Richard Drewery is organizing a Firewise Educational Training Workshop that he hopes will be a starting point in creating a fire plan for San Diego Country Estates.
The free workshop is set for 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 12 at the International Equestrian Center Rotunda, 16911 Gunn Stage Road. Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m.
“The Fire Plan would cover how to make our community safer from wildfires,” said Drewery, an Estates resident for the past decade, who is putting on the workshop with from county Supervisor Joel Anderson’s office. “You can’t stop wildfires, but a plan would give firefighters an opportunity to save our homes and save our neighborhoods.”
Guest speakers will include Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots, who will speak about fire prevention strategies, and Ramona Sheriff’s Office Lt. Alejandro “Alex” Navarro, who will share information about the Genasys Protect App.
Drewery said he saw a need for Estates homeowners and its homeowners association — which owns about 1,400 acres of open space — to make a cohesive plan for fire protection about four years ago.
“I’ve been very concerned about wildfires out here for four years because it’s a dangerous place,” he said. “I’m a native San Diegan so I’ve experienced many wildfires. I was just concerned about where I live because it’s so overgrown and I felt more needed to be done.”
Drewery has become active in a San Diego Country Estates Fire Safety Committee and is the current chairman of a Firewise Subcommittee. The two committees serve different roles, he said.
The Estates Fire Safety Committee organized nine months ago addresses brush removal in open spaces, overall fire safety for residents, and offers opportunities for sharing information about protecting the community.
Since last summer, Nancy Zadrozny, landscape open space manager for the Estates Association, and a crew of four landscape maintenance workers and additional subcontractors have been clearing overgrown vegetation from the Estates open space. Specifically they are removing non-native invasive plants such as pines, peppers, palms and eucalyptus trees that are very flammable, Zadrozny said.
“Historically, the HOA property has been left uncut in its natural state,” Zadrozny said. “But now the association is recognizing the increased fire danger and they have provided additional funding for enhanced cleaning.”
Zadrozny said the work involves identifying homes that are adjacent to open space to make sure they have 100 feet of clearance from vegetation and debris as required by the San Diego County Fire Code.
“The Fire Code has parameters that are required and we are taking those seriously and we are doing more work now to meet those requirements,” she said, adding that the crew of workers are selectively removing and pruning plants. “We recognize that some plants are on the endangered species list and are protected so we don’t just go in and clear it all out, we pick and choose and hand clear them.”
A Firewise Subcommittee has been formed in conjunction with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a U.S.-based international nonprofit devoted to eliminating death, injury, property damage and economic losses due to fire, electrical and related hazards.
The NFPA’s Firewise USA program offers information to communities to help them take steps to reduce the risk of destruction from wildfires.
Volunteer resident leaders are being organized by the subcommittee to guide Estates residents on how to clear defensible space around their properties and make home improvements to roofs, sidings and vents to protect homes from wildfires, Drewery said.
One committee works on reducing fire hazards in open spaces and the subcommittee helps residents protect their home from fires, he said.
Together they can create a community risk assessment plan, also known as a Fire Plan, Drewery said. Once the Fire Plan is approved by the National Fire Protection Association, individual homeowners can apply for a reduction on their property fire insurance rates, he said.
“Both the open space fuel reduction schedule and the resident home hardening program through the NFPA Firewise Program create a complete plan where there was nothing in place before,” he said. “It would be good to attend the workshop because there’s so many homes in the Estates. If the HOA just works on open spaces, we would still have the homes to protect. You can’t have one committee without the other. We all need to be working together to make our community safer.”
Shoots said the Firewise USA program has been spreading across the country since 2019. Now there are more than 800 communities participating in the Firewise program in California, including 11 communities in the San Diego region, Shoots said.
“In the Estates, they’re looking at what the HOA is already doing and what they can improve on,” he said. “A big piece is making sure homeowners are doing their part as well. Sometimes the details are harder to understand so we will explain what that means and what people can do without spending a lot of money.”
Shoots said his presentation will include information about clearing defensible space around properties and how to make fire-resistant improvements to homes. Some of his information will include how technology has changed the response to wildfires and other emergencies since the 2003 Cedar Fire and the 2007 Witch Creek Fire.
“We’ll discuss how you can get information during an emergency and how to evacuate safely to keep your home standing and to get out of harms’ way,” Shoots said.
Other information will be shared about Genasys Protect, a tool for sharing safety information and instructions during emergencies either on a mobile app or online at protect.genasys.com. Lt. Navarro will discuss emergency evacuations and how the app and online tools work.
Carl Weise, the new San Diego Country Estates Association general manager who ed the HOA in February, said he plans to attend the workshop to introduce himself to the community.
Weise said county residents are familiar with the region’s high-fire risks after experiencing the Cedar and Witch Creek fires.
“As good neighbors, the HOA is doing many things on our property to create protective barriers and defensible space,” Weise said. “Homeowners are a part of that puzzle, too, so we can mitigate our risks and reduce loss of life and property from a wildfire.”
To for the Firewise Educational Training Workshop, visit the website RamonaWestEndFireSafeCouncil.org and click on the “Events” tab.
For more information, email Drewery at [email protected].
