.
No injuries were reported,
and the cause is still under
investigation.
Members of the Lassen
County fire agencies said
they would like to warn peo-
ple to be careful with fire.
Even though it is now much
colder and some moisture has
returned to the area, current
,j
conditions can still cause
trouble when people aren't
careful It's very important to
have a good clearance both
around debris piles and struc-
tures.
Remember, a minimum of
100-foot clearances around
structures is required by
local fire agencies and the
state of California.
The first 30 feet is a good
clearance, and the next 70 feet
is good for spacing between
trees and brush.
This is called defensible
space by the fire agencies and
is necessary in order to help
protect your h()me in the
event of wildland fire near
your property. It's also impor-
tant to remember an emer-
gency burn ban may still be
in effect.
Check with your local CAL
FIRE agency if you aren't
sure if the ban has been lift-
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