What's that noise
in the forest?

Over the past few weeks, when weather permitted, many who live on the south east and south west sides of Grizzly Flats have heard the buzz of saws and the rumble of heavy equipment.

This "good" noise is the result of a contract provided by USFS for the implementation of the last chance fuel reduction project. The work is being done on the last chance fire break which wraps around the south east and west side of the mountain as far away as Caldor Road. It means just what it says . . . in case of a fire coming out of the Consumnes Canyon this fire break would be the last chance for the community of Grizzly Flats.

The removal of horizontal and vertical fire fuels will provide a break which in essence becomes a defensible space in case of a fire. The whole area was first surveyed by a forester who designated the trees and other vegetation to be removed. Then the contractor removed the foliage. The forester then surveyed the area again, additional vegetation may be removed to ensure that adequate space has been provided. The removal of heavy undergrowth, called fire fuels or fire ladder fuel will ultimately enhance the growth of the remaining trees and makes for a much healthier forest as well as defensible space for fire fighting purposes.

There is another similar project under way to the north and north east of Grizzly Flats. It's called the Last Ridge Fire Break, the intent is the same . . . to provide open defensible space in case of a wildfire and enhance the life of the forest.

The implementation of these projects is a result of Grizzly Flats being designated "A Community at Risk" by the federal reviews. Both projects are federally funded. There will be other projects underway this year to enhance the safety of Grizzly Flats.

Sandi Bush - Secretary, GFFSC

Dennis Henderson -
5235 Woodhaven Dr.
Walt Tyler - Pinehaven Court
Phill or Sandy Dayton -
5371 Blue Mountain Dr
Judie Irwin - 5318 Blue Mountain

What started out as a good day for the Grizzly Flats Community Clean-Up, turned out to be a very lucky day for Will Little. The clean -up was going well with the help of the Grizzly Flats CERT team (CERT - Community Emergency Response Team) assisting with hauling and checking material.

Toward the end of the clean-up, Walt Tyler and Phill Dayton were driving on Grizzly Flats Road to pick up a refrigerator when they heard someone yell Walt's name, Walt stopped the truck and backed up to see who was trying to get his attention. When Will Little walked out to the road, with his hand compressing a large gash on his neck and face Walt asked him what had happened, he told Walt he had fallen on his chain saw and hurt himself "really bad". Will had used a cordless phone from a nearby house to call 911 for help, then saw them driving by and yelled at Walt. Not having anything else available Walt took his T-shirt off and gave it to Phill to fold and use as a compress for the wound.

Alerted at the clean-up site by Ham Radio, Sandy, Phill's wife, grabbed the medic kit from their Jeep and got to the scene as quickly as possible. After Sandy arrived Phill and Walt turned over medical to her, since she is a certified First Responder with the State and County. While Sandy was adding another medical compress to the wound, Phill used the phone to call 911 and let them know that Life Flight was needed and that they would transport Will to the local school helicopter-landing pad. Phill also had them transfer him directly to CDF at this time and informed CDF that the CERT group would handle transport to the heliport and that CERT communications were going to be shifted to CALCORD on the Ham Radio for coordination. The team then with Sandy riding in the back of the truck with Will, drove to the heliport pad at the Grizzly Flats school.

Once the group arrived, two USFS employees greeted them. One of the USFS employees was an EMT, so he got his bag and Sandy started turning over the medical to him. Before this could be completed and with the Pioneer CDF Paramedics and CalStar Life Flight arriving almost simultaneously the Flight nurses took over the medical. Will was then loaded onto the CalStar unit and transported to the hospital.

All of this from accident to Will leaving on the helicopter happened in approximately a 45 minute time span or less. Walt, Phil, Sandy and the rest of the CERT team returned to clean-up and resumed what they had been doing before all of this occurred. The clean-up was once again a rousing success in more ways than one.