By Kenny Klein
The Press Enterprise (California)
Copyright 2006 The Press Enterprise, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
IDYLLWILD, Calif. — Despite high fire danger, more than 40 percent of property owners in the San Jacinto Mountains are failing to pass weed-abatement inspections.
About 56 percent of the property owners are passing abatement inspections, Idyllwild Fire District Chief Steve Kunkle said Tuesday. There are more than 3,700 parcels in the district, Kunkle said.
More than 100 mountain residents attended a town meeting Tuesday night to gather information on how to prepare for a fire that could tear through communities in the San Jacinto Mountains.
The meeting, in the multipurpose room at Idyllwild School, included information on how on to plan for an evacuation and stay informed by developing a neighborhood network.
Mountain Safe Communities Fire Safe Council President Mike Esnard informed the crowd about the importance of reducing brush and fuels around properties.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Division Chief Kevin Turner said a law passed in 2005 and being implemented this year requires property owners to clear an area of 100 feet around homes — an increase from the previous rule of 30 feet.
“We just want to have a defensible space around a home, and so if the fire spreads, it won’t damage the rest of the community,” said Kunkle before the meeting.
Kunkle said hazard abatement, which gives firefighters a chance to save buildings, is mandatory, and he is working with Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone to bolster compliance efforts.
Marilyn Kemple, of Idyllwild, was at the meeting for “specific” information about the potential dangers and how fire and other officials planned to respond.
“Any information is good information,” Remple said.
The meeting was hosted by 64th District Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Palm Desert, whose district takes in cities in the Coachella Valley, Idyllwild, Anza and parts of Hemet, Riverside and Moreno Valley.
During the past three years, almost $37 million has been spent on dead-tree removal and other fuel-management activity around Big Bear Lake, Lake Arrowhead and Idyllwild.