From the January 2011 Battle Mountain News

Post date: Jul 1, 2014 8:59:26 PM

Fire Safety Season is Now!

As you enjoy the warmth of a fire in your hearth with friends and family this cold and rainy season, don't forget the contrary feeling of dread that fire evokes when the weather is hot and dry. Fire Safety Season is here now. With the countryside dripping, it is an excellent time to thin using power tools without worrying about sparks and to burn brush and fallen branches safely.

If you do burn, please be sure to check with the Monterey Bay Unified Air Quality Control District at 800/225-2876 to be sure that the air quality allows a burn day, and review the CAL FIRE safety regulations at http://goo.gl/Eayvw. If you choose not to burn or are not sure how best to do so, read on.

February Workshop

Mark your calendars! The Bonny Doon Fire Safe Council will be holding a hands-on Fire Safe Workshop on Best Current Practices on Saturday, February 19. We haven't firmed up a topic yet; the two leading contenders are burn piles and thinning & clearing. Please let us know which you are most interested in and check back for details.

RCD Chipper Program

Once again this year we are coordinating the Bonny Doon portion of the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County's chipper program.

This program provides free chipping to neighborhoods that collaborate to clear brush in order to create defensible space and safe emergency access. Your neighborhood will need to cut enough brush, free of poison oak and broom, stacked butt outward along roads, to occupy a chipper for the better part of a day. The grant that funds the chipper program requires that the projects meet certain environmental requirements; our contractors require that the brush be green, not dry; and a formal application must be submitted and approved. To avoid unwelcome surprises and take full advantage of the program, please coordinate with your neighbors and contact us before you begin work.