The Value of Shaded Fuel Breaks
At 6:00 PM on June 1, 2021, neighbors notified authorities of smoke rising from Stevens Canyon. Rangers from MROSD were dispatched and discovered a small vegetation fire alongside Charcoal Road within the Saratoga Gap Open Space Preserve. With the help of CalFire and Santa Clara County Fire crews, they were able to quickly contain the fire at less than ¼ acre.
County Fire attributes the slow rate of spread to the shaded fuel break that was done in this area starting in 2017 and completed in 2018. That project was initially conceived by Dick Schwind, the founder and first President of the South Skyline FireSafe Council (SSFSC). Dick enlisted the support of Ed Orre, CalFire Santa Clara Unit Forester and Division Chief, who in turn obtained funding from Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCCFSC). Using SCCFSC Project Manager Jim Young, crews from CalFire SCU Vegetation Management, CalFire CZU Ben Lomond Camp, California Conservation Corps, MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District, and Santa Clara Parks, this project cleared 2.4 miles of Charcoal Rd, from Skyline to Table Mountain, 100’ to 150’ wide and chipped all of the slash. It took 61 crew days and 41 chipping days to clear 34.79 acres. This included almost 5000 hours of crew and volunteer time.
Because this shaded fuel break had removed ladder fuels, the fire that began on June 1 burned slowly and was contained quickly. This proves the value of the fuel reduction projects that your FireSafe Councils are always striving to complete. See the article by Debra Born in this newsletter about our current fuel reduction projects.
Your FireSafe Council is working hard to assure we are all safe!
