The Board of Supervisors was happy to hear at Tuesday’s meeting that the local CAL FIRE unit is fully staffed and prepared to fight fires. However, supervisors urged residents to continue to cut back vegetation and make their properties as defensible as possible.
“I feel I can sleep at night now,” Board Chair Heidi Hall told Brian Estes, the unit and fire chief for CAL FIRE's Nevada Yuba Placer Unit after his presentation at Tuesday's Board meeting. “To hear how well positioned CAL FIRE is and how much collaboration you are doing is stunning and very, very comforting. You are as well positioned as you can possibly be.”
Supervisor Sue Hoek said the public must continue to step up and be part of the solution. “I want to put it back on the public,” she said. “Keep up with your vegetation management, follow the rules around burn permits, be ready.”
Residents can find helpful tips on wildfire mitigation and emergency preparedness at ReadyNevadaCounty.org.
Estes said fortunately the region is not experiencing a drought and there is an “average” level of vegetation and grass in the region that could fuel potential fires. Rainfall is 90-110% of normal, which is a “very comfortable level,” he said.
However, he said fire danger remains an ever-present threat in the state. While historically, the threat lasted only three months, in the last decade that changed. “Fire season is a word that is almost a little outdated.”