FIRE INFO

IF and WHEN a fire threatens our area, here is a phone # and website. Fire Information Line at 619-590-3160 or go to www.fire.ca.gov then "Fire Information".  Residents are encouraged to monitor fire situations and to be prepared for changing fire conditions.

If an evacuation order is issued residents should follow all instructions of fire and law enforcement officials. While you're at the website, there is a lot of useful information on fire prevention, planning and preparedness.

FIRE TAX!

By George Runner

Member of the California State Board of Equalization, District 2

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

Better late than never, California lawmakers seem to be waking up to the reality that the illegal "Fire Prevention Fee" they enacted nearly two years ago is a complete fiasco. Even so, they are refusing to repeal it. Instead they are scheming up ways to replace the tax with yet another tax that's even bigger than the first.

Where else but Sacramento would someone think the answer to a bad tax is to replace it with one even worse?

Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, who represents many rural taxpayers on California's North Coast, is leading the charge to reinvent and expand the fire fee. His proposal (AB 468) would replace the fire fee with a 4.8 percent "surcharge" on all insured homeowners and businesses in the State of California, regardless of location.

A similar concept was proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2009 but was rejected by the Legislature.

These payments, averaging $48 per policy and totaling an estimated $480 million per year, would find their way to a "Disaster Management, Preparedness, and Assistance Fund." The fund would benefit bureaucracies, like Cal Fire, that are involved in the state's disaster preparedness efforts.

If you want to discourage an activity, you tax it. Mr. Chesbro's proposal would make it more costly for Californians to maintain insurance coverage on their property, punishing them for being responsible. Our laws should encourage good behavior, not discourage it.

Call it what you will, this new "surcharge" is really just the fire fee all over again-this time on steroids. It aims to repackage, rebrand and expand a tax that to date has been a colossal failure. Although the new tax will lessen annual payments for current fire fee payers, it will dramatically expand the number of overtaxed Californians who are forced to pay even higher taxes.

The original fire tax was supposed to bring in $84 million in revenue from more than 825,000 rural California taxpayers. Due in part to billing errors and bad addresses, the state has spent millions and only collected about $75 million.

This new tax would cost California property owners six times more money than the original. About 10 million people would be impacted-twelve times as many as right now.

The Legislature passed the original fire fee by a simple majority vote rather than the required two-thirds vote for new taxes. That's why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, with my full support, has filed a class action lawsuit against the State of California.

As currently drafted, Chesbro's legislation would also only require a simple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds vote clearly required by Proposition 26. It's hard to imagine the Legislature would replace an illegal tax with an illegal tax, but stranger things have happened in Sacramento.
It remains to be seen what Governor Jerry Brown will do if it passes the Legislature. Some also speculate the Governor will propose sweeping changes to the fire fee when he unveils his May budget.
Despite significant media coverage, to date the Governor has mostly tried to brush off growing concerns about the fire fee and Cal Fire. In January, the agency was forced to admit the existence of a secret $3.66 million slush fund. In February, the agency was faulted by the Legislature's attorneys for illegally diverting fire fee funds to pay for wildfire investigations. The Governor dismissed these revelations as "boring."

Since the original fire fee passed, Californians have voted twice to send billions of additional tax dollars to Sacramento. Some now believe the state's budget is balanced and could even see surpluses in the next few years.

Public safety is the first priority of government. The heroic men and women who fight wildfires and respond to emergencies and natural disasters deserve our full support.

But that doesn't mean they need new taxes. Public safety should be first, not last, in line for existing public dollars. If the state's emergency readiness lacks adequate funding, we need to do a better job prioritizing the billions of dollars the state is currently spending.

With this in mind, the Legislature would do best to repeal California's illegal fire tax and stop thinking about replacing it with a tax that's six times worse.

George Runner represents more than nine million Californians as a taxpayer advocate and elected member of the State Board of Equalization. To help inform California taxpayers, Runner has established a website, calfirefee.com, providing the latest fire tax news and information.

Goldspotted oak borer (GSOB)

CAL FIRE NEWS RELEASE California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CONTACT: Julie Hutchinson, Battalion Chief/PIO (951) 377-8380 Kim Camilli, CAL FIRE Forest Pest Specialist (805) 550-8583 or (805) 543-4244. RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2012 Invasive Pest Found in Riverside County Fire and Forest Officials Ask Public's Help to Stop Spread Idyllwild - The goldspotted oak borer (GSOB) has been detected in a recently-killed California black oak tree in the Riverside County mountain community of Idyllwild. Larvae extracted from under the tree bark were subjected to DNA analysis at the University of California Riverside and confirmed to be Agrilus auroguttatus, the scientific name for GSOB. This new detection of GSOB represents the first long-distance movement of the beetle from its known area of infestation in San Diego County, 40 miles to the south. It is believed to have made the jump from San Diego to Idyllwild through the movement of infested firewood. The infested tree is slated for immediate removal and disposal. The GSOB is transported in oak firewood, so it is critical that Californians keep firewood local and not move it out of the area. Here are some immediate steps to help stop the spread of GSOB: Use firewood from local sources - “Buy it Where you Burn It” Leave firewood at home - do not transport it to recreational cabins, campgrounds or parks “The public plays a key role in stopping the spread of the destructive GSOB,” said CAL FIRE Director and State Forester Ken Pimlott. “When choosing firewood make sure you buy it from a local source and not from out of the area. This infestation could have devastating effects on California and we all must work to stop its spread.” The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is collaborating with the University of California, the U.S. Forest Service and the County of Riverside to develop a rapid response plan for GSOB in San Jacinto forest communities. Surveys are already in progress to determine the extent of the infestation. Property owners in the Idyllwild area will be receiving additional information in the coming weeks on the GSOB and how to assess their own oak trees as well as a list of recommended contacts for questions. These infestations can be very destructive to our forests, communities, individual properties, and are extremely costly to control. “This discovery of GSOB in Riverside County is of great concern,” said CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Chief John R. Hawkins. “These mountain communities have endured years of drought and bark beetle infestation and we need to work collaboratively with the public and all stakeholders to stop the GSOB from further destroying our forest and oak woodlands.” Anyone planning to purchase or burn firewood is encouraged to visit www.firewood.ca.gov to learn how help stop the spread of GSOB and other pests through the movement of firewood. For more information on GSOB visit www.gsob.org.

FIRE TAX PROTEST - PETITION/FORMS

http://firetaxprotest.org/?page_id=13

THERMO-GEL FIRE PROTECTION

FIRE RETARDANT PRODUCTS reviewed in L.A. Times article 11/25/07:
THERMO-GEL, by Fire Etc. of San Diego. Class A, 5-8 hr duration, coverage 4,000sf. Kit . Used by San Bernardino Cty, State Dept of Forestry. 
Fire Etc. also makes a Pool Pump, $1295. Contact www.fire-etc.com or 619-525-7286.

DISASTER MITIGATION/CERT/GET READY2GO/

www.disastermitigationservices.com and www.sdfpo.org and www.getready2go.org

"GET READY2GO" will be a new program for disaster traing and is a one night class on how two get ready for a disaster.

CONTACT INFO:

James Beebe
North County Fire Protection District

Fire Prevention Specialist II / EMT 1 D.C jbeebe@ncfire.org

Engineer, Rainbow Valley Volunteer Fire Dept. (760) 723-2026

President San Diego Fire Prevention Officers Assn. www.sdfpo.org
CERT Coordinator / Instructor Pala Mission band of Indians Inland Valley CERT www.inlandvalleycert.org
President /CEO www.disastermitigationservices.com

President/CEO Get Ready 2 Go www.getready2go.org
760/723-1338 Disaster Mitigation Services Office

760/803-6150 DMS Cell

760/723-9572 home office Drywall

WILDFIRE ZONE

A very informative website, www.wildfirezone.org, which is evidently run by the County and the University of California. This is an excellent source of information about fire/ignition prevention and a bunch of other wildfire related stuff. You can plug in your zipcode, for example, and see the fire history of your neighborhood, as well as a hazard rating. 

Most interesting of all, these folks will send a project coordinator to your community to speak about wildfire prevention/protection generally, and about how to create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

RICE CANYON FIRE LEGACY FUND

The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce and Legacy Endowment Foundation have established a fund for victims of the Fallbrook (Rice Canyon) Fire. 
People wishing to contribute to the fund can make checks payable to "Legacy Endowment" and specify their donation is for the Fallbrook Fire Storm 2007. Send checks to Legacy Endowment Foundation, PO Box 2710, Fallbrook, CA 92088, or deliver them to the Chamber of Commerce office, 233 East Mission Road. 
The donations will be used to assist victims of the Rice Canyon Fire in Fallbrook/Rainbow and De Luz. However, if donors wish to contribute to other areas where fire victims have need, they should specify that wish. One hundred percent of the contributions will be used to assist fire victims. 
"We'll make sure the funds reach those in need," said Foundation President Phil Delaney. 
The distribution of funds will be in accordance with the IRS Disaster Relief requirements. Donations received by Legacy Endowment will be tax-deductible. 
The Legacy Endowment Foundation was formed to enhance and preserve a higher quality of life for the community now and for generations to come. Its mission is to facilitate philanthropy for individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits and organizations. 
Legacy Endowment Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 public charity. It facilitates philanthropy for individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits and other organizations. 
Legacy's office is located adjacent to the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce and is normally open from Tuesday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the hours may be extended to meet the needs of victims of Fallbrook. 
For more information, contact executive director Tina Rainey at (760) 728-3304 or vice president Roy Ansell at (760) 728-5946.

FALLBROOK AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

The Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club (FARC) http://fallbrookarc.org/ is a good source of information in the event of an emergency, such as fire, earthquake, even road information.When you smell smoke, hear multiple sirens, or an unusual traffic jam, monitor 146.175 or 445.600 on any police scanner (available at Radio Shack or various electronics stores).FARC, members monitor local emergency frequencies on their scanners and report or comment over the air on the previously mentioned frequencies.There is a link within the FARC website to find other local emergency frequencies that you may find interesting to monitor on a scanner, should anybody purchase one.During an actual emergency, such as the Rice Fire, the FARC sets up and handles communications at the Roy Noon Hall, 231 E. Hawthorne St. in Fallbrook. This is the command center for the Fallbrook Fire Dept. FARC has radios set up in a small room within the building, connected to antennas outside on a small tower. During an actual emergency, such as the fires, Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico, electric power may become interrupted, cell phone reception or land line telephones may become intermittent at best. Amateur radio operators set up battery or generator powered stations, and pass information to emergency services as well as other operators across the nation or throughout the community.The Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club also provides their services during the Avocado Festival, Fallbrook Christmas Parade, and the Avenue of the Oaks bike ride. FARC also patrols the Rainbow area and De Luz Canyon area during Red Fag conditions for Cal Fire. You may see them during the 4th of July each year driving up and down Rainbow Heights Rd, Rainbow Crest, Rice Canyon as well as De Luz Canyon and Sandia Creek to the county line. If you purchase a police scanner and would like help programming one, I can assist or there are mentors at our club meeting (open to the public) at the Roy Noon Hall on the first Saturday of the month, that can assist. Hayden PerrineKG6YVD728-1511