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May 06, 2003
Dry SB mountains top U.S. fire danger list
County likely first to get federal aid
By JOE NELSON, San Bernardino Sun Staff Writer
FOREST FALLS - The San Bernardino National Forest faces a bigger fire threat than any other national forest and likely will be given top priority for deployment of firefighters and other federal resources should a major wildfire erupt, officials said Tuesday.
"The odds are that a fire in these mountains is going to be the first priority," said Tom O'Keefe, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's San Bernardino unit.
Part of the reason is because the San Bernardino National Forest is more densely populated than other national forests.
"It's hard to imagine a scenario elsewhere with more people at risk," said O'Keefe.
Four years of drought and bark beetle infestation have killed more than one million trees - about 350,000 acres in the mountains of San Bernardino and Riverside counties - at a rate called "unprecedented," boosting tree mortality rates an average of 60 percent in some areas and as high as 80 percent in parts of Lake Arrowhead.
Elevating the fire risk are dire predictions of an even higher die-off of trees in coming months once the weather starts warming and bark beetles start infesting again.
El Nino rains this winter saturated drought-weakened trees and kept them alive, but they are still weak enough to provide perfect feasting grounds for bark beetles, O'Keefe said.
"We expect to see a bloom of insect activity when it starts warming up, probably in the next couple of weeks," said O'Keefe, standing near a rocky wash at the Forest Falls Recreation Area on Tuesday, pointing to a sprawling mountain range dotted with brown, dead trees.
"By July," he said, "I expect most of this mountaintop to be in the 60 percent mortality range."
As a result, county fire officials are more concerned than ever this year about the fire threat.
"This coming fire season can be as disastrous as any we've seen before us," said Terry Smith, assistant chief for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. "The dead trees offer a way for fire to spread like we've never seen before in our mountains."
The crisis prompted Gov. Gray Davis to declare a state emergency March 7.
On April 16, Davis asked President Bush to declare an emergency in mountain areas facing fire danger from thousands of trees killed by drought and bark beetles. He is now pushing for a federal emergency declaration from President Bush under his Healthy Forests Initiative.
On April 24, seven House and Senate members from California urged Bush to declare a federal emergency in the San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests.
And on Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors passed a resolution asking Bush to declare an emergency and make the county eligible for additional federal funding to deal with the crisis.
And on April 24, seven House and Senate members from California urged Bush to declare a federal emergency in the San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests.
Fire officials await $2.6‚million from the federal government. They have more than $500,000 from the county to battle the crisis. But they called that a "drop in the bucket" and said it would require hundreds of millions of dollars to really make a dent.
Davis declared this week Wildfire Awareness Week, and local, state and federal fire officials overseeing land management in the San Bernardino Mountains are delivering a message to mountain residents, encouraging them to take precautions and keep their homes safe and cleared of vegetation.
Laura Dyberg, director of the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council, said community partnership with fire officials is essential in fighting the fire threat.
"With the crisis facing our mountains and trees, there's not a magic wand that will come by and solve this problem," Dyberg said.
During a simulation at the Forest Falls Recreation Area on Tuesday, firefighters uncoiled 100-foot-long fire hoses and trudged through the picnic area to battle a campfire that jumped out of control and spread to the neighboring mountain. Water shot from hoses while a CDF hand crew trudged behind firefighters with shovels and picks, clearing vegetation.
In response to the coming summer months, fire officials are boosting their resources to include more firefighters, fire engines and aircraft.
The U.S. Forest Service alone will have at its disposal, among other things, two teams of smoke jumpers - firefighters who parachute into hard-to-reach areas to put out fires.
The first team of 14 smoke jumpers, from Redding, will arrive next week to begin assisting in tree removal and will be on call for firefighting should the need arise. The team is expected to increase to about 20 in coming months.
The second team, from Missoula, Mont., will arrive in July, said Rocky W. Opliger, deputy chief of fire and aviation management for the U.S. Forest Service.
The most severe fire seasons stem from drought cycles of between four and five years, followed by a winter of near normal rainfall, O'Keefe said. The rainfall provides a grass crop coupled with dry vegetation that compounds the fire threat, he said.
Staff writer Andrew Silva contributed to this report.
Dry SB mountains top U.S. fire danger list
County likely first to get federal aid
By JOE NELSON, San Bernardino Sun Staff Writer
FOREST FALLS - The San Bernardino National Forest faces a bigger fire threat than any other national forest and likely will be given top priority for deployment of firefighters and other federal resources should a major wildfire erupt, officials said Tuesday.
"The odds are that a fire in these mountains is going to be the first priority," said Tom O'Keefe, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's San Bernardino unit.
Part of the reason is because the San Bernardino National Forest is more densely populated than other national forests.
"It's hard to imagine a scenario elsewhere with more people at risk," said O'Keefe.
Four years of drought and bark beetle infestation have killed more than one million trees - about 350,000 acres in the mountains of San Bernardino and Riverside counties - at a rate called "unprecedented," boosting tree mortality rates an average of 60 percent in some areas and as high as 80 percent in parts of Lake Arrowhead.
Elevating the fire risk are dire predictions of an even higher die-off of trees in coming months once the weather starts warming and bark beetles start infesting again.
El Nino rains this winter saturated drought-weakened trees and kept them alive, but they are still weak enough to provide perfect feasting grounds for bark beetles, O'Keefe said.
"We expect to see a bloom of insect activity when it starts warming up, probably in the next couple of weeks," said O'Keefe, standing near a rocky wash at the Forest Falls Recreation Area on Tuesday, pointing to a sprawling mountain range dotted with brown, dead trees.
"By July," he said, "I expect most of this mountaintop to be in the 60 percent mortality range."
As a result, county fire officials are more concerned than ever this year about the fire threat.
"This coming fire season can be as disastrous as any we've seen before us," said Terry Smith, assistant chief for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. "The dead trees offer a way for fire to spread like we've never seen before in our mountains."
The crisis prompted Gov. Gray Davis to declare a state emergency March 7.
On April 16, Davis asked President Bush to declare an emergency in mountain areas facing fire danger from thousands of trees killed by drought and bark beetles. He is now pushing for a federal emergency declaration from President Bush under his Healthy Forests Initiative.
On April 24, seven House and Senate members from California urged Bush to declare a federal emergency in the San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests.
And on Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors passed a resolution asking Bush to declare an emergency and make the county eligible for additional federal funding to deal with the crisis.
And on April 24, seven House and Senate members from California urged Bush to declare a federal emergency in the San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests.
Fire officials await $2.6‚million from the federal government. They have more than $500,000 from the county to battle the crisis. But they called that a "drop in the bucket" and said it would require hundreds of millions of dollars to really make a dent.
Davis declared this week Wildfire Awareness Week, and local, state and federal fire officials overseeing land management in the San Bernardino Mountains are delivering a message to mountain residents, encouraging them to take precautions and keep their homes safe and cleared of vegetation.
Laura Dyberg, director of the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council, said community partnership with fire officials is essential in fighting the fire threat.
"With the crisis facing our mountains and trees, there's not a magic wand that will come by and solve this problem," Dyberg said.
During a simulation at the Forest Falls Recreation Area on Tuesday, firefighters uncoiled 100-foot-long fire hoses and trudged through the picnic area to battle a campfire that jumped out of control and spread to the neighboring mountain. Water shot from hoses while a CDF hand crew trudged behind firefighters with shovels and picks, clearing vegetation.
In response to the coming summer months, fire officials are boosting their resources to include more firefighters, fire engines and aircraft.
The U.S. Forest Service alone will have at its disposal, among other things, two teams of smoke jumpers - firefighters who parachute into hard-to-reach areas to put out fires.
The first team of 14 smoke jumpers, from Redding, will arrive next week to begin assisting in tree removal and will be on call for firefighting should the need arise. The team is expected to increase to about 20 in coming months.
The second team, from Missoula, Mont., will arrive in July, said Rocky W. Opliger, deputy chief of fire and aviation management for the U.S. Forest Service.
The most severe fire seasons stem from drought cycles of between four and five years, followed by a winter of near normal rainfall, O'Keefe said. The rainfall provides a grass crop coupled with dry vegetation that compounds the fire threat, he said.
Staff writer Andrew Silva contributed to this report.
