By Connie Pendleton
Devastating fires in the greater Los Angeles area compel all Californians to feel anxious about their own fire-safety. The topography, high fuel loads and frequent drought conditions on the Central Coast leave us vulnerable to potential catastrophic wildfires, according to the Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District (US-LTRCD). What are we doing about it? In San Luis Obispo County several agencies have worked collaboratively to reduce the risk of wildfire. Multiple prescribed burns are scheduled for the area. However, some of the fire-safe responsibility resides with individual property owners and residents.
Prescribed Burns
The CA Department of Parks and Recreation announced Feb. 3 prescribed burns of brush piles and broadcast burning is to occur at Montana de Oro and Morro Bay State Parks through Feb. 27. Fire activity begins as early as 7 a.m. going until 5 p.m. Burning at Montana de Oro includes approximately 400 brush piles and the duff layer between Horse Camp and Hazard Canyon along Pecho Valley Road. It also includes about 50 piles each on Butte Drive and around E Camps 1 and 2, as well as 10 piles on Sea Wind Way. At Morro Bay State Park, burns include about 200 brush piles at the Black Hill area and approximately 50 piles between upper State Park Road and Park View Drive in the Powerline Trail area. California State Parks is working in conjunction with Cal Fire, Morro Bay Fire Department and the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD).
Prescribed burning is also expected soon in Cambria, according to Fire Chief Michael Burkey. Permits have been obtained from Cal Fire. The US-LTRCD says there is a clear need to reduce fuel loads over large areas, create defensible space around homes and improve forest health. This includes encouraging native plant growth and reducing the spread of invasive plants, non-native grasses and pathogens.
Funding
The SLO County Fire Safety Council, active since 2000, works to obtain grants to sponsor projects. It is comprised of individual citizens and businesses from communities throughout the county, as well as from local government, county, state and federal agencies. It works from a holistic approach addressing the individual needs of each community or area and provides planning, public education, fuel reduction and preparation.
Working under the guidance of the Council are multiple Fire Safe Focus Groups from communities throughout the county. They represent and help to identify specific needs for their communities. There are currently eight active grants, according to Executive Director Dan Turner. Grants are partly or fully awarded by the CA Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (Cal Fire) Forest Health’s Grant Program as part of the California Climate’s Investment Program.
Two grants were awarded in 2024, one for $6.7M and the other for $3.1M. Grants are targeted for different purposes based on identified goals. Projects began in 2024, and some grant money is used for maintenance in areas where work has been completed in the past.
These grants are instrumental in preventing large-scale wildfires and therefore loss of insurance coverage. The purpose for the larger grant is to help reduce fire hazards and work to restore the health of Monterey pine forests in San Simeon and Cambria. Some of those areas include Hearst Ranch, Pico Creek, San Simeon Point, Covell Ranch, Fiscalini Ranch Preserve and UCSB’s Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve. Turner said that Monterey pines need sun, and the understory needs to be cleared to reduce competition for water. The extended drought from 2014-2018 resulted in a lot of tree mortality.
The smaller grant is for 1,049 acres of prescribed animal grazing in Cambria, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles; as well as creating shaded fuel breaks and roadside clearances in Atascadero, Arroyo Grande and Lake Nacimiento. Plans for Creston include mechanical mastication (or chopping and shredding) of fire-prone vegetation and prescribed burns.
Countywide, the initiative includes chipping, removing hazardous trees, and the eradication of flammable French Broom to ensure safe egress and access routes. In Cambria, a tree service is hired to thin the forest and clean up hazardous fuels on community owned parcels. There was a chipping event in Cambria in July 2024, which allowed 29 residents to have their brush piles chipped. The two largest piles totaled seven and eight tons!
The grants, which are good through 2030, are also used for evacuation planning and guides as well. The goal is to identify weak points and develop more effective exit routes. The Fire Safety Council has obtained 30 or 40 grants in the past.
US-LTRCD worked in conjunction with multiple agencies to establish a plan to help restore the vitality and resiliency of the forest against potential fires at the Rancho Marino Reserve. The 500-acre property is located on the south side of Cambria. After obtaining the grant and permit from Cal Fire, crews worked on a cleanup project of 400 piles from a 43-acre section between April-October of 2024. Crews also worked on adjacent Camp Ocean Pines. They thinned the forests, cleaned up ground fuels and conducted ladder cleaning, a method of removing lower branches on trees to better ensure potential fires remain low to the ground and not burn into the upper canopy, which can lead to devastation. Burning of piles in both locations are planned for 2025.
Greenspace Cambria has teamed up with US-LTRCD to enhance forest health and community safety in Strawberry Canyon, a 34-acre property on the south side of town.
Sheep and goats have been used together in a limited area to consume a combination of invasive grasses and non-native plants. The native understory plants remain safe; however, the animals do eat native poison oak. Spencer Gordon, project manager for US-LTRCD, said that additional funding has been obtained so the project can continue.
Throughout history, Native American Tribes conducted intentional cultural burns for over 10,000 years to promote growth of foraged food, biodiversity, safety from devastating fires and other purposes. This type of burning was outlawed over 100 years ago, which resulted in ecological damage. Currently, there is forward momentum in combining efforts between the YTT Northern Chumash Tribe and San Luis Obispo Prescribed Burn Association, according to Gordon. This effort would provide additional support to existing agencies who are physically unable to address the vast amount of vulnerable land around our county.
The Rangeland Improvement Association, a private organization of cattle ranchers out of Huasna, conduct burns for the purpose of eradicating invasive weeds and promoting the growth of good feed for their cattle. They use private funds and obtain permits from Cal Fire and the APCD. According to its website, the SLO County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) announced on Dec. 3, 2024, 200 piles of vegetation would be burned near Obispo and Richard Avenues above Cayucos Cemetery. On Dec. 16 the agency also announced a 276-acre burn of coastal sage and oak woodlands would occur on the Lighthouse Vegetation Management Project along Diablo Canyon Road northwest of Avila Beach. The APCD worked with Cal Fire, SLO County Fire Department, PG&E and Cayucos landowners.
Residents’ Responsibility
Cabrillo Estates in Los Osos and Cambria are two of nine communities in the county with Firewise USA designations. The program, developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), is designed to empower residents to work with local officials and fire safety experts to reduce wildfire risks in their community.
Retaining the Firewise USA designation requires residents to maintain defensible space around their properties, participate in community clean-up events, and to stay informed about wildfire safety practices. Residents are encouraged to use the NFPA website nfpa.org as a resource.
The best thing residents can do is to maintain their properties with an eye toward fire-safety, according to Fire Chief Burkey. Residents should assess the fire risks on their properties and follow recommended tips to minimize them. Insurance companies can often make recommendations for fire-safe interventions, sometimes signaling loss of insurance protection if not achieved.
Flying embers from a fire can land on and destroy a home one mile away so removing pine needles, leaves and other debris from rooftops and rain gutters is important. Creating defensible space by clearing away dead brush; keeping wood piles away from structures; and maintaining ground debris, grasses and other plants at a 4-inch maximum height provides firefighters a safe area to defend your home. Burkey said fallen trees larger than 12 inches in diameter are okay, but smaller dead trees and more easily ignitable branches and debris should be removed. Large trees left on the ground should look like a big pencil when you are done.
Home hardening, which Turner highly recommends, involves using fire-resistant materials on and around your home. He said brush burns quickly, but fires that engulf homes create hotter embers, which get thrown and ignite neighboring homes.
A good resource for assessing fire risk at your home and learning about defensible space and home hardening can be found at firesafeslo.org. Burkey also makes himself available to residents on a monthly basis at the Veterans Hall in Cambria.
