FireWatch Articles

Winter 2011 Edition

Chief’s Notes

As we ease into yet another winter, I have to reminisce on the past summer. After nine months of winter last year, summer was a welcome sight, in spite of the snow at the end of June. The temperatures were actually rather cool all summer, and we enjoyed a moist couple of months as the huge snow-pack melted back and filled the lake. The wildfire season was pretty much a non-issue with the exception of a couple of lighting fires, and a human caused fire in the Nevada hills. Locally, we had one spot fire of about 100'x50' in the State Parks an early morning this fall. I originally wrote that it was quiet after that, and then we got the call for a large fire in Reno that was burning structures. Again, this was another wind-driven fire in November, and we threw the snow chains onto the engine as we had snow later that day!

Despite the fewer amount of summer visitors, our staff stayed busy running a lot of other calls in the months of July and August. As we eased into one of the best "Indian Summers" in many years, mother nature was again kind, and didn’t bring us the high winds or torrential rains of previous years. As the first fall snow storms hit, we saw the return of the icy roads which resulted in vehicle accidents-- yes, the weather really does impact our business!

One of our missions is to protect your lives and property from damage and hazards. While we cannot protect you from everything (that is your responsibility), we certainly want to attempt to prevent bad things from happening, if we can. Prevention is key in our world, and we think most of you would rather avoid having to call 9-1-1 if at all possible. That said, prevention takes some effort on your behalf: you might have to exercise more to prevent your body from revolting, or you might have to clean your chimney to prevent a fire.

We all know that the government has instituted many safety issues to prevent catastrophes, however, the real action has to come from the individual person to implement these safety procedures. While cars may be required to have safety belts installed, if the person doesn’t use them, they’re useless (you wouldn’t believe how many people I see putting on their belts when I drive by in my command vehicle!).

Yes, some claim that government has gone overboard on the safety issues, yet the first time something bad happens, the fingers are pointed at the officials for not doing enough to protect the people. Hmmm. . . Inasmuch as you’ve "hired" us to protect you, we’ll continue to try to do our best to suggest ways to prevent harm from striking. Ultimately, though, it’s up to you to implement the prevention recommendations to protect your lives and property.

Some of you are probably wondering why I wrote this serious, semi-philosophical note. This past summer, we had to appeal to you to check out your gas systems, since we saw a lot of damage last winter. Many of you actually did step up and do something, even though it took time and cost money. We applaud those who heeded our warnings. Still, we know there are property owners out there who haven’t done a thing. I wonder what it will take to "light a fire" (figuratively) under them to motivate them to take action. (Please feel free to send me your suggestions at chief@meeksbayfire.com.)

One of our esteemed fire instructors drilled the following phrase into our heads: "If it’s predictable, it’s preventable!" (Gordon Graham).

Hey Chief, lighten-up already! It’s the holiday season–go out and have some fun! Oh yeah! That means I get to run a few more (prevention) miles for all of the delicious food that I get to inhale–yahoo!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

Meeks Bay Fire District Directors Seated

By Ed Miller, MBFPD Board President

At the last election, three members of the Meeks Bay Fire District Board of Directors retained their seats, having run unchallenged.

Board Secretary/Treasurer Jane Warmack, a retired educator, has served on the Board for 14 years. Jane and her husband Richard live in Meeks Bay.

Vice-President Nick Kromydas, has served our community on the Board for 25 years. Nick is a renowned AIA architect, and lives in the Westlake Village subdivision of Tahoma with his wife Teresa.

Board President Ed Miller also retained his seat, and as of this February will have held this office for 30 years. He and his wife Lolly Kupec are owners of Wild West Communications Group and live in Westlake Village. Ed is also Chair of the El Dorado County Civil Service Commission, having served the County for 22 years.

The other two Directors were not up for re-election. They are Bruce Massie of Westlake Village, owner of Creative Kitchens & Baths, and Steve Hyde, of Rubicon. Steve retired as Senior Regional Director (California), of Ducks Unlimited.

We are your elected representatives to the District and are honored to serve you, our constituents. We are available for your comments, questions, or other concerns and can be reached through the District office at 530-525-7548, or at Staff@MeeksBayFire.com. Board meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of every month and the public is encouraged to attend. Please check with the office to confirm meeting dates.

Will Your Home Survive?

These photos were taken from the Reno fire that burned 31 homes and ~2500 acres in mid-November. They were right next to eachother. Many homes survived the conflagration. Why? Likely construction materials, wind patterns, ember penetration, and luck.

District Fuels Reduction Projects Wrapping Up…

By Doug Taggart, Neighborhood Fuels & Biomass Coordinator

As fall moves into early December, almost all of our summer season forest fuels reduction work has been completed. One project, in Sugarpine Point State Park, part of the community's shaded fuel break around Tahoma, is still underway. It is a 75 acre forest thinning project that is removing large amounts of biomass in the form of dense understory trees, mostly fir. As of Thanksgiving it was over half complete and, if the weather stays dry, the contractor may actually finish the cutting before winter.

Our in-house chipping crew also worked on a number of vacant, publically owned parcels again this

summer, in-between chipping and pine needle pick-ups. We finally completed the last of the El Dorado County lots in the District so that all have now had a first treatment. In all cases, we removed flammable brush & ground cover as well as broke up dense stands of diseased and dying small trees into more open and scattered groups of healthy stock, favoring our native Sugar and Jeffery pine species.

In addition, our crews worked on some vacant parcels owned by the California Tahoe Conservancy. The first unit completed consisted of 19 lots between Highway 89 and Williams Lane. The second group of parcels, totaling over 5 acres, around the cabins and homes at the Meeks Meadow Trailhead, is almost all done except for some additional chipping and biomass clean-up.

Forest fuels reduction treatment of these publically owned vacant lot parcels is very important to the defensible space in our district, as they are scattered among parcels and homes, district wide. Wildfire does not stop at the lot line. By getting lots from the Forest Service, El Dorado County, Tahoe City PUD, CalTrans and the Tahoe Conservancy, cleaned up, we are helping the adjoining homeowners to improve their defensible space. Keep up your part of the job by maintaining your property as a Defensible Space.

Propane and Natural Gas System Inspections

By Lt. Mike Hacker

In late summer we sent all homeowners a letter detailing a gas system inspection program we were implementing this year. Inspections were started in mid September at the north end of the fire district. Please see our web site at www.meeksbayfire.com/prevention.htm for a copy of that letter and the inspection form. You may have already received a completed inspection form in the mail. Please read it over carefully and correct any deficiencies indicated. If you have any questions or require clarifications please call us at 530-525-7548.

The number one cause of gas leaks is the weight of snow, either pushing against gas system components, or collapsing overhead structures onto components. It is imperative that snow be kept off gas system components throughout the winter. During the course of our inspections we are looking for code violations and the integrity of overhead structures. If your system exhibits an immediate threat to life and safety, it may be shut down and red-tagged until the deficiencies are corrected. In many cases you may see the "u/a" box checked, this indicates that the inspector was unable to answer that particular item. Our inspectors are not engineers and cannot determine if your meter/regulator overhead protective structures/covers meet El Dorado County Building Department snow load requirements. The homeowner is ultimately responsible for meeting codes and ensuring system safety. Our role is to heighten awareness for, and to educate homeowners about, potential or actual hazards.

Natural and propane gas systems are similar to your vehicle, they require on-going inspections and maintenance to ensure that they continue to operate as designed. And, of course, most everything deteriorates over time.

Privately Owned, Vacant Parcels Will be a Focus of Inspection and Treatment for 2012

By Doug Taggart, Neighborhood Fuels & Biomass Coordinator

Most of the publically owned vacant parcels in the District have now been treated to remove brush, dense and unhealthy small tree thickets and other flammable forest fuels. And over half of our parcels with homes and structures have had at least some level of defensible space work done, although many have not yet reached the required compliant level of Public Resources Code 4291 . But what about that lot next door that is undeveloped and so thick a dinosaur could live there and never be seen?

Well…our 2012 wildfire prevention and defensible space efforts will move more towards these privately owned and undeveloped parcels, comingled between lived in homes and defensible space treated properties. It is certainly an inequity of the system that the homeowner MUST do their defensible space right to the property line, yet a vacant lot next door, severely overgrown, can be a tinderbox waiting to explode into wildfire. An ember from a near by chimney, kids playing with matches, a exhaust spark from someone cutting firewood or their vehicle, all can blow up quickly and move into adjoining homes before first responders can even get there.

There are well over 400 such parcels in our District. To address this issue, the District adopted the Hazardous Vegetation Abatement on Unimproved Parcels - Ordinance 10-1. It is available to read on our website at www.meeksbayfire.com. In short, if the owner doesn't maintain the parcel, then the District can abate the risk by having the required fuels reduction work be done by a designated agent, with all the associated costs passed on to the parcel owner's yearly tax assessments. Like the Defensible Space requirements of PRC 4291, this ordinance is a disclosable issue in a real estate transaction.

In some of the areas, especially Tahoma, where lots are very small, numerous homeowners have bought adjoining vacant lots for "breathing" space. Many of these have been thinned aggressively by these same owners while others have not had any work done at all. Your Fire District stands ready to help as much as we possibly can so, if you own a vacant parcel, please be proactive in 2012 by cleaning it up. Call us for assistance and guidance in the needed treatments to make everyone safer from wildfire.

Smoke Alarms, Carbon Monoxide Alarms, House Alarms: Helpful or a Pain in the Rear?

By Chief John Pang

Sometimes technology can help us, and sometimes, it can create more problems. Here’s a brief commentary on the various types of alarms we have come to live with. Maybe you’ve "felt my pain" with these stories, and maybe you’ll be motivated to reflect on your own living situation to see if these might help save your life.

Smoke Alarms
We all know that the current code requires a smoke alarm in every bedroom, and in each hallway on every floor. For some of you, this might result in dozens of smoke alarms. In my small abode, I still have ten smoke alarms (yes, my wife says I went overboard!). Recently, there was a double fatality less than a mile from my home as the residents never woke up when an errant flame or ember, from an exterior camp fire appliance, burned their house down. There were a few smoke alarms found, but who knows if they actually worked. While teenagers have been known to sleep through a smoke alarm, most middle aged adults will wake right up to the obnoxious beeping of a smoke alarm.

Inasmuch as we just turned back the clocks, I pulled out the batteries and went to work swapping out the old for the new. Unfortunately, some of my "new" batteries were not that new, and had been sitting in the drawer too long (even though they were dated until 2014). They didn’t work in the alarm as it kept "chirping" which meant the battery was old, or that there was another issue: a faulty smoke alarm. This was the second bad alarm I’ve had in the last couple of years. A week later, two more of the alarms went bad and sent out false signals. These alarms were less than five years old, and they were interconnected and hard wired into a 110V circuit. Some worked for less than 24 hours with the new battery, before they started chirping. Of course, one started chirping when I was away (as they always do, much to my wife’s annoyance!) Yes, these things go bad. They’re supposed to last ten years, however, they just don’t (this same thing happened to another friend of mine last month).

I know some of you have told me that you just ignore the "chirp" since you don’t want to deal with getting a ladder out in the middle of the night. One person said he listened to the chirp for over a year! Personally, I can’t deal with the sound, so I try to change the battery ASAP. If you need help with your smoke alarms, please contact us. We’ve got replacement battery alarms at the station and we’ll even help you replace your batteries if you can’t do it on your own. If you’re building a new house, you might consider wiring a special battery backup system in an easy to reach location like a utility room. Yes, smoke alarms can save lives–but only if they’re working!

Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms are now required in all new homes. That said, CO doesn’t recognize a new home from an old home, and won’t even try to awake you with smoke, heat, or an odor. In fact, it lures you into a deep sleep and can kill you rapidly. We’ve been promoting CO alarms for years. While the first generation of these alarms caused many false alarms, the recent versions seem to be a lot more reliable. There are a couple of issues with these alarms also: the chirp can be difficult to differentiate from a smoke alarm when the battery goes bad (ours just went bad in the middle of the night a few months ago!). Additionally, the sensor in the units have a life-span of about four years. The advantage of these, over smoke alarms, is that you can plug them into a wall outlet since CO is a relatively neutral gas. If you really want to minimize the number or alarms on your ceiling and walls, you can also get a combination smoke and CO alarm. Despite the inconvenience of another alarm, I’d rather wake up to an alarm, than not wake up at all. For those of you with campers or motor homes, these devices should be a part of your alarm system also.

House Alarms
Some of you also have "whole house" alarms which include a burglar, smoke, CO, water flow, rise of heat, and possibly many other types of sensors which will automatically contact a third party if something is awry at your home. Many of these can certainly save your life or reduce property damage to your structure. That said, just like every other type of sensor, they need maintenance and periodic replacement.

Electrical spikes can also trigger these alarms and, whenever we have a serious lightening storm, we will usually get a call or two for an alarm system triggered by an electrical spike. While these can be amazing devices, we often will need your alarm tech to reset them or trouble shoot them.

Panic Alarms
These, too, can be a lifesaver, as long as they are working correctly. The most important piece of this link is that the company that the alarm is connected to knows who to call to get us dispatched. (The Grass Valley Emergency Command Center is our dispatcher–call us for their number.)

In summary, while these devices can, and will, save lives, they need ongoing TLC to keep them working. Smoke alarms should be completely changed every ten years, and CO alarms every four years. Putting an installation date, with a Sharpie, on the back of the alarm is also helpful in reminding you of a devices' age. More importantly, the batteries need to be changed frequently (depending upon the type of battery you use).

Generator Safety

By Lt. Mike Hacker

Residential back-up generators are becoming very common these days to provide power for our homes when the power goes out. Our winter storms in the Sierra are when power outages are most prevalent.

There are two types of systems most commonly used: whole-house, stand-by generators and portable generators. Whole house generators usually run on natural gas or propane and automatically start when the power goes out. They are generally in a fixed location outside. Portable generators can be located anywhere and usually run on gasoline or diesel fuel. Both types should annually be inspected and serviced by a professional.

A few safety tips to consider while using your generators:

Never use your generator indoors, including garages that have open doors. Homes are not air tight, and carbon monoxide can build up quickly causing illness, or even death. Have at least one carbon monoxide detector on every level of your home.

Generators should be located outdoors at least ten feet from your home so that exhaust can readily dissipate.

Store extra fuel at least twenty feet away from the generator and never re-fuel the generator while it is running. Turn it off and wait until it cools.

Generators that automatically start must have a labeled, Fire Department approved, emergency shut-off switch on the outside of your house easily visible from the front or near your existing power meter shut-off.

Never back feed your home’s electrical system. You must have a transfer switch, professionally installed, which separates the power grid system from your home’s system. When using extension cords to power individual appliances or lights, be sure not to overload them; keep them as short as possible, and size them appropriately for the load.

Used correctly and properly maintained, the right size generator can be a safe way to keep a refrigerator, furnace and a few lights going until the power is restored.

Deck Health

By Chief John Pang

NO, I’m not talking about catching your daily dose of Vitamin D on your porch (although Vitamin D is important for your health), I am talking about the condition of your deck. Okay....now what’s the nexus here Chief?

Well, the most obvious nexus is that dried out deck boards with a lot of cracks are great ember receptors. A friend’s house burned down at the Washoe Fire because his deck caught on fire when the embers from his neighbor’s house rained down onto the dried, old, wooden planks.

More importantly, though, is the structural health of your deck. After the heavy snows last winter, many decks suffered stress damage. Some actually fell off and crushed items stored below, or even worse, fell onto the gas meter located below the deck. (Ah ha, decks...gas meters...leaking gas–now I get the nexus!)

Most decks have a normal life-span of about 20 years, according to the building department. The heavy snows of last winter could have drastically lowered this statistic, especially if you didn’t shovel the snow off your deck.

We suggest you really take a good look at the condition of your deck (or have an engineer evaluate it) to make sure the deck-to-house connection is sound, and that the support posts and piers are still viable. If the deck looks like it’s pulling away from the house, or if the posts or deck joists are cracked, or out of plumb, definitely consider having an expert assess your structure. Additionally, if you see cracks in the concrete piers and footings, it’s time to consider replacement. Many of the decks constructed over 20 years ago were not built to withstand the large winters we’ve seen the last couple of years.

For more information about signs to look for regarding the health of your deck, feel free to contact us, or check out our web at www.meeksbayfire.com. Now you can get back to your sun-tanning!

Chipping and Needle Pick-up Issues from 2011

By Doug Taggart, Neighborhood Fuels & Biomass Coordinator and David Rodriguez, Crew Supervisor

Our neighborhood chipping and pine needle pick-up crew continued to report many cases of home and property owners not preparing their piles properly for treatment, this past summer. Three major causes will lead to a rejection of your pile/bags being taken care of, when you call next summer.

1. We do not pick up piles of raked small dead branches, twigs, cones, bark, dirt, stones and duff. You may either bag it and take it to the dump; put two bags a week out with your garbage, (if you have garbage service); take it to the Green Day at Tahoma on the Saturday morning of Memorial Weekend; take it to the Green Day at the Homewood Parking lot in late July; or come and get a burn permit. And don't attempt to hide it in the middle of a pile of limbs and trees for chipping. As soon as we find it, we stop. The same goes for finding this stuff in bags labeled as clean needles. A bag of "clean needles" is very light in weight, to pick up. If the bag is heavy, we leave it, as it can't be clean needles.

2. We do not chip piles of stuff, thrown into the heap, every which way. We have to feed the items one or two at a time into the chipper. Having a mish-mash pile is unsafe for us to chip. When you pile your cut limbs and small trees for chipping, at curbside, you must place the cut ends nearest, (but not on), the street, and the limbs and trunks should be as neat and parallel as possible. Don't worry about how long it is since it is easier to chip a complete small tree than a bunch of sections, each with branches. Get two or three people to drag the bigger stuff to the pile, don't cut it up. With manzanita, huckle-berry oak and other such shrubs, place all the cut ends at the curb and make the pile as neat as possible. All material to be chipped should be recently cut or green. Really old and dry limbs will shatter when the chipper gets a hold of them, and is unsafe.

3. We do not pick up, or chip piles that have dirt, stones, construction debris, dog or bear feces, punky rounds, pieces of rotten firewood or dead and dry limbs. Dirt, stones and metal items ruin our blades and can cause injury to bystanders or property when thrown out. The dead and dry limbs don't feed into the chipper, instead they shatter or explode into flying pieces. Punky rounds and rotten firewood don't feed into the chipper either. Follow the options available to you for disposal, as listed above in number 1.

We will continue offering free defensible space evaluations, curbside chipping and biomass removal in 2012. With funding cutbacks, we will have a smaller crew and less money to spend on equipment repairs, especially caused by stuff going through them that break, dull or damage the equipment. And, ever rising workers’ compensation costs drive the goal of a perfect season of operator safety. Thanks for YOUR help!

Annexation Completed!

After many years of planning, and numerous documents and maps, and lots of negotiations and meetings, the District finally received word from the "Local Area Formation Commission" (LAFCO) that a handful of structures, in the Emerald Bay Tract and at the south end of Upper Rubicon, are now officially a part of the District. For decades, we have served these properties out of default, however, they were never officially a part of the District. We welcome these new property owners!

Why Are the Trees Marked with Pink Numbers Along H-89?

Those of you who have driven south of Meeks Bay, along Highway 89, have likely noticed pink numbers on many of the trees adjacent to the highway. Per CalTrans, these trees are scheduled for removal as they are too close to the edge of pavement.

Speaking of CalTrans, they are planning to start working on Hwy 89, along the West Shore from Tahoe City heading south, beginning the 2012 summer. Please plan your driving along the highway accordingly, as there will be many delays.

Gas Meter Sheds

There are numerous designs for gas meter sheds to protect your LPG or natural gas meter. Our ordinance requires that the meter be able to withstand the snow load for our area per, the County Building Department. We do NOT advise that you totally enclose the meter with a shed, as this will prevent us from turning off your gas valve rapidly in the event of a leak (especially if the shed door is buried under feet of snow!).

If we can’t turn off your gas valve, the ensuing flow could accelerate any emergency to your lives and property. Additionally, if the wooden, meter shed catches on fire, it could melt the washer in the shut-off valve, thus rendering it useless. This will result in a long delay in shutting down the gas to your residence. Please contact us for more information about meter shed designs if you have any further questions. We have posted an approved engineered meter shed design on our website at: www.meeksbayfire.com.

SRA Fee Update:

As you may have heard, the State of California adopted a new "SRA (State Responsibility Area) Fee" for about 850,000 properties located in areas which Cal Fire serves. This was an effort to help solve the State’s general fund budget shortfall. The fee has gone through numerous iterations, and this District, along with many other governmental agencies, has written letters opposing the fee. While we totally support Cal Fire, we don’t believe this fee is the proper means to garner more revenue for the State. Additionally, due to the fact that the US Forest Service represents Cal Fire in the basin (supposedly, Cal Fire will not be back in the basin next year due to the budget cuts), we don’t feel it is appropriate that our property owners pay this fee.

Here is the latest update from the Chief at Cal Fire, based on a meeting held on November 9, 2011:

The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection met and adopted revised emergency regulations which establish an SRA Fee of $150. Homeowners in the SRA living in areas where local government provides fire protection are eligible for a $35 offset.

The Governor hopes to raise $50 million for the budget from these fees. We’ve heard that this will be litigated as soon as the first bill is sent.