Landmark Margarita Peak
Our Newest and Largest Preserve

View, facing southwest, of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy's
latest preserve, Margarita Peak.  This 1200-acre property is
adjacent to Camp Pendleton.

Emerald Grove members and land donors, plus a “Gem of a Volunteer,” were saluted by the Fallbrook Land Conservancy (FLC) at the Seventh Annual Recognition Dinner held at Grand Tradition on Wednesday, April 11.

This year’s “Gem” award was presented by FLC chairman Wallace Tucker to Jody Williams. Williams was cited for his work on six different volunteer groups in the community – the Conservancy’s Save Our Forest, Native Plant Team, Invasive Plant Team, and Trails Council, as well as serving as a docent at Live Oak Park and the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.

Jackie Heyneman, chairman of Save Our Forest, also presented a special award to Gene Hayden of Bobcat Specialties, for his many hours of service – removing asphalt and digging numerous holes for tree plantings throughout the community.

To qualify for Emerald Grove membership, individuals and businesses donate a minimum of $1000 a year to FLC, or make a bequest of land. 

Through the end of last year, Emerald Grove co-chairman Dawne Goodwin McCullough recounted, the program had raised $594,540 for the Land Conservancy.  She invited guests to help round that number out to $600,000 – and more than exceeded that goal with pledges received during the evening!

During 2006, 52 donors qualified for Emerald Grove membership and plaques were presented to 13 newcomers. The names of all 2006 donors are listed on  page 6 of this issue.

The next Emerald Grove dinner to honor members of the class of 2007 will be held on April 9, 2008.

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New Talent in FLC Office

Anna Monday has joined the FLC administrative staff as a part-time employee.  She has taken over management of the membership database and other duties from Joan Zimmerman, who has taken off for a while to pursue other interests.

Anna is the principal of mondayMEDIA, a company that creates web sites, newsletter, catalogs, and promotional material.  

Welcome, Anna, and thanks very much to Joan for all her excellent work, including the organization of our complicated membership and property databases.

A Local Artist's Thank-You

Local artist Carol Lindemulder is one of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy members who lost her home in the Rice Fire.  After attending a “Friends” event recently at the Palomares House she wrote:

“I confess to being nonplussed by the generosity offered by so many fellow members…

I have thought long about such generous help from so many, even those I did not know well. I wish to do something which in future will be a “thank you” to all of you.

I have decided that I will use this gift to re-supply my art studio, and when I am finally in a new studio space, I will paint something (landscape/birds) which may be offered by the FLC in a fundraising effort of any sort, in order to return such a wonderful gift to the membership. No strings attached, just need to get settled first.”

Fallbrook Land Conservancy Thanks you, Carol.

Le Werthmuller, key member of the administration team, and her husband Mac lost their home in the recent fire. They wish to thank their many Land  Conservancy friends for their kind thoughts and gifts. 

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Stage Coach Sunday
A Seventeen-Year Success Story

Donovan Dee, a young spiderman posing with pumpkins for painting.

The most popular act in the Wild World animal show was the hands-on experience with an albino python.

Halloween came early this year, with over 100 little witches, wizards, fairies, and other creatively costumed small fry vying for prizes on Stage Coach Sunday, October 11th at the Palomares House.

As always, there was plenty of entertainment for adults too on this the FLC’s 17th annual fundraising celebration. Musicians Ken and Phee entertained, Pacific Animal Productions brought a live menagerie of “Wild World” animals, including a monkey, alligator, python, and even a baby buffalo. BBQ dinners were served all afternoon, there were games for all and free rides along Stage Coach Lane in a Victorian carriage.

The Land Conservancy is extremely grateful to the many silent auction and raffle donors,  and hard-working members.  Special thanks go to the event co- sponsor, San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn, for making this another fundraising success. Other major sponsors included Arlyne Ingold, Pacific Western Bank, Neil and Bonnie Wolfe, Wicker and Megan Gamble, Del Rey Avocado and the Pala Band of Mission Indians.

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Grants and Bequests Received This Year

The FLC is grateful for a generous bequest, as well as the many grants and awards received this year. These funds constitute an important part of the income needed to carry out our mission.

Donna Kaeding’s Bequest

We received a bequest of $29,773 from the estate of Donna Kaeding.  Mrs. Kaeding was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1924, and died here in November, 2005. She joined the United States Marine Corps in 1945 and trained at Parris Island, SC. In 1949 she married Sergeant Graydon Kaeding, USMC and when he was assigned to Embassy duty in the Philippines in 1950, Donna chose to resign from the Corps in order to join her husband.  She was a resident of Fallbrook for 49 years, and was preceded in death by her husband “Grady” in 2000.  We are extremely grateful for this generous gift, and will use these funds to further our stewardship work on our preserved lands.

Combined Agency Grant

FLC received a combined grant from the Natural Resource Conservation Service Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program for conservation work on the Monserate Mountain Preserve. This grant will enable FLC to install 4,500 feet of fencing along the western boundary to protect the preserve from off-road vehicles, to build grade stabilization structures, and to control invasive plants that may return after the fire.  The grant, for $74,374, has been structured for multiple years starting in 2007 and finishing in 2012 with reimbursements spread over several years because of the nonnative species that must be eradicated.

SD Conservation Grant

The San Diego Conservation Resource Network has awarded FLC a grant for $23,500 to prepare a baseline report describing the geographic, geologic and biologic properties of the Margarita Peak property. We will also develop a stewardship plan that will meet the goals of the Camp Pendleton buffer zone program, preserve the biologic values of the land, and allow compatible passive use by the public.

Supervisor Horn’s Award

An award of $14,500 from Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn’s Community Project fund has helped us install a brick-lined pathway through the Palomares Park (see separate article), purchase trees and plants for planting in the Fallbrook area, and provided support our Stage Coach Sunday event. 

Angel Society & Rotary Club Donations

The Angel Society of Fallbrook has granted FLC a total of $7,000 this year to help support our efforts to acquire more natural lands, enhance our existing preserves, continue the Ivy High School plant project, and for the activities of the Save Our Forest committee.  The Rotary Club of Fallbrook awarded a total of  $4,000 for general FLC support, the Trails Council and Save Our Forest.

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Save Our Forest Names Volunteer of the Year

At Save Our Forest’s annual “Party-Party” event to celebrate the accomplishments of members and volunteers, Bob Sabus was named Volunteer of the Year.

He has been involved in  SOF activities for more than ten years, both in the field and on various committees. He also recently completed 12 years with the Fallbrook Planning Group.

During fiscal year 2006-2007, SOF volunteers logged more than 2,000 hours planting, pruning, replacing and otherwise caring for trees throughout the Fallbrook area.

Other volunteers receiving special recognition were Ann Richter, Petey Stevens, Don and Diane McNutt, Greg MacDonald, Joan Sansom, Maja Eddy and Ellie Ross.

Volunteers are always needed to help with various work party projects through the Fallbrook area. For more information, contact Jackie Heyneman at (760) 728-0889.

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Save Our Forest Plantings and Youth Projects
by Jackie Heyneman

Save Our Forest has coasted to the completion of a California ReLeaf 2006-07 grant. The final report has been completed and submitted for reimbursement.

Projects in the immediate future are the Educational Outreach programs in which 400-plus La Paloma Elementary school students will be planting native plants at Los Jilgueros Preserve.

Gary Beeler, a member of FLC’s Technical Advisory Board and the Native Plant & Wildflower Team, has designed and organized this project together with Jean Dooley, the school liaison. This program evolves by giving students a brief presentation in the classroom, then planting rooted cuttings in one-gallon pots, and later placing these plants in the earth at a community location.

Over 550 students from La Paloma and Live Oak schools participated in this project earlier this year. Live Oak students, whose liaison is Susan Sullivan, will bring their plants to the Pico Promenade’s last segment between Beech and College streets after the first of the year.  This is a huge contribution from the school district that could pay off by encouraging young people to be interested and willing to help with improving our environment. 

Another long sought-after project is a planned tree planting at the El Tigre parking lot and South Mission easement.  This will take place in February.  Trees will be donated from the Save Our Forest nursery to improve and enhance a bare expanse of asphalt that creates a huge heat island.

As always work parties go on, and we continue to seek financial support to allow us to contract for the professional services that volunteers cannot safely do.     

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Native Plants and California Wildflowers Will Bloom in the Spring at Los Jilgueros Preserve

Native Plant & Wildflower team members Shogo Yamaguchi, Joan and Jody Williams, Julie Norbert, Jan and Gary Beeler, and Toni Inman are busy working on a project to restore the area adjacent to the kiosk near the Firescape Garden at Los Jilgueros Preserve with native California plants.

On December 5th, hundreds of enthusiastic students from La Paloma Elementary School were  bussed to the preserve parking lot, armed with gloves and planting tools.

These willing volunteers headed for the upper trail to put a wide variety of native California plants in the ground.

These seedlings and shrubs included a variety of sages, sticky-leaved monkey flowers, elderberry, coast live oak and coyote brush, two varieties of penstemons, and a selection of native grasses.   

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An Analysis of a Fire in a Suburban Rural Landscape
by Tom Chester

The 2007 Rice Fire in Fallbrook / Rainbow was essentially the worst-case scenario for a fire to threaten the Winterwarm Area of Fallbrook, where I live, for three reasons:

·   The fire began well after a number of other major fires had begun, so resources to fight the fire were extremely limited. If there had been no other fires first, the fire would have been contained much earlier.

· The fire began 6 miles to our northeast, with strong Santa Ana winds blowing from that direction, driving the fire straight toward the Winterwarm Area.

· The winds were unusually strong for a Santa Ana, with maximum gusts of 50-70 mph when the fires were only a few miles from the Winterwarm Area. Virtually the entire area affected by the southwest flank of the fire is a human landscape, devoid of natural vegetation except for scattered coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia). Except for extremely small pockets elsewhere, the only significant patch of natural vegetation is on Monserate Mountain. Although this natural vegetation may have contributed to the initial spread of the fire, its influence was negligible west of I-15.

Overview Of The Landscape

Furthermore, it is unlikely that the scattered coast live oaks contributed to the fire here. In fact, coast live oak is not only resistant to fire, it helps suppress fires by putting out embers in its canopy.  (However, I note that several fire professionals strongly feel that unmodified riparian drainages, including ones with coast live oaks, often act as fire conveyances. If a fire is intense enough, almost anything will burn, including coast live oaks.)

The landscape consists mostly of residential lots 1-10 acres in size, along with a few commercial groves, nurseries and golf courses, all with above-ground propane tanks to supply them with heating gas. Many of the residential lots also contain groves, and most of the groves are irrigated.

There are two exceptions to the low-density rural development:  the Valley Oaks Mobile Home Park, containing 212 mobile homes in very close proximity, and high-density condominiums at Pala Mesa Resort.

My two-acre yard is probably typical of many residential lots that do not have groves. It consists of well over 90% nonnative species, including ornamentals, fruit trees, vegetables, and many Mediterranean weeds.The non-irrigated areas are almost 100% nonnative weeds such as Crete weed, bur-clover, red brome, foxtail barley, and filaree; the native coastal sage scrub and chaparral were long ago removed by bulldozers, tractors and other disturbances.

The fire district requires these non-irrigated areas to be mowed or tilled before fire season begins, since these dry annuals are extremely flammable and burn very rapidly once ignited. In both respects, such patches of nonnative annuals are a much-bigger fire danger than native plants. In fact, you can almost count on there being several small fires in Fallbrook per year ignited by this mowing.

The vegetation along many of the roads consists of highly-flammable nonnative species such as fountain grass, Russian thistle, and tropical horseweed (Conyza floribunda).

Thus the story of the fire in this area is of interest since the natural landscape was not a factor. (The natural landscape was definitely a factor in other areas burned by this fire, such as at Red Mountain and north, but those areas are irrelevant to the story told here, and weren't burned until after the fire was stopped on its southwest flank.)

It is important to note that fuel available to be burned by fire from human structures nearly always dwarfs the fuel available from vegetation. Rehm et al 2002, of the Fire Research Division, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, in their report Community-Scale Fire Spread, state: “The heaviest likely fuel load in the forest is less than the lightest load for a structure.”

At a typical Fallbrook density of one house per acre, their tables show that the fuel load from houses is on the order of 100 times more than the fuel load of a forest. Analysis of the recent Lake Tahoe fires confirmed that this fuel load matters; cabins were a major factor in the spread of that fire even though the cabins were surrounded by trees. The fuel load of any non-forest natural vegetation in southern California is no larger than that of a forest.

We've all seen pictures of the subdivisions in Poway or Rancho Bernardo where many houses have burned. Most of those homes were undoubtedly set on fire by fires from other houses, either by the direct heat and flames of their immediate neighbors or embers from houses blocks away.   

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Wind Conditions

The wind, of course, was the major factor in the spread of this fire. Fires can always be put out if there are no strong winds; fires can almost never be put out if there are strong winds.

The fire was caused by downed power lines around 4:00 a.m., which may have been toppled by strong winds in Rainbows that weren't present in the Winterwarm Area. Using the Winterwarm winds as a guide, the fire was probably initially spread by strong winds from 4:50 to 5:10 a.m. and then again from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There was only a brief letup in the wind for an hour before it began to pick up again.

The main wind event was 3-9 p.m. on Monday, with a brief secondary event at 11:00 p.m. The wind speed essentially never went below about 10 mph between six and 9:00 p.m. Monday night; the gusts never went below about 15 mph. The median wind speed between six and 9:00 p.m. was 14 mph; the median wind gust was 21 mph. The maximum wind gust was an amazing and very unusual 70 mph. Gusts over 40 mph were recorded in 21 different one-minute intervals between 5:19 and 10:23 p.m., with another one recorded at 10:46 p.m.

The winds essentially died down completely soon early Tuesday morning, and were essentially zero thereafter. This is very different from locations just 12 miles away. For example, Temecula continued to record strong winds from the northeast most of the day Tuesday, with gusts of 15-25 mph until after 5:00 p.m.

If the winds in Fallbrook had continued, it is quite possible that much more of Fallbrook would have burned. This was the very-plausible motivation for the evacuation order for all of Fallbrook. Such winds could cause fire to go from I-15 to the coast in less time than people could evacuate. (It took an average of three hours "driving" time for people to travel from Fallbrook to the coast on Monday afternoon, a trip that normally takes a half hour.)

How Wind-Driven Fires Spread, and How Fires Are Extinguished

Embers from fires driven by high winds can start spot fires at least 1.5 miles away from the "front" of the fire. Those spot-fires spread in the direction of the wind, and in turn can start new spot fires in whatever direction the wind is blowing there. Every time you hear that a fire "jumped" the freeway, this process was at work, since the concrete freeway doesn't burn. A typical eight lane freeway width is 400 feet, less than a tenth of a mile.

If the wind is blowing consistently in one direction, the fire can essentially leap-frog its way across the landscape, and spot-fires can burn backwards (as well as forwards) and even put out the previous "fire front,” replacing that old front with their own.

Worse, strong and/or large fires create their own local wind, since the heat causes the air to rise, which tries to draw in air from all directions. The local wind pattern produced by a fire can be very erratic, since the fire itself burns in a complex pattern, and also burns hotter in some places than in others.  According to reports from John Buchanan, the public information office for North County Fire Protection District, the Rice fire fit this pattern precisely. “The fire is acting like a tornado,” he said, “taking out homes outside of its path of destruction, probably from hot embers.” (North County Times 10/23/07).

Aerial attacks on wind-driven fires are virtually useless. The erratic winds will cause most water or fire-retardant drops to miss their target, and disperse them so much that they don't do any good even where they land. Even if the drop hits its target, it hardly matters; the fire has already spread beyond that point. It is also very unsafe to fly in such conditions, and foolish to even try when the chances of success are almost zero.

The two main tools used by firefighters on the ground – constructing containment lines via human labor or bulldozers, and backfires – are also almost useless against wind-driven fire. It is impossible to construct a containment line in front of a fast-moving, wind-driven blaze, since there is no time to create one. Backfires can't be set if the wind never shifts to drive the backfire into the advancing flames.

The third tool is to try to actually put the fire out using water or fire-retardant, either from the ground or from the air. This is a puny tool compared to the two main tools.

Fighting fires in human landscapes is much harder than fighting fires in natural areas, because firefighters cannot use their two main tools. It would be very unpopular to bulldoze a block-wide line of luxury homes in order to make a firebreak, and then set fire to the homes and landscapes inside the firebreak to burn back to the active fire.

All firefighters can do to fight wind-driven fires in human landscapes is to try to protect as many structures as they can safely protect with ground crews, and wait for the wind to stop so the fire can actually then be put out, usually with the considerable aid of aerial attacks.

Note that "defensible space,” the clearing of flammable vegetation, woodpiles, etc. around one's house, cannot prevent embers from reaching your home during a wind-driven fire, since those embers come from far away. A clearance of 100 feet is insignificant compared to the 8000 feet embers can travel. We all now know of many examples of fires jumping freeways that are a minimum fuel break of 400 feet for embers blowing perpendicularly to the freeway direction, and are even longer breaks for embers blowing in other directions.

However, if you have defensible space, it has two beneficial effects. First, it will decrease the number of embers reaching your house, since your immediate landscape will not be contributing local embers. Second, it is more likely that firefighters will try to protect your home during such a fire.

Of course, defensible space is very important when the wind is not a factor, and can prevent flames and embers from ever reaching your home. 

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The Major Source Of Fuel For The Fires

There seems little doubt that the major sources of fuel for the fires west of I-15 were buildings. The Rice fire burned 9,000 acres, 206 homes, two commercial properties and 40 outbuildings. Using the minimum figures above, that a density of one home per acre contains 100 times more than the fuel in vegetation, the fuel from 200 homes equates to the fuel from the vegetation in 20,000 acres. This is twice as much as the 9,000 acres burned, and hence it is likely that on the order of two-thirds of the fuel for the fire came from burned homes.

 Anyone watching the video of the Valley Oaks Mobile Homes burning, or who saw the smoke column from those homes, will not be surprised at this conclusion. Nor will anyone who has seen the numerous videos of homes burning in other areas be surprised. The most intense fire, flames and smoke, come from the homes burning, not the surrounding vegetation.

The Most Dangerous Locations For Your House

The map of burned homes in Fallbrook shows two clear concentrations: the Valley Oaks Mobile Home Park, and the homes along the Wilt / Yucca Road / Ranger Road ridge line.

Neither of these concentrations is a surprise, either. As discussed above, the most dangerous things to have around your house are other houses. If you live in an area of dense housing, such as the Mobile Home Park, and one house burns when there are no firefighters available to put out that fire, your house is highly likely to burn, as well as those of your neighbors.

Homes built on top of a slope that faces north, northeast, or east, like the homes along Wilt Road et al, are at the bulls-eye of the flames and embers driven up the slope by heat and wind. It should be expected that homes in those locations will burn on a regular interval. If you must build your house on top of such a slope, the farther back from the slope, the better.

The elevation profile in the accompanying illustration shows the steep eastern slope from the ridge along Wilt Road. Imagine a burning ember initially going straight up from the Mobile Home Park. The wind blowing from the east sends that ember to the west, which immediately impacts anything at that position on that slope. The homes at the top of the ridge get hit by embers from almost everything burning below them on the slope.

A much safer place to have your house is on the western side of a north-south ridge line. Most of the embers from homes burning along the ridge line, or from home burning on the eastern side of that ridge line, are blown harmlessly overhead and burn out before they can land on your house.

Ridge lines above major east-west canyons and valleys are probably even more dangerous places to locate a house. Fire is pushed quickly along those east-west drainages by the Santa Ana winds, and then the chimney effect allows fire to quickly travel up those ridge lines. Even in the absence of fire pushed along those drainages, any fire that starts in a canyon or valley will quickly reach those ridge lines due to the chimney effect. 

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The Importance Of Proper House Construction, Flammable Items Near Your House, and Fire Engine Access

After location, proper home construction is arguably the most important factor in preventing your home from burning. Embers will fly through the air at your house, no matter what your defensible space is, and possibly ignite any flammable part of your house.

Eliminating anything flammable that is part of your house, or close to your house, is the number one priority. It has long been known that exposed wood is very dangerous, with wood shake roofs the worst villain by far. Wood siding, wood decks, and attached wood sheds all can be easily ignited by fire, and can set your house directly on fire.

Homes without combustible parts can still catch fire. The heat from flames close to the house can set the inside of the house on fire through windows or any gaps in the house. Imagine your home placed in an oven, with heat radiating into your home from all directions. Items inside the house will eventually ignite, and your home will burn.

It is therefore extremely important not to surround your house with items that can create oven-like conditions around your house. A house surrounded by flammable trees or tall shrubs will cook and burn. I will definitely remove the palm trees, eucalyptus, and acacia trees around my house within the next year.

The second way is surprising to most people. A tiny ember gets into the attic, and ignites the very dry, highly-flammable paper-backing of your insulation. Almost unbelievably, many homes in fire country have a ventilation system that actively sucks such embers in, due to the winds that accompany a fire! Although we like our attics to be well-vented, many such vent systems suck in hot gases and embers during a fire.

Only within the last few years have construction standards taken into account fire safety. The top two changes are to decrease the fire-caused ventilation, and to incorporate attic-venting screens that will extinguish embers on their way into your attic. Bringing your attic venting system and screens up to the latest code could be the second most important step you can take to make your house resistant to fire.

The third priority is called "defensible space,” clearing the landscape of flammable items to some larger distance, typically 100 feet, from your home. Defensible space is very important when the wind is not a factor, and can prevent flames and embers from ever reaching your home.

Defensible space, and good access for fire engines, is extremely important if you would like firefighters to consider protecting your house from blown embers, or to put out any fire that gets started. During major fires, firefighters cannot protect every house. They of course will first protect houses that they can easily access, and where they can safely fight the fire.

Try this exercise: pretend you are a firefighter driving down your street, and have ten seconds to decide which house to protect first. If it is clear that the choice would be a neighbor's house, you might consider taking action to make your house a more desirable choice.

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