- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Distribution of more than $5 million in federal funds for wildfire hazard abatement in the Oakland Hills has been delayed to allow time for a more intensive environmental impact review, according to an article in the Oakland Tribune.
The news was a setback for UC Berkeley, the city of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Park District, which are relying on the grants to remove eucalyptus, pine and acacia trees from steep, wooded canyons and ridges.
UC Berkeley fire science professor Scott Stephens told reporter Cecily Burt that the university's plans for...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A $52,000 state grant paid for the firebreak. Compared to $1.5 million per-day cost of fighting a wildfire, it appears the firebreak was a sound investment.
“Even when you know the science, you doubt yourself,” UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor Glenn Nader told reporter Ben van der Meer. “You see this, and you know with the right kind of fire, the right kind of wind, this will work.”
Middlebrook said...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
According to the story, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn more than 1,700 acres of Southern California's Angeles National Forest months ago. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time the fire broke out.
The Forest Service said weather, wind and environmental rules limit how often they can conduct prescribed burns.
AP reporter Michael Blood turned to the co-director of the UC...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When raging wildfires threaten homes in California, UC Cooperative Extension wood durability advisor Steve Quarles commands rapt attention. He reached many thousands of the state's residents with an interview that aired yesterday on All Things Considered and on today's Morning Edition.
Capital Public Radio's Steve Milne produced the spot to examine whether homeowners can live safely in wildland areas and whether creating a “defensible space” around the home is enough.
Quarles told him the design of the home and materials used in construction play a critical role in protecting homes from fire. Non-combustible roof and siding,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A wildfire policy that has met with some success in Australia - in which trained homeowners stay and defend their own homes in the face of a wildfire - is not popular with California firefighters, but some UC experts believe it has a place in the Golden State.
According to a story in the San Jose Mercury-News today, the California Professional Firefighters have dubbed the program "Stay and Die."
When homeowners refuse to evacuate, firefighters use this scary tactic: "If they stay, we'll gather personal information from them, such as dental records, so we can identify them in the event we...
