 The Outer Jamul Fire Safe Council meets monthly on the second Thursday at the Deerhorn Fire Station #37 on Honey Springs Road starting at 7:00 PM.
All community residents are encouraged to attend as the Board welcomes suggestions and participation in important matters including planning for end of year 2010 events including community motorized tool safety classes, and planning for volunteer and contracted portions of the US Forest Service grant in the winter of 2010/2011.
Major funding for our US Forest Service grant has begun! The OJFSC has purchased a professional chipper/shredder, chain saws, weed cutters and trimmers, safety equipment, and hand tools for the volunteer defensible space portion of the grant. A heavy duty 12 foot trailer has also been purchased to transport the chipper/shredder and all other equipment.
The OJFSC Board will plan and implement procedures for letting out to bid the contracted portion of the USFS grant.
The OJFSC Board will take action on acquiring insurance for all equipment and supplies connected to the USFS grant.
Other agenda items as suggested by the Board or community members.
Let’s continue in 2010 to help make our communities safer from wildfire by volunteering time to your Fire Safe Council. This also helps our Responders by making their jobs easier in their mission to protect property and save lives.
For additional information contact Board President Tom Lamb at 619 463-8408.
“You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others”
-- Henry Drummond
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By Phyllis Dozier
 The Outer Jamul Fire Safe Council has obtained a federal grant to assist area homeowners with thinning and chipping of vegetation around homes and along easements. On selected weekends this spring, volunteer teams will work with home owners to be safer from wild fire by helping to create improved “defensible space” near their homes and driveways.
The ideal defensible space for rural homes as suggested by Cal Fire and San Diego Rural Fire departments consists of two zoned areas around homes, the first being a 50 foot zone of well trimmed, well watered, sparsely planted foliage, and an outer zone out to a 100 foot circle where larger plants and trees are trimmed up off the ground and spaced more than 10 feet apart. Achieving this ideal is not always possible, but Fire Safe Council volunteers will have the tools and knowledge to work with individual homeowners to educate, make suggestions, and work to thin vegetation under the homeowner’s direction.
As part of a $165,000 US Forest Service fuel reduction grant, the Outer Jamul Fire Safe Council has been authorized to purchase professional hand-operated cutting and trimming tools, safety gear, and a state-of-the-art all terrain chipper/shredder. The equipment will be used by trained volunteers. Training classes on use of powered hand tools and tool safety will be held for community volunteers who will train to use the powered tools, or to any community members who want to just learn about chain saw and weed cutter safety. The field work will be limited to thinning of shrubs, weeds, and lower branches of trees. The self-propelled chipper/shredder has tracks so it can be walked to the site of trimming instead of dragging branches to a road or driveway. The volunteer experience is a satisfying one. The tool use and safety classes are valuable for any homeowner who wants to do their own fuel reduction or who may wish to “rent” a volunteer crew from the OJFSC for a nominal donation to the Fire Safe Council.
This year the focus of the grant is on homes in Deerhorn Valley, an area severely impacted by the 07 Harris fire, and on Lyon’s Valley, an area that was spared in 07 but quite vulnerable to wild fire. Priority for free service will be given to senior citizens, those who lost homes in the 07 fires, physically challenged homeowners, or anyone who otherwise needs help in making their home safer from wild fire.
The fire safe council needs volunteers to help with this vegetative fuel reduction project, both as tool-trained volunteers and general help on a few designated weekend fieldwork days. This is a great and fun opportunity to give back to your community. There are many ways to help out besides the tool work. Raking, dragging vegetation, spreading the chipped mulch, etc are all a good way for say a family to volunteer for a few hours. This is also a great opportunity for high school-aged students accompanied by a parent to get community service credit hours.
The Outer Jamul Fire Safe Council (OJFSC) was formed in 2008 after the devastating Harris fire. It is one of over 60 similar Fire Safe Councils in San Diego County. The local Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation administered by a Board of local citizen volunteers. Back country areas served by the Council include Deerhorn Valley, Lyon’s Valley, Honey Springs Ranch area, Bratton Valley, Skyline Truck Trail, Lawson Valley, and Lee Valley. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at San Diego Rural Fire Station 37 on Honey Springs Road at 7PM.
For more information on this program, or to request call Tom Lamb at 619 463-8408 or email him at tlamb77@nethere.com , or send a written request for defensible space work to: Outer Jamul Fire Safe Council, P.O. Box 537, Jamul
Be prepared for the next wildfire: Join the Outer Jamul Fire Safe Council!
ALL RESIDENTS OF OUTER JAMUL: (Deerhorn Lyons, Bratton, Lawson, etc.) ARE WELCOME!
Downloadable Resources:
Get Ready for Fire Season...
Homeowner Chacklist for Fire-Safe Homes
A Homeowner's Guide to FireSafe Landscaping in Brushland
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U.S. FOREST SERVICE GRANT # 10USFS-ES676
$165,000
Deerhorn Valley & Lyon’s Valley
FUEL REDUCTION~DEFENSIBLE SPACE PROJECT
This grant runs from the January 2010 through September 2011. It comprises approximately $165,000.00 in direct Federal funding and approximately 2000 [volunteer] hours of pledged volunteer administrative and field work time by community members and two outside volunteer organizations. Two main areas of focus are (1) contracted forestry work by licensed contractor(s) for thinning of vegetation along selected easement roads to make ingress and egress safer for residents and firefighters, (2) community and outside volunteers using OJFSC chipper and tools to create defensible space around private residences, priority going to senior citizens, 07 fire survivors who lost their home, or others who might otherwise face some challenges in thinning vegetation around their residence.
The work will be done in winter and spring months of 2010 and 2011 in two communities, one hit by the 07 fires (Deerhorn Valley) and one area as yet spared, but vulnerable (Lyon’s Valley). Fuel reduction in both areas will amount to hand tool thinning (not clearing) with minimal ground disturbance and awareness of sensitive habitat and endangered plants.
Approximate distribution of funds will be $87,000 for contracted work along easements over two winter seasons, $24,000 for a contracted grant manager over 8 total months, $15,000 for environmental and mapping studies, $6,000 for FSC insurance over two years. In addition the OJFSC is funded to purchase a $20,000 chipper and will be allocated $7,000 for motor-driven tools, hand tools, safety gear, and tool safety classes. The tools and chipper are to be used for this grant and future OJFSC projects.
Areas of input & Participation needed
• Volunteers for attendance at safety classes and occasional Saturday workdays using OJFSC tools to help develop defensible space around designated residences.
• Input as to who in your area could use help in creating defensible space around house and structures. Senior citizens and others who genuinely could use assistance in fire-safe trimming around their homes are a priority.
• A lockable garage or storage building to safely store OJFSC chipper and other equipment
• Volunteers to assist in contacting property owners, phone calls, compiling time sheets, and helping with quarterly reports to the federal government.
• Recruitment of community members for a Saturday or two of volunteer field work.
• Publicity of FSC meetings, safety meetings, work events, media coverage, mailings, news releases, etc.
• Logging of work completed for periodic “success story” reporting to State and Federal grant managers , including before-and-after photography, human interest stories, and recording work progress.
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"In an medical or fire emergency, the single-most important
thing you can do is to make sure we can find you."
Make sure you have a non-combustible reflective metal sign at your drive entrance.
Order information on the DV Fire Auxiliary page
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Two agencies provide FREE chipping service. But you must submit a request for service:
RFPD Chipping Program
Information/Requirements: www.sdrfire.org/chip.html
Email request to: chipping@sdrfire.org
Residents from the valleys of Deerhorn, Lyons, Lawson gathered on May 7, 2009, at Jamul Primary School to create a "wish list" of fire-wise projects to help protect lives and property during the next wildfire. As backcountry residents in a high fire-risk areas, it is so important that planning be done before the next fires. The OJFSC is leading this effort.
The 2-hour work session was led by Chris Blaylock (SD FireSafe Council) and Deerhorn residents Phyllis Dozier and Ruth Brewer. The ideas generated will be formalized as part of our Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The CWPP will be a document that will guide our requests for federal funds for fuel reduction (clearing, trimming, thinning) and structure protection. CWPP is designed to be a general guide for projects to make the our families and homes safer.
Full details can be found on the CWPP webpage.
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