 Every year local firefighters brave the flames and beat back blazes across the Owens Valley. With late-spring rains this year, firefighters are asking residents to exercise extreme caution when recreating this summer. Fire forecasts predict this summer will be a dangerous fire season, and everyone can do their part to prevent wild fires. File photo By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
6-6-09 School’s out for summer and that means residents and visitors of all ages head outside for their favorite summer activities.
But recreation in the High Sierra has its hazards, and just because Inyo County has seen its fair share of rain the past few weeks doesn’t mean residents are out of the woods when it comes to wild fires.
In addition to the current risk of thunder and lightning, later this summer recreators can expect to see an abundance of light grasses and other plants that will dry out when the Owens Valley’s volatile summer heat sets in, creating the perfect fine fuel.
“I think one of the things we’re concerned about now is that this cooler, wetter weather is fooling people into thinking there is not a fire risk,” said U.S. Forest Service Public Information Officer Nancy Upham.
“This season is going to be very bad,” said CalFire Owens Valley Battalion Chief Michael Smith. “The grasses have had a better chance to grow this year, so the light flashy fuels will be more abundant.”
Light grasses can ignite easily and everything from cigarettes to campfires to cars can causes catastrophic fires that can spread quickly to “ladder fuels” such as sage and shrubs that can help a blaze jump into “heavy fuels.”
“It’s what’s going to carry the fire into heavy fuels. The heavier the fuels, the hotter the fire burns and the more dangerous it is for us,” Smith said.
Much of the fine spring grass that grew earlier in the year began to dry out before the recent showers. But as the rains came in late May, the wet weather prompted new green grasses to grow through the dry, dead fuel from earlier in the season.
“We’re just going to double our fuel load,” Smith said.
In an effort to curb fire risks across the county, local fire officials are asking recreators to exercise extreme caution when out doors and remember to smoke only in developed areas, away from plants and flammable material. Campers are also advised that there is no overnight camping on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power land, and, once fire restrictions go into effect sometime in July, campfires will only be permitted in developed sites.
Anyone with a campfire this summer should remember Smokey Bear’s drown, stir and feel technique to be sure their fire is out.
Upham said that a campfire that appears to be out could have burning embers covered by ash, and when the wind picks up, those embers can easily blow out of the fire pit and into brush, causing a blaze.
Also, anglers are advised to be vigilant where they park their vehicles on public property, because a hot engine compartment or catalytic converter coming in contact with fine fuels can combust as easily as a carelessly discarded cigarette.
The Owens River is one of the areas of the Owens Valley that is prone to fire due to the high volume of traffic and variations in the vegetation. The river area has light grasses, “ladder fuels” and large trees, which provides a perfect environment for wind-driven fires to grow and spread.
Once a blaze has the opportunity to reach into the limbs of a tree, high winds can blow embers as far as a mile away, starting what firefighters call spot, smaller blazes that have potential to grow with the wind.
Smith said that the best way for residents to protect their homes this summer will be to clear a “defensible space” about 100 feet away from structures.
That means creating about 30 feet of greenery around the home that won’t easily catch fire, and making sure that brush and trees within the further 70 feet is cut back, and dry and dead fuels are removed.
“We’ve had a very good completion rate in Inyo County for defensible space,” Smith said. “The people in the Owens Valley have been very good about their defensible space, and we have about an 80 percent completion rate for residents. The defensible space was made so firefighters could get in and defend a home” without running a greater risk of being overtaken by the blaze.
But, through education and public awareness, all local fire agencies are hoping to avoid major blazes this year.
“Any human-caused fires that we can prevent is just that many steps ahead,” Upham said, adding that if residents are careful while they’re recreating they are doing their part to prevent forest fires.
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