Contact Us | Site Map | Search:
About the FSC  |  Find A Local Council  |  Education Tools  |  Running A Council  |  Info For Homeowners  |  Special Events/Media  |  What’s News  |  Home
	Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council

July 22, 2005

PALOMAR MOUNTAIN – Almost two years ago, residents watched as the mammoth Paradise fire threatened the mountain, only to turn away when winds shifted.

Early this month, they watched an 80-acre brush fire that caused the evacuation of some Pauma Valley residents at the foot of the mountain, and two smaller fires that burned a few acres nearby.

All were brought under control before reaching Palomar.

"There will be more fires," said Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Chief George Lucia about a fire season that's already kept firefighters busy.

But one woman, called the "angel of the mountain" by some, is trying to make sure Palomar residents and their homes have a fighting chance should a major wildfire reach the mountain – something that hasn't happened in at least a century.

Shana Ackerman, a friendly mother of three with a soft smile, didn't move to Palomar to become a fire-safety activist whose focus is to clear as much old brush as possible from the mountain.

The family came for a rural lifestyle where neighbors know one another, where they wake up to majestic morning views of dew-covered valleys and the sound of baby turkeys. Their home, like most on the mountain, is tucked away underneath trees, and reachable only on bumpy and narrow dirt roads.

"Every night when we went to bed, my husband would say, 'I love being here, but I'm so afraid because if there's a fire, I don't think we can get out. This mountain is in trouble,' " Ackerman said recently.

Their 1930 ranch-style home had slopes covered with cedars, oaks and pines, and overgrown brush fed by many rainy seasons. While romantic and picturesque, it could turn a fire into a devastating firestorm.

"The mountain is pristine, but that's good and bad because there's so much growth," Lucia said. "And the natural cycle of fire has not been there, and so in essence, we've never had a fire on the top of the mountain."

If a fire hit the mountaintop, Lucia said, it could be hard to control because of steep slopes, a limited number of roads and a water supply that comes mostly from tanks.

"It's one of the most dangerous places in the county in case of a fire," he said. "We have to plan as if we have to survive on our own."

Ackerman and her husband, Jay, a firefighter who works in Vista, determined that perhaps half a dozen homes, out of about 350 on the mountain, would be readily defensible in a serious fire. The rest would be vulnerable because of wood shingles, overgrown brush and other factors.

In the event of a serious fire, residents would be taken to safe locations, probably the Palomar Observatory. But saving many of the mountain's homes could prove far more difficult.

Three years ago, Ackerman, with the support of her husband and children Magon, 19, John, 14, and Nicholas, 13, decided to tackle the problem one house at a time.

Palomar had received a $70,000 state grant for fire prevention, and Ackerman began knocking on neighbors' doors to see if they wanted to have their property cleared.

With 100 to 200 feet of clear space around their homes, firefighters would have a chance of saving them, she told mountain residents.

But members of the San Diego Fire Safe Council caught wind of her efforts and told her there was a process for spending state grant money. She needed to attend regional meetings and form a board.

So about two years ago, Ackerman quit her job as a restaurant manager in Escondido, and her daughter, Magon, resigned as a counselor at a conference center so they both could work full time getting more grant money and spending it to make mountain homes safer.

The Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council Foundation now has seven members and is on its fourth grant. It has collected more than $387,000 from the U.S. Forest Service. The Cleveland National Forest covers much of the mountain.

Ackerman's effort includes six days a week of homeowner appointments with her small crew of two or three men, who are paid $15 an hour to clear brush.

It's grueling work, diving into thick brush with nothing more than heavy gloves and clippers. The cut brush is then chipped and taken away by a professional company, Stumpmasters Tree Services Inc. in Valley Center, thanks to the grants. Homeowners pay for the crew and 10 percent of the chipping costs.

Ackerman also has become an expert grant writer, addressing environmental concerns against those of brush clearing.

For the last grant, Ackerman worked in an administrative fee for herself of $10,000. That's all she's made in three years, she said. Her family has spent more than $20,000 in protecting their home and those of some neighbors who could not afford to have their property cleared.

"My husband will be very glad when it's over," she said.

But her efforts, Lucia said, have earned Ackerman the angelic title, the thanks of her community and tangible results: Lucia estimates that as many as half of the homes on the mountain are defensible now, with at least 100 feet of cleared space around them.

Dee Foltz, president of Palomar Mountain's fire board, had her property cleared a year ago and said she feels safer now. She lives in a three-bedroom cottage that she feared she would lose during the firestorms of 2003.

Although in the beginning Ackerman had a hard time convincing residents of the need for clearing, the fires made "more people come on board," Foltz said.

Volunteer firefighter Cliff Kellogg, a swimming pool contractor, moved to the mountain 2½ years ago with his wife, Susie. They soon learned they had moved into what could be a firetrap and turned to Ackerman.

"She's done so much up here," Kellogg said. "She's made things a lot safer on this mountain. She's a sweetheart, very dedicated and very strong when it's needed."

Ackerman simply smiles at the praise, pointing out places where clear views have replaced brush so overgrown it choked itself, and forests where trees stand tall and clean instead of disappearing into a mass of dead limbs.

There is a five-year fire prevention plan that ends in 2007, and Ackerman said she will see it through.

"It's my purpose. I was brought on this mountain for a reason. I was brought here for a purpose. God put me here for this."

Elena Gaona: (760) 737-7575; elena.gaona@uniontrib.com