"Project Canyon Safe Launched", News Release, April 12, 2010
The Greater Auburn Area Fire Safe Council (GAAFSC) today announced the official start of "Project Canyon Safe," a citywide effort that will take place on Saturday, May 22 to lower the threat of a catastrophic wildfire in Auburn.
Project Canyon Safe consists of two main elements. First, the Auburn City Council will declare May 22nd as "Defensible Space Day in Auburn," in which all property owners will be encouraged to comply with the requirements of state law and the city's ordinance to remove flammable vegetation, such as tree limbs that hang over the roof, from around their homes. If homeowners provide defensible space around their homes, firefighters can go on the offensive when a fire occurs.
Second, Project Canyon Safe will consist of a big community event from 8AM to 2PM on Saturday, May 22 in which organized teams of volunteers, supervised by trained team leaders and the Auburn Fire Department, will remove low-lying tree branches, fallen trees and branches and chip the wood onsite on 8 to 10 acres of public land in the Robie Point neighborhood. This volunteer effort will take place in the American River Canyon Shaded Fuel Break area and will comply with previously approved environmental requirements. The Greater Auburn Area Fire Safe Council is working with the federal Bureau of Reclamation, California Department of Parks and Recreation and the Auburn Fire Department to plan and carrying out this important volunteer event.
To make "Project Canyon Safe" a big success, the Greater Auburn Area Fire Safe Council is asking for the following specific assistance:
Volunteers:
- Who will bring their own handsaws and/or loppers to cut tree branches that have been identified and tagged by the Auburn Fire Department as approved for cutting.
- To haul the cut branches and wood to the wood chippers. Note that an adult must supervise volunteers under the age of 10 at all times.
- To provide lunch to the volunteers and clean up afterward.
Donations:
- To fund the various expenses incurred to support the volunteers participating in the Robie Point event.
- In-kind or cash donations to provide lunch and water for the volunteers.
- Port-a-Potties to the Robie Point site for the day.
- To fund professional wood removal firms that will clear flammable vegetation from other public lands on the Canyon, subject to approval by the federal BOR.
Project Canyon Safe has already attracted an incredibly generous donation of two tracked wood chippers from Scott Serenbetz of Bushwackers Inc.
Those interested in volunteering or making a donation, please contact Kevin Hanley at 530-906-1042 or gaafsc@hotmail.com. Anyone who wants to help on this project is welcome to attend the weekly meetings of the Greater Auburn Area Fire Safe Council on Friday mornings at 9AM in Room 10 at Auburn City Hall.
Background.
Last summer, the "49 Fire" unexpectedly roared through a North Auburn neighborhood destroying 63 homes and devastating the lives of many local families and several business owners. But a much greater threat looms. Over 80% of the residential neighborhoods in the City of Auburn are located in areas classified as "Fire Hazard Severity Zones" and are especially vulnerable to a catastrophic wildfire accelerated by high temperatures, low humidity and high winds. The main area of concern is a wildfire that starts in the American River Canyon, which is thick with dried brush, fallen trees, and trees with branches that often touch the ground, and heads eastward into the residential neighborhoods and business districts. Over the last several years, there has been very little removal of flammable vegetation from federal-owned lands.
Earlier this year, the Auburn City Council approved a first-ever Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Auburn Fire Department which allows for fire fuels reduction programs on Reclamation project lands in or adjacent to the Shaded Fuel Break Project.