3-5 acres rros
Structure threat, evacs, augment with full mtz and aircraft
Linden ave west of hwy 273, City of Redding
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10 acres with some spotting per AA
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Current Temp =100, RH = 15%, Wind = NNW @ 8mph.
It was 80 at 0600 with wind blowing this a.m.
#GiddyUp 
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Final, 18 acres
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From the scene earlier.. #humanfactors
Having a well seasoned bunch of responders with skills forged from over a decade(s) of tough firefights is very hard / impossible to quantify!
Perhaps equally as valuable and hard to quantify is the amount of leverage provided to that local force of responders by their local airbase & associated aircraft in close proximity to fires like this..
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We (my former employer, Deer Creek Resources) wrote the Redding Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and one thing I learned when we were surveying the hazards in these neighborhoods pops out to me in that video: The fenced access easement that the police are working in at the start.
Redding started requiring access easements like this before these neighborhoods were built, and a simple subdivision design requirement like that makes a huge difference in the ability to get resources in behind houses during IA, and also, for fuels management.
Many older neighborhoods with similar cul-de-sacs don’t have these, and it makes it really difficult to get chippers, mowers, masticators, or engines in, or to get logs or chips out. Design matters!
Another design issue caught our attention in nearby neighborhoods. Some subdivisions created deep lots, and others created smaller lots bounded by one large ownership. It is much easier to get a single landowner on board for a major thinning project than it is to work across a dozen or more individual ownerships. And if one landowner isn’t onboard to provide access across their lot, it can make treating the other lots impossible.
It’s often impossible to fix baked-in issues like this once a community is built, making it all the more important to get it right the first time. If you want to use your knowledge of fire to make a difference in the future fire safety of your community, getting involved in the planning commission or writing comments on new developments might be the single most impactful thing you can do!
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Really good observations & great points & great advice!
Two BIGIES that stick out to me are the points you make regarding pre-development planning & layout of a community. Those (imo) are make or break factors that determines/drives outcomes when the crap hits the fan. Things like those are un-changeable environmental factors when fire and other emergencies occur. I wish more people looked at communities this way.
Another point you make regarding the complexity added when more than one landowners are involved makes me reflect on my time with hotshots in north carolina and agreements in place between state & fed that encouraged and allowed for LOTS of burning on private property - USFS Region 8 with many state and local agencies have been light years ahead of us out here in the west when it comes to this! It blew my mind to be a burn boss in/around private backyards and properties! Really neat stuff tho and talk about a learning experience on steroids for a kid from out west!
Aside from your work with CWPP - imo “we” find / make way too many excuses and regulations that keep us from making big strides in the areas you mention. Firesafe councils and other small groups of highly motivated and trained prescribed burners do GREAT work but they aren’t allowed / supported by the deep pocketed decision makers or land management agencies on a scale that is really needed. (sorry for the mini rant - it’s certainly not aimed at you - i’m talking about the fire & land management industrial complex AND special interests that force our political class to maintain status quo and/or continued un-nicery)
To me thats why seeing/following the cult you’ve been creating and the people you’ve been impacting and infecting with the Rx Fire Bug is 1000% encouraging and important! I wish you were allowed and supported to exponentially grow and apply your model and ideas of what right looks like on the land & in communities.
Appreciate hearing your two cents..
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I’d give a nickel for Zeke’s two cents!
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