"When flames engulfed part of Kyle Canyon less than a year ago, the fire was stopped just 50 feet from some homes in the Rainbow subdivision. Many residents and firefighters credit the patches of thinned forest, known as fuel breaks, for a safe outcome of the 20-acre Cathedral Fire. Firefighters had created the breaks in that area as part of the Spring Mountains Hazardous Fuels Reduction effort, which was completed last fall." - Jenny

"The $7.7 million Hazardous Fuels Reduction project, funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, covered more than 2,000 total acres throughout seven communities in the Spring Mountains. Prevention efforts focused on thinning the forest and cutting away low branches near about 1,000 homes and roads. The project is meant to increase firefighter safety and slow the spread of any blaze. "It's safe to say that since the project, that extreme danger level has gone down," said Michael Frank, a fuel specialist and the prevention project manager with the U.S. Forest Service. "But there's always an inherent risk. There's still lots of the area that hasn't been treated." Kyle Canyon is considered an extreme fire danger because the forest is dense and there is only one main road in and out of the area. Mount Charleston is also particularly dry, Frank said." - Jenny

"Frank said he first learned of such fuel breaks in 2002, when he responded to the Rodeo-Chediski Fire in east-central Arizona, which was the largest blaze in the state's history until Tuesday, when the Wallow Fire surpassed it in size. On his second day at the Rodeo Fire, Frank passed a section where flames had already ravaged the town. "The homes were just wiped out. It was a life-changing thing to see," Frank said. "That scene -- all those homes burned -- made me think that there has to be something more we can do than squirting water on the line." There, he learned to create fuel breaks with the crew as they rushed to thin the forest ahead of the fire's path, he said. It is a job that takes years, though, and should be done before a fire ever starts." - Jenny

MIKEY! :D - Jenny

It's great that they are being pro-active and have learned from the previous wildfire (s). - James Stratford

Indeed. Our WUI (wildland urban interface) project ended last fall and we are now doing surveys for a new hazardous fuels project on our NRA. :) - Jenny