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| H E L P F U L L I N K S |
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CURRENT NEWS / HAPPENINGS |
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About the Fire Safe Council
Education and community outreach is a top priority for the Fire Safe Council
of El Dorado County. We make the residents of the County aware of the risks of living
within a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) and what they can do to protect their
home and property from wildfire. Creating defensible space is their
responsibility. Over the past Decades, people have moved into the forest and
wildland environment because of the natural resources and rural atmosphere;
It is a beautiful place to live. However many people build homes in this
environment with little or no knowledge of what it means to live with the
threat of catastrophic wildfires.
Our goal is to make residents aware of their responsibilities for their
property and to their community. We are all in this together because wildfire
recognizes no property lines or boundaries. Nationally over the past four years,
millions of acres of forest and private land, thousands of homes, and many lives
have been lost due to catastrophic wildfires. When you live in the Wildland Urban
Interface, wildfires are a fact of life: it is not IF, but WHEN, you will be
involved in a wildfire.
Although the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council was formed in late 2001, in
a very short time, the Council has become the central driving force and forum for
fire safe projects throughout the county. Together we are making a difference!
We are a California non-profit, Public Benefit Corporation recognized by the
Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As stated in our
Bylaws, our mission is "to protect the people of El Dorado County and their property
from the effects of catastrophic wildfire through education, cooperation, innovation,
and action." The council was
organized in September 2001 and currently has over 150
individuals from the public and private sectors on our Council Communication Network
who are committed to making El Dorado County more fire safe.
About El Dorado County
El Dorado County is situated almost entirely within Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
forest, oak woodlands and heavy chaparral vegetation types. The county comprises
1,805 square miles with over half in National Forests and recreation areas. The
remainder of the county is comprised primarily of homes, businesses and subdivisions
scattered throughout wildland vegetation. Sacramento County borders on the west and
the eastern boundary is the State of Nevada. Placer County is to the north and Amador
County to the south.
The population of El Dorado County is rapidly expanding into these vegetation types
with residential and commercial development occurring in wildland/urban interface areas
that are traditionally considered high fire hazard risk. The population growth of the
county is primarily made up of individuals with little knowledge of the risks associated
with living near heavy vegetation. The California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CDF) classifies this area as Very High Fire Hazard. In addition, the CA
Fire Plan indicates that some or all of the wildland fire threat to this county comes from
the adjacent Federal Lands.
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