California has a long history of fires that have wiped out homes, communities, habitat and wild places. While 20 or 30 years ago, we often considered wildfire part of the natural landscape, due to the climate crises, wildfires are hotter and more destructive. Although many plants here have evolved to recover from occasional wildfires, the frequency and heat-level created by climate-change fueled fires burns so hot, that it kills off our vegetation and many plants can't survive the inferno.
For those of you who don't live in the west, you may not understand that wildfires can burn 1/2 million to over a million acres per fire. Most of the largest wildfires in California's history have been in the last decade.
Wildfires can burn up at a rate of one mile per minute, much faster than humans and wildlife can run!!!!!
Wildfires are serious business in this state and wildfire safety is treated equally earnestly.
Over the years, wildfire safety has been a paramount concern at gatherings. However, this year, we are going all out on wildfire prevention.
The short list of things we always ask all gatherers to do:
- Always have 5-10 gallons of water and 1-2 shovels at every fire.Make sure fires are supervised by responsible adults all the time.
- Build fires away from tents, trees, and brush.
- Remove duff (flammable organic matter on the forest floor), and all debris down to the dirt for at least ten feet around fires and smoking areas.
- Please community fires only. If you have a camp with 20-40 people, that's a community, but all of the above still applies.
- If a fire can no longer be supervised, it needs to be put out well enough that you can put your hand in the ashes and they feel cool to the touch. This means you have to use water to put out fires.
- If you will be part of a kitchen, make sure you have a fire extinguisher that can put out a grease fire! (Water doesn't work on a grease fire).
TIP! Please don't smoke while you're walking down the trail. Kick it at a kitchen or other space while you smoke and make new friends!
Smoke Safely: 1. Shade 2. Sit. 3. Smoke.
Be forewarned
Spark arrestors are required on all portable gasoline powered equipment including chain saws, generators, weed eaters, mowers, etc..
Hot exhaust pipes and mufflers can start fires you won’t even see, until it’s too late!
Don’t pull your vehicle into dry grass or brush. Check with Parking Crew on the land for more info.
These requirements can change at a moment's notice! Weather influences fire danger. Check in with the Fire Safety Station by INFO off Main Meadow for the latest rules and regs frequently if your camp has a fire or is cooking with a fuel stove!
Get your Free Fire Permit
The State of California requires all users camping in the woods who
want to have campfires or cook on a propane/gas stove to have a personal
fire safety permit. The permit is free, and IS NOT RELATED to any Federal government or United States Forest Service Group Use permit.
They are free, fairly simple and super quick to get off the internet. This is information that all folks considering having a campfire or propane/gas stove in California should understand. THIS IS A STATE OF CALIFORNIA REQUIREMENT!
The CalFire permit belongs to a person, not a campfire. Therefore, if you will have a kitchen or community fire, multiple people in your circle should have permits as a responsible adult with a permit must be by the fire!
Get your free CalFire fire permit here. Print it out, put it in a plastic sleeve or laminate it, and bring it with you to the gathering!
Be warned! We will have a fire watch crew that is damn serious about fire safety this year. Don't expect to be able to slide on our fire safety protocol as we do not want you to endanger our children, our elderly, gathering participants, and surrounding communities. We will have fire safety information at our Fire Safety Station near the INFO Booth off Main Meadow. Please check with the Fire Safety Station before building a fire or using your propane stove, even if you already have the above mentioned CalFire Fire Permit! Situations on the ground will change and the best place to get the latest updates for the gathering is at the Fire Safety Station.
For the latest fire information in the State of California, including active fires and Red Flag warning areas, visit CalFire's website.
Thank You for the Useful Information... I worked as a fire tender at the "Welcome Home" Kitchen in Utah a few years ago and it was excellent... making sure that the people were warm, smoke free and at the same time offering any newly arrived people coffee, clean water and a place to rest.
ReplyDeleteWhen you hear someone yell fire, the rain ow folk grab the dishwater and go to the fire.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you can make that water THREE TIMES MORE USEFFULL IN FIRE FIGHTING by adding one tablespoon of liquid soap to a bucket of water.
So when you hear fire and you grab the dish soap, take the liquid dish soap with you. :-)
ReplyDeleteHosting a big event like the Rainbow Gathering in Modoc County during fire season is risky because:
ReplyDelete1. **High Fire Risk**: It's really dry, and fires can start easily.
2. **Fire Bans**: Rules are in place to prevent fires, so things like campfires might not be allowed.
3. **Emergency Services**: If a fire happens, it might be hard for firefighters and police to help everyone quickly.
4. **Environmental Impact**: A lot of people can harm the environment and make fires more likely.
5. **Safety**: Keeping everyone safe would be really tough.
It's better to have the event when it's not fire season or in a place where fires aren't a big risk.