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Happy March 1st...we want to "Come In Like A Lion" and hopefully go out of the month with even more of a ROAR!

The El Dorado County Fire Safe Council (EDCFSC), along with our public and private partners, have proclaimed March 2010 as our "March Against Wildfire" public education campaign. The 2 attachments are the front and back of a flyer that has a great picture on the front and on the back a AEU CalFire summary of the current situation regarding the increased fuel loading (both ladder and ground fuels) that exists in El Dorado County as a direct result of the record-setting December 6-7, 2009 snow storm. CalFire estimates an increase (since Dec 5th) of around 30% in fuels/vegetation that are either on the ground or damaged trees ("widow makers" still in the trees, split large branches, etc.) that will come down during any strong wind or storm event. Winter won't officially be over for 3 more weeks and late-Winter/early-Spring storms can and do happen.

On Tuesday February 23rd, the Placerville City Council officially proclaimed this month as "March Against Wildfire" and tomorrow, March 2nd, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will be issuing their proclamation on a county-wide basis. The focus of this campaign is to strongly encourage our residents to start their defensible space clearing now! While the impact of the December storms was mainly in the lower elevations (from 900 to 3000 feet), the entire western slope of the county has a record build-up of fuels that will dry out and become increased ladder fuels that could carry even a small fire start quickly into the crowns of the trees. The longer we wait to deal with this fuel loading and the closer we come to our 2010 Fire Season, the more dangerous conditions will become. Now is the time to take action and make your properties/neighborhoods more defensible from catastrophic wildland fire.

The EDCFSC solicits your support in getting our message out there. Please post the attached flyer in your office, business, or any place visible to the public. We are having 500 copies of the flyer printed, so if you would like some additional copies for a meeting or event, please contact Linda Colombo at lcolombo@jps.net -- this was her brainstorm, Thank You Linda! We need your help in this collaborative effort by reaching out to as many residents as possible. My apologies for any duplicate emails you might receive, I am sending this out to hundreds of my contacts in hopes that they/you will do likewise.

Thank you in advance for helping us "March Against Wildfire" -- Cheers and be safe out there,

Vicki D. Yorty
Executive Coordinator
El Dorado County Fire Safe Council
www.edcfiresafe.org