Since 2007 the Tehama County Resource Conservation District (TCRCD) has worked with various firefighting and fuels management agencies to assess and manage wildfire related issues throughout Tehama County.
A large portion of the work
that TCRCD has participated in
the past five years has been the
completion of several fuel break
projects throughout the county. In
the aftermath of the large, devastating
fires that have affected the
north state, particularly, the Ponderosa
Fire, residents and community
members may be left to
wonder if it is worthwhile to
invest in these types of projects.
Considering that the TCRCD
has recently completed many
miles of fuel breaks around the
community of Manton prior to
the Ponderosa Fire, public perception
may conclude that fuel
break projects are not worthwhile
and do not appear to have a positive
impact in controlling the
effects of wildfires.
Firefighting and fuels management
however, that fuel break projects
are an important tool in the management
and control of wildfires,
and it is important, they say, to
realize that fuel breaks are not
meant to stop a fire.
remove vegetation for the purpose
of facilitating firefighting by
allowing fire fighters with access
to small fires in order to prevent
them from becoming major conflagrations.
In addition, they help
with large wildfires by providing
access to firefighting personnel to
strategic locations near fire
boundaries where initial attack
and suppression activities can be
efficiently and effectively implemented.
This results in greater
safety to fire fighters and protection
to key urban interface areas
and wildlife habitat.
From a fire prevention perspective,
fuel breaks provide a
cleared area from which prescribed
burns or other fuel reduction
treatments can be conducted
thus providing protection to both
communities and watershed
In addition, these area
wide fuel treatments also help to
recreate more natural vegetative
Cal Fire and personnel from
local fire organizations indicate
that the fuel breaks developed
around the Manton community
were useful in holding the flanks
of the Ponderosa Fire, which
allowed fire personnel to redirect
the fire through backfiring operations.
This helped to protect a
number of structures on the outskirts
of the Manton community.
While the effects of the Ponderosa
Fire were devastating to
many members of the community,
it is clear the fuel breaks that
were in place near Manton
helped to reduce the fire's effects.
While fuel breaks are an
important tool used by firefighting
and fuels management professionals,
it is important to
remember that while they help in
the control of blazes, they can't
Landowners also play
a major role in controlling the risk
and spread of wildfires.
the management of wild land
fuels and the creation of defensible
space on their properties, land
managers and homeowners provide
safe access for firefighting
personnel in the event of a fire.
help the community learn about
creating defensible space on their
properties and/or around their
homes, the TCRCD will be hosting
two meetings on this topic in
For more information, or to be
notified of the dates of the meetings,
please contact Rose Calzontzi,
Watershed Coordinator, at
(530) 527-3013 x 115 or