The recent wildfires ravaging the state have left many Lake County residents wondering if it could happen here. Looking back at the history of Lake County shows we have had our share of wildfires and are long overdue for one.
The drought combined with a lack of control burning has left the county very vulnerable. A drive on any of the backroads will reveal miles and miles of tinder dry brush and all it takes is one spark to set half of the county on fire.
Every morning when I wake up I gaze at beautiful Mount Konocti. But what I see, in addition to the splendor of the mountain itself, are miles of dry brush and just below the brush, hundreds of homes. If a wildfire ever got out of control on the mountain it would sweep down on the many homes and not only cause a massive loss of property but lives as well.
Lake County has had several major wildfires in the past 25 years. The largest was back in 1996 when the Forks Fire burned more than 83,000 acres. The Forks Fire started outside of Upper Lake and burned all the way to Indian Valley Reservoir. Luckily no homes were destroyed but for a time it was feared that it would swing toward Clear Lake and burn Nice and Lucerne.
The other major fire occurred in 1982 when the massive Cow Mountain fire, which started just south of Ukiah, burned all the way to the outskirts of Lakeport. That fire destroyed a number of buildings in Scotts Valley.
The Cow Mountain Recreation Area, located just outside Lakeport, contains more than 50,000 acres of dry brush. In fact, the brush is so thick over much of the area that a person can”t even walk through it. Cow Mountain burned in 1982 and the fire was on the outskirts of Lakeport before it was put out. Since the 1982 fire there have been a number of homes built in the hills that border Cow Mountain. A fire would probably destroy many of these homes and could even cost lives.
The answer to this dilemma is simple ? do some control burning. Every year the governmental agencies talk about control burning on Cow Mountain but very little is ever done and the brush keeps growing. Fifty years ago ranchers routinely burned the mountain during the winter months. In fact, Cow Mountain was a target of frequent control burns annually and not only did the burning provide excellent habitat for wildlife, but it also protected the homes in Scotts Valley.
There is no question much of the county needs to be controlled burned to prevent major wildfires. We often hear the term “control burning” but a lot of people don”t know what it entails. Just about all the control burning is carried out by either the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), California Division Of Forestry (CDF) or the U.S. Forest Service.
The purpose of control burning is to burn old brush and create new habitat for wildlife and to prevent wildand fires by creating burn corridors that prevent the fire from spreading. Control burning generally takes place during the fall and winter months when the chances of the fire spreading is minimal.
In addition to control burning, county residents have to clear away the brush and dead grass that”s on their property. Actually, that should have been done back in May, not in September.
While lightning causes some wildfires, most are human-caused. For example, many fires start alongside roads and highways because people toss lighted cigarette butts out of their car windows. In fact, many of the new cars don”t even come equipped with ashtrays. Recently on my daily walk along Martin Street and Riggs Road (outside of Lakeport) I counted more than 50 discarded cigarette butts in a stretch of three miles and this was through very dry country. Any of these butts could have started a major fire.
Wildfires can cost millions of dollars to put out, but it only takes pennies to prevent them. A good example is the massive fire that”s burning near Los Angeles. To date the cost to fight that fire is topping $55 million and that doesn”t include the homes burned and the two firefighters who died. Control burning and brush removal would have cost a fraction of that.
