El Dorado County Fire Safe Council

The mission of EI Dorado County Fire Safe Council is to protect the people of EI Dorado County and their property from the effects of catastrophic wildfire through education, cooperation, innovation and action.

About Patterson Ranch FSC

PATTERSON RANCH FIRE SAFE COUNCIL***

P.O. Box 1402, Diamond Springs CA 95619

pattersonranchfsc@gmail.com

***We are here to help prevent wildfire on your property through education, assistance, and guidance!

Mission Statement: The mission of the PRFSC is to preserve Diamond Springs’ natural and manmade resources by preparing, educating and guiding all Tullis Mine Road and Patterson Drive area residences and private landowners to ensure that their homes, neighborhoods and community are defensibly, wildfire safe.

The Patterson Ranch Fire Safe Council was formed in 2015 and is a satellite council under the umbrella of the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council, its policies and procedures. The EDCFSC is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization.

Union Mine FireIn the afternoon of Friday, August 16, 2013, the Union Fire was reported just before 1:35 pm near Union Mine High School in Diamond Springs. The fire was fully contained at 116 acres by 6 pm. By that time, one home, the historic Patterson house, was destroyed and several outbuildings and fences were damaged by the fast moving wildfire.

The fire started behind Union Mine High School and burned in a north east direction threatening hundreds of homes and the Lake Oaks Mobile Home Park on Patterson Drive. Residents were allowed back into the residents by nightfall. All, but the Patterson family, realized we had been very lucky to escape a more catastrophic end result, loss of our homes.

The fire had disclosed inherent problems with the locations of our residences. Defensible space and fire breaks along the perimeter of Lake Oaks Mobile Home Park, Deer Park and Deer Park Estates subdivisions was limited or completely nonexistent. The fire had consumed dry grasses and trees made available by years of neglect and drought conditions. With Patterson Drive blocked by the firefighting effort, Tullis Mine Road was found to be too narrow and unsafe as an alternative evacuation route.

On June 25, 2014, an assessment team composed of Supervisor Brian Veerkamp, EDC Board of Supervisor District 3, Bard Lower and Don Spear from County DOT, Rich Krek of DS/ED Fire District, Pat Dwyer of EDC Fire Safe Council, and Randy Pitts and Kris Payne, local residents, drove Tullis Mine Road and Patterson Drive in a 9-passenger van for three hours assessing our area’s fire safety condition. All realized that almost a year later, except for a few locations, it was conditionally worse.

Pat Dwyer spoke of the EDC Fire Safe Council county-wide effort and 8 months later the Patterson Ranch Fire Safe Council was born.

The Patterson Ranch Fire Safe Council consists of over 800 lots/parcels of land, divided into 8 sub-areas (blocks) of property in the vicinity of Tullis Mine Road and Patterson Drive (See attached map).

The EDCFSC offers programs to its affiliates (us) including special neighborhood vegetative waste containers for workdays/block parties’ efforts, and chipper reservations for chipping larger diameter tree limbs, senior assistance programs, and general assistance/guidance on fire safe standards and procedures. Over the next 6 months, the Patterson Ranch FSC will meet with residential and property owners of the 800+ lots/parcels to introduce its mission and organization. Area (block) leaders will be solicited for the 8 sub-areas and to make up the Patterson Ranch Fire Safe Council. This a worthy endeavor! Volunteers are needed! The Patterson Ranch FSC can be as large or as small a fire safety program deliverer as the organization can find volunteers to support its mission. Fund raising, block parties, etc., are all possible. EDCFSC will help fund our startup effort.

PRFSC Map Index

Click on PRFSC Map Index words for quick PDF version response:

PRFSC Map Index