SACRAMENTO (KGTV) - Cal Fire identified Tuesday high-priority projects to protect more than 200 areas at high risk of a fire, including those in San Diego County.
The East County neighborhoods of Crest and Guatay were among the 35 communities considered to be in urgent need of attention in a list released by Cal Fire.
Both communities have community fuel breaks that need to be cleared, a Cal Fire report showed. The Guatay fuel break covers 128 acres over 15 communities, affecting 221,282 people. The Crest fuel break covers 60 acres over 3 communities and affects 5,278 people, according to the survey.
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Crews may need to remove hazardous dead trees, clear vegetation, create fuel breaks and community defensible spaces, and establish ingress and egress corridors.
More than 25 million acres of California wildlands are under ‘very high’ or ‘extreme fire’ threat, according to Cal Fire. The agency also cited the encroaching construction of new homes in wildland areas as a growing threat, putting more people and property at risk.
“California is increasingly at risk of wildfire, and certain populations are particularly vulnerable given the location of their communities and socioeconomic factors such as age and lack of mobility. The tragic loss of lives and property in the town of Paradise during last year’s Camp Fire makes that clear,” CAL FIRE Director Thom Porter said. “California needs an all-of-the-above approach to protect public safety and improve the health of our forest ecosystems.”
