A control burn last week achieved its goal of removing fuel from a fire-prone area in the hills east of the Chalk Hill valley, but the smoke alarmed residents of Windsor and Healdsburg, who flocked to social media asking where the fire was.
“This is a unique situation,” said CalFire Battalion Chief Paul Fleckenstein that morning. “Usually it’s us doing the burning, but this time it’s the ranch manager.”
The hilly ranch almost burned in the Tubbs Fire last fall. The ranch manager, his wife and friends told stories of cutting fire lines in the dark with heavy equipment and fighting spot fires in the remote hills. (At the landowner’s request, the ranch name and location is being kept confidential.)
After the fire, the ranch manager began to plan for this year’s fire season. After undergoing a thorough permit process with CalFire and the Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District, he invited Fourth District Supervisor James Gore and CalFire to monitor the burn.
Gore was enthusiastic about the fire prevention exercise. “He’s being proactive and we (local government) are helping him. This is how it’s supposed to work.”
Fleckenstein conducted a briefing prior to the burn, that included going over how neighbors and local dispatchers were notified, what to do in a medical emergency and CalFire’s role if the fire got away.
“We’re just here to observe and help if anything goes wrong,” Fleckenstein said.
Nothing went wrong, and the ranch is now a bit safer from the next wildfire.
