Upcoming Carson City Fire Safe Council Chapter Meetings

October 17: The Mexican Dam/Pinion Hills Fire Safe Council Chapter will meet from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the BLM Field Office located at 5665 Morgan Mill Road, Carson City. At this meeting the group will continue discussion about two projects proposed for this community. Planning will continue for the installation of water storage tanks in the Mexican Dam neighborhood, and a fuels reduction project of the west side of Pinion Hills will be discussed.

October 26: The Lakeview Fire Safe Council Chapter will meet from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Carson City Fire Department Station #1 located at 777 South Steward Street in Carson City. At this meeting Norb Szczurek from the North Tahoe Fire Department will talk about his experiences fighting the Waterfall Fire in the Lakeview neighborhood. The group will also be discussing future projects including a fuels reduction project of the southeast side of Lakeview as well as fuel reduction throughout the community.

November 8: Residents living in the North Carson City area will be meeting to begin the Fire Safe Council Chapter formation process on November 8th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This meeting is being held at the BLM Field Office located at 5665 Morgan Mill Road in Carson City. This meeting will make clear to residents the chapter application process, as well as explain the many benefits of forming a chapter.

Class - "Pre-emergent Herbicides - Fall Strategies to Control Spring Weeds"

October 13: JoAnne Skelly will be teaching the class "Pre-emergent Herbicides - Fall Strategies to Control Spring Weeds" from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Rarely do we think of controlling spring weeds in the fall. Find out how to reduce your late winter and spring weeding chores. Learn how to reduce cheatgrass in your yard. Information will be provided on the application and selection of pre-emergent herbicides. For more information, call University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in Carson City, 775-887-2252.

Volunteer Opportunities

Below is a schedule of the upcoming tree watering events. Some of the groups that have signed up are smaller groups so they would love to have a few more helping hands watering the trees.

In April Boy Scouts planted 1,000 Jeffrey Pine trees in the Waterfall Fire area (more specifically, the Lakeview neighborhood). A Nevada Division of Forestry Forester gave the trees a 10% chance of surviving
without watering. Currently we are seeing a 75-80% success. The watering is working!

The Carson City Parks and Recreation Department has placed a water tank at the top of the hill above the trees and has run hoses down the slope, so watering will involve filling up containers at these hoses and
watering the nearby trees. UNCE has marked the majority of the trees (we still have a few that we were unable to find!). This opportunity is not suitable for everyone. The slope on which the trees were planted is
fairly steep. Volunteers should wear hiking boots or sturdy shoes and be sure to wear hats and sun screen. As far as an estimated time for the project, if you have about 10-15 volunteers, then it should only take about 1.5 to 2.5 hours.

Directions to the watering site. . .

Go west on College Parkway (toward WNCC)

Turn right onto Ormsby Rd

Turn right onto Coombs Canyon Rd

Turn left onto Lakeview Rd.

Lakeview Rd will dead end into Sandy Circle. The planting site is on the left.

The trees start at the first log lying horizontal to the slope. There are hoses that are spread out on the hill. The closest one is a little bit further than the lowest trees. At each place where one hose is connected to another there is an attachment that allows volunteers to fill up (You don't have to hike all the way down to the bottom of a hose to refill watering jugs!)

If you are available, come help out these volunteers! All the groups would love your help so please fill in where you can.

October 8: A group of Boy Scouts will be watering the trees planted last spring in an area of the Lakeview neighborhood that was burned in the Waterfall Fire. The group will be meeting at the site at 9:30 a.m., located at the Sandy Circle in Lakeview. All are welcome to help. For more information or directions to Sandy Circle call Lesley at 887-2252.

October 16 & 22 : A group of Boy Scouts will be watering the trees planted last spring in an area of the Lakeview neighborhood that was burned in the Waterfall Fire. The group will be meeting at the site at 2:00 p.m. The site is located at Sandy Circle in Lakeview. All are welcome to help. For more information or directions to Sandy Circle call Lesley at 887-2252.

November 12: The Navel JROTC from Carson City High School will be watering the trees planted last spring in the Lakeview neighborhood that was burned in the Waterfall Fire. Following the watering the group will be taking apart and removing all the hoses and decommissioning and mulching trails made during the six month watering project. The group will be meeting at the site at 9:30 a.m. The site is located at Sandy Circle in Lakeview. All are welcome to help. For more information or directions to Sandy Circle call Lesley at 887-2252.

Thank you all.  University of Nevada Cooperative Extension thanks all our volunteers who are helping to make this challenging project a success!

From Fires to Floods

   (Wildfire and Flood Risks publication from FEMA and Nevada Division of Emergency Management)

The Waterfall Fire denuded thousands of acres, exposing the earth to the damaging effects of rain, wind, and other elements of nature.  These conditions have greatly increased the risk of flooding and mudflows that threaten this area.  This increased risk lasts for several years after the fire, until normal vegetation has recovered.

Intense heat from fire can make the soil repel water, a condition called hydrophobicity.  2,000 acres of the burned area in the Waterfall are rated hydrophobic.  This type of soil can't absorb water during a storm, and the result can be flooding in the areas downstream of the burned area.

As the rains pummel the unprotected earth, soils on many slopes can become unstable.  After the Waterfall fire, 93% of the soils in the burned area have been given a moderate (29%) or high (64%) Erosion Hazard Rating.  The result of rain on these soils can be devastating mudflows, landslides and the floods.  Heavily saturated earth can liquefy and flow down a hillside.  Houses are often destroyed when this dangerous cycle begins.

Flooding is also greatly increased when fire debris, mud, and silt from hillsides washes into ravines or streambeds, choking them and greatly magnifying flooding by forcing floodwaters to overflow to nearby dry areas.

You can't stop the rain, but you can prepare for the worst.  Carson City, the Nevada Division of Forestry, and the U.S. Forest Service are working hard to implement erosion control projects in the burned area to protect the City, but you can pitch in too!

There are many simple ways you can protect your home and property from flood and mudflow:

     -  If your soil was burned, roughen the soil surface to break through the hydrophobic layer: a metal rack     

        works well.

     -  Plant fire-resistant vegetation to stabilize the soil.

     -  Spread mulch to protect the soil and reseeding efforts.

     -  Create check dams in drainages using straw bales or wattles.

     -  Check and clean your culverts.

     -  Buy Flood insurance.

Flood Evacuation Plan Map

This map is in a PDF format, you should be able to zoom in & out, and pan around the map.

Family Disaster Planning

From the American Red Cross

Disaster can strike quickly and without warning.  It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home.  What would you do if basic services -- water, gas, electricity or telephones -- were cut off?  Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.   Read more . . .

Presentation to the Board of Supervisors

On December 2, 2004, the Development Services Department briefed the Board of Supervisors on the ongoing efforts for mitigation of the effects from the Waterfall Fire.

Click here to view presentation (PDF)

Click here to view presentation (Powerpoint)