At a small library located in the Silverado-Trabuco Canyon area, surrounded by hills that were consumed by flames in 2020, canyon residents this week had the opportunity to address first responders and federal leaders about the unique challenges of living in a wildfire-prone region.
The community gathering, hosted by Reps. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, and Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the Library of the Canyons, comes on the heels of the Airport fire, which started in Trabuco Canyon and burned more than 23,500 acres and destroyed some 160 structures since it sparked on Sept. 9.
The canyon area has experienced several major fires in recent years, including the Bond and Silverado fires in 2020.
A shared concern among longtime residents was what they say is inadequate law enforcement presence in the area, which, according to U.S. Forest Service supervisor Scott Tangenberg, is managed by just two dedicated officers.
“It takes 20 minutes to get an officer of any kind up here,” said Mary Schreiber, founder and president of the Fire Safe Council East Orange County Canyons.
Schreiber said she’s seen trucks with barbecues go up to the forest during the summer. The Cleveland National Forest says on its website that due to the year-round fire danger, it prohibits wood or charcoal fires, including charcoal used in barbecues.
Trabuco Canyon resident Jim Iacono noted that he frequently sees copious amounts of garbage, even including items like refrigerators and couches, scattered throughout Trabuco Canyon and along Trabuco Creek Road, which are fire hazards. But because of the lack of law enforcement in the area, Schreiber said, residents are left to pick up after visitors, even taking on responsibilities like monitoring roads and license plates.
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The risks of a power outage during a fire are increased by the lack of law enforcement, said Joanne Hubble, a longtime canyon resident of 45 years who handles emergency communications for her community.
She recalled the spotty cell service during the Bond fire in 2020, which burned 6,686 acres in Silverado Canyon.
“There was a lack of communication when the power went out, a lack of cell service,” she said. “The guys couldn’t call 911 to get the fire department to come out here.”
“You need to hire more people to stay out here,” she told Tangenberg.
First responders on Tuesday also raised concerns about recruitment and retention challenges at the federal level, which they say complicate efforts to maintain staffing at the Cleveland National Forest station, which falls under federal jurisdiction.
Kim, who represents the canyon community in California’s 40th congressional district, recently joined several Southern California lawmakers — Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona; Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano; Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana; and Darrell Issa, R-Escondido — on a letter to the U.S. Forest Service. They questioned the service allegedly refusing an offer by OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy to staff the Cleveland National Forest fire station at no cost.
“OCFA volunteered to send in more firefighters,” Kim said at Tuesday’s event. “What is the problem between having OCFA folks work with you while the fire was going on? They offered some additional personnel and USFA said, ‘No, we can’t take it.’”
But Tangenberg said that is not true. He said that there “isn’t a problem utilizing local resources.”
“And vice versa, when a fire starts on adjacent land to the national forest, and we get called for mutual aid response, we’re there. We’re showing up to provide that mutual aid effort,” he said.
The U.S. Forest Service intends to meet with Fennessy to work through staffing challenges, said deputy regional forester Kara Chadwick.
Kim and Westerman, who is chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, said they will push for additional disaster funding when they return to Congress after the November election.
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