Susan Barr
Kern Valley Sun

Last Sunday morning, the bay doors of Kern County Fire Department Station #72 were flung wide open. It wasn’t to make way for fire trucks making a speedy exit, but rather to provide room for valley residents eager to participate in the first annual “Keep Your Home Safe from Wildfire” Workshop.

Lloyd Smith, President of the KRVFSC welcomed everyone and provided a brief overview of the non-profit organization that is manned completely by volunteers. He told the gathered crowd, “The council’s vision is to ultimately create a wildland fire-safe community in the Kern River Valley.”

Kern County Fire Department Station 72 in Lake Isabella was the first stop on Sunday’s “Keep Your Home Safe from Wildfire” workshop. Additional properties in the area were assessed for the creation of a defensible space around the property, reduction of hazardous fuels, and planting firewise landscaping.

They hope to accomplish this by raising awareness and exchanging information at events like the weekend’s workshop. He shared that the overall theme was “Take Responsibility – Learn to Live with Wildfire.” The event was also being held to draw attention to National Wildfire Awareness Week (May 3-9).

“The Forest Service is definitely using science to help win the battle against wildfires,” said Scott Williams, Fire Management Officer with the local USFS District. He used a PowerPoint presentation to show how Web cams placed in remote areas provide valuable air quality information on smoke from existing fires.

He also showed how satellite images are used to monitor fires, to illustrate how rapidly they are spreading and the direction in which they are moving. Williams also demonstrated high tech computer programs that are used to analyze data that can monitor and predict wind patterns.

Guest speaker, Pat Durland, a Wildfire Safety Consultant out of Boise, Idaho gave attendees an overview of wildfires and the challenges that they pose for both homeowners and firefighters. He stated, “Various factors such as budgetary constraints, ever-increasing population growth, and continuing drought conditions are making it harder and harder for firefighting agencies to do their job,” Durland said. “As a result, homeowners must take on the responsibility of making their homes fire safe.”

He shared valuable information on the ‘little things’ such as, creating a defensible space around your home and property, reducing hazardous fuels around your property, installing and maintaining firewise landscaping, that homeowners can do to make a huge difference in protecting their homes and surrounding property from a wildfire. Building or remodeling with fire safe building material is recommended, Durland added.

Interested citizens roamed around inside the station looking at informative displays, collecting free materials and asking questions of the representatives of agencies and organizations participating in the event. The May 3 workshop was put on free of charge by the Kern River Valley Fire Safe Council (KRVFSC) in conjunction with the Kern County Fire Department (KCFD), the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Event Coordinator, Gordon Ehmann then led the participants by car caravan through Lake Isabella to Bodfish to view the ongoing Bodfish Fuel Reduction Project alongside Bodfish Canyon Road. After enjoying lunch in a field overlooking Bodfish Canyon, it was time to go on a guided tour to view a local Defensible Space Demonstration Lot and the Meyers Canyon Fuelbreak. Durland and Deborah Santiago of BLM, then took participants through the process of conducting hazard assessments on several local homes whose owners had been kind enough to offer access to the group.

Ehmann stated that KRVFSC hopes to put on a similar event again next year. He added, “Everyone who attended today’s workshop now has some hands-on knowledge that they can put to good use and easily share with others. You could say that they now have an educated eye when it comes to assessing potential wildfire hazards.” If the enthusiastic response by the participants is any indication, they’ll surely be back again next year with friends and family in tow.

For more information, visit the KRVFSC web site at www.krvfiresafecouncil.com or attend one of the group’s monthly meetings which takes place on the third Thursday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in the Kern County’s Kern River Building located at 7050 Lake Isabella Blvd. A fire safety guide will also be included in the Kern Valley Sun in the May 13 issue.