By Sarah Kingsbury
The Chico Enterprise-Record (California)
FOREST RANCH, Calif. — Residents here were mostly unaffected by the summer lightning fires, save for the smoke, but the blazes were enough to prompt some community members to take action.
Two months ago, in response to the fires, the Forest Ranch Fire Safe Council was born.
The organization took an important step Saturday, when about 25 neighborhood leaders were trained by members of Cal Fire-Butte County and other fire experts to inspect homes for landscaping or materials that might help spread flames.
The core group that started the council was mostly in place since many are part of a community service organization formed three years ago to educate Forest Ranch citizens about broom, an oily plant that helps fuel flames.
Bruce McLean, one of the leading organizers of the council, said the mountainside has exploded with growth and vegetation that hasn’t been allowed to naturally burn off in cycles, which makes Forest Ranch a disaster waiting to happen.
“When fire occurs, it occurs with a terrible vengeance,” he said, recalling the area’s last big fire, which burned the borders of the town, in 1998. “We know fires will occur. Our goal is to make living here more safe from fire.”
Now the council is charged with educating its neighbors and the town’s 1,500 residents. Council members were taught about fire safety compliance laws and how to inspect homes for landscaping, brush or materials that could be altered to prevent flames from creeping onto property.
The group visited five residents who had volunteered their property to be inspected for the training, although organizers said at least a dozen had signed up to be considered for the inspections.
Sites were considered for the slope of the land, prevailing winds in the area, low-hanging branches, flammable materials around the house and a buildup of dry brush or vegetation within a 100-foot radius of the property.
Besides saving time and resources for those who need it, community members find other benefits to having their homes inspected by a council member rather than a fire official.
“The nice thing about us is we don’t come and write people up,” McLean said. “We’re an alternative to that.”
Some council members who participated Saturday said the training was beneficial because they were taught how to educate people on how to handle landscaping during fire season.
“It was encouraging to us because now when we talk to our neighbors we’re not going to be asking them to cut it all down,” said Gretchen Vandewalle.