HomeMy WebLinkAboutEmail from Mary Williams – Kelly Ridge Area the Next Paradise Inferno Schuman, Amy
From: Menchaca, Clarissa
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2019 4:22 PM
To: Schuman, Amy
Subject: FW: Letter for the Supervisors
Attachments: Kelly Ridge Fire Issues.docx
Correspondence.
CLCUri- cv PI e.A4C.21.a.CW
Associate Clerk of the Board
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965
T: 530.552.33081 F: 530.538.7120
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From:Snyder, Ashley
Sent:Tuesday, December 18, 2018 11:55 AM
To: BOS<BOS@buttecounty.net>
Cc: Menchaca, Clarissa <cmenchaca@buttecounty.net>
Subject: FW: Letter for the Supervisors
Please see the below correspondence and attached letter.
Take care,
AshLej N. .swucler
Assistant Clerk of the Board
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965
T: 530.538.2867 1 F: 530.538.7120
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From: Mary Williams<idahoboundmk@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, December 18, 2018 11:52 AM
To:Clerk of the Board <clerkoftheboard@buttecounty.net>
Subject: Letter for the Supervisors
Hi Ashley
Attached is a letter for the Board of Supervisors regarding Kelly Ridge and the fire issues we face up here. We
are very much like Paradise and fear the same inferno will happen here if immediate action is not taken.
Could you please just send me a reply indicating that you received it.
Thank you
1
Mary Williams
2
DATE: December 18, 2018
TO: Butte County Board of Supervisors, Assemblyman James Gallagher,
Senator Jim Nielsen
FROM: Mary Williams
SUBJECT: Kelly Ridge Area the Next Paradise Inferno
Paradise fire, the fire we were all warned about. Serious words and grave
consequences to ignoring the warnings. PG&E is being blamed, however there is
plenty of blame to go around.
Watching the horrors of the fire in the Paradise area only firmly planted in me the
call to action that is needed for the Kelly Ridge area and foothills. Kelly Ridge has
been spared a few times in the last couple of years, with fires coming close but
not reaching the Kelly Ridge community.
I'm very concerned for my neighborhood, Kelly Ridge, and our citizens as this area
has the very same issues that Paradise had. I/we don't want to become the next
victims of fire on the 6 O'clock news with Sheriff Honea. Here are some of our
similarities with Paradise.
• Years of build-up of fuel all around us and in our subdivision
• Lots of fuel right up to the streets and encroaching on the main streets,
Olive Hwy, Oro Dam East, Canyon Drive, Royal Oaks, Kelly Ridge Road and
Almond
• A large senior citizen population
• Few streets to get in and out of Kelly Ridge
• Cell phone service is hit and miss in Kelly Ridge
• Propane tanks
• Open burn on our tiny lots is allowed. Unbelievably insane.
• Lots of Digger pines with plenty of pine needles on resident roofs and all
around their property and street
• Lots of dead trees or nearly dead trees
• Lack of clean up/proactive measures by State, County and private land
owners of the fuel
• High winds in our area
I have driven our area and taken lots of pictures of the issues I stated
above. I ask that you take a tour of the impending inferno and loss of life if
positive steps are not taken.
We have a HOA in Kelly Ridge and would love to set up a meeting with our
Supervisor Mr. Connelly and anyone else who can bring the help we need
to our area.
I'm not looking for more government, do nothing, but feel good.
Government did nothing to prevent or minimize the Paradise inferno and
other fires. What government did do was STOP any common sense
solutions to the problem. Many so called fire safety programs that in the
end proved to be ineffective. What happened to the billions of dollars
people in rural areas HAD TO PAY for "Fire Prevention" fee? Fire
prevention? All that money didn't keep 86 people, and pets safe.
With the Paradise inferno and loss of so far 86 lives, I'm asking this Board to be
firmly focused on fixing this issue with common sense solutions. There are no
excuses. In memory of those lost in the fire, I implore you to be pro-active going
forward.
Some pro-active suggestions my neighbors and I spoke about are
• NO OPEN BURN in Kelly Ridge area, with hefty FINES for those who do.
With Recology providing green waste cans there is no need to burn in our
subdivision.
• IMMEDIATE MANDATORY clean-up of the fuel. This includes DWR, County,
and individual residents. Hefty FINES for not complying
• Cutting down dead and almost dead trees and removing them. Lots of
dead trees and dead brush along Oro Dam East from Acacia to Royal Oaks.
Some was cut and just thrown over the hillside to become fuel.
• Cut back growth along streets and trees that hang over the streets.
• A siren system, like the kind used in Hawaii for tsunami warnings, needs to
be implemented for fires. Sirens can be easily heard and even those asleep
or hard of hearing will hear it. If it works for tsunamis, why not fires?
• Calls and text messages to cell phones, knocking on doors is not effective in
fast moving fires, etc. It proved to not be very effective in Paradise.
• Herd of goats to eat overgrown vegetation that is in hard to reach areas of
steep ravine areas. Don't laugh. It's all natural and they do a GREAT job.
Maybe that's why they aren't used. Let's use common sense.
We don't have to reinvent the wheel, just common sense solutions and those
with the backbone to make it happen. Remember the Paradise fire was a fire that
everyone knew was going to happen. All the warning flags were there and still
our local elected officials, with the power, to help prevent the amount of damage
in case of fire, did not act. So now we have 86 people and pets that burned alive.
Those who survived will traumatized for the rest of their lives. Economic disaster
for Butte County for years to come, and the list goes on.
You have the power to see that it doesn't repeat itself in Kelly Ridge and the
surrounding area. Let's not repeat the tragedy of Paradise. Let's work together.
Mary Williams
6356 Jack Hill Drive
Oroville, CA 95966
589-1563