Untitled Document

PAST EVENTS AND TOPICS

The State of South Carolina conducted a State wide Fire Review. This review team is made up of Fire Managers for federal, state agencies in the Southeast. One of their stops was attending one of our meetings to see what we were about. This is what the had to say afterwards when the final review came out.

SOUTHERN AREA HAZARD MITIGATION PROJECT REVIEW

SOUTH CAROLINA

Background

The Southern Area includes thirteen states that have unique characteristics such as fuels, weather, topography, and fire history, as well as land ownership and demographics. While there are many differences between the individual states, one common denominator across the South is a history of wildland fire coupled with an abundance of homes, developments, and communities scattered, adjacent to, and throughout the wildland area. The area where human development intermingles with the wildland is known as the Wildland Urban Interface or Intermix (WUI). Wildland fire poses a threat to the safety and well being of these WUI areas, and the firefighters who protect them, on a daily basis across the South. It is widely recognized that an integrated approach of fire prevention, preparedness, hazardous fuel reduction, and community assistance is required to minimize the threat of wildland fire.

The advent of the National Fire Plan in 2001 provided a significant increase in federal funds available for fire preparedness and hazardous fuel mitigation projects across the country. A portion of these funds is required to be utilized specifically for hazard mitigation projects including prevention, education, and fuels treatments. The Southern Area allocates these hazard mitigation funds to individual states based upon grant proposals that are reviewed and approved by the Southern Area Hazard Mitigation Grant Committee. The approved projects tend to have the same mixture of similarity and differences as the states themselves.

The Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) agreed that, with several years of mitigation projects already behind us, it is appropriate to review projects across the region to gather valuable “Lessons Learned” and share these lessons across the area. The objectives of these reviews are to provide an overview of the National Fire Plan application in the Southern Region, provide oversight to ensure that Congressional intent of the program is being met and display positive program outcomes from application of this valuable funding source. These objectives will be accomplished by reviewing a sampling of National Fire Plan Projects in each state in the Southern Area.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission volunteered to host a review July 9 through 13, 2007. This review is documented in the following pages. The review team will post “Lessons Learned” on the SGSF web site.

Date: July 9-13, 2007 State: South Carolina

Review Team Members: Kent Grizzard - Deputy State Forester, Mississippi

John Miller - Fire Chief, Virginia
David Frederick - SGSF Fire Representative
Dan Olsen - Asst. Dir. Fire & Aviation, USFS Region 8
Steve Wells - Fire Staff, USFS, Francis Marion/Sumter NF
Mike Bozzo – WUI Coordinator, SCFC

Blue Heron Learning Center and Low Country WUI Council:

The Review Team was joined by the Low Country WUI Council:

Milton Woods, Good Hope Plantation, 16,000 acres

Bob Franklin, Clemson University
Keith Penrose USFWS Service WUI Coordinator
Heidi Williams USFWS
Dan Morgan, Hardeevillle, FD
Jennifer Majors, DNR
Joey Rowell, Ridgeland FD
Tom Rhodes, Mayor Pro Temp
Pete Stuckey, Unit Forester, SCFC

Council Chair, Calvin Bailey, SCFC was unable to attend due to previous commitment, but met with the review team the night before.

Jasper county is rapidly growing
Initial focus on education on the need for fire in the ecosystem.
Jasper Co. has had one countywide Firewise meeting and three “pocket” or community meetings.
Starting to get interest outside of Jasper County.
“We as individual fire departments don’t have the resources to go it alone. The WUI council allows us to work together and combine the expertise and resources to affect the entire county.” (Dan Morgan, Asst. Fire Chief, Hardeville FD)
Working with county government and developers to develop zoning and land use planning for smart development utilizing Firewise principles.
Jasper Co. passed a resolution supporting prescribed burning
Partnered with “Keep Jasper County Green” initiative.
All persons who purchase building permits are given a Firewise information packet. Developers/builders are encouraged to include these packets with the homeowner’s packets.
Fire departments were volunteer departments until only a few years ago. Now are paid departments.
Fire departments issue burn permits inside protection areas. “People fear getting a ticket, but, more importantly, people are being educated on the risks of uncontrolled fire.” (Joey Rowell, Ridgeland FD)
Ridgeland and Hardeeville are experiencing extreme growth. Newer developments tend to be “green”
Targeting Firewise efforts before there is a problem.
FD doing door-to-door invitations to meetings, etc.
Ridgeland working with smaller communities as well.
Installing dry hydrants with help from US FWS.
Fire department does some limbing, pruning, etc to improve access, but primarily provided contractor contact information to landowners.
“Community pride has a tremendous effect on individuals.”
Honey Hill community is targeted for Firewise Community USA status.
Great collaboration effort with this council. This WUI council has the potential to expand into other counties and would be a good idea to share across the southern region.
Anyone buying a building permit receives a Firewise packet.
Hardeeville is the 4th largest city, area wise (56 square miles), in the state.
Council will put in for more grant monies once they become a non profit. Don’t need to be a non profit to apply for NFP grants.
Council wants to be able to reduce insurance rates for Firewise communities.
Insurance companies are more likely to give discounts rather than some other incentives for wildfire mitigation activities, the required mitigation activities need to be clearly defined and measurable.
Wagon Branch community is putting in dry hydrants and providing for fire apparatus access. Average lot size in this community is five acres and new developments are being targeted for Firewise education.
Clemson University is providing prescribed burning training
SC has a Prescribed Fire Council.
SC Forestry Commission is providing grants for communities to do hazard mitigation and has helped in the purchasing of chippers for other communities.
The Low Country WUI Council has just mailed 350 fliers about the next WUI community meeting.
Outstanding achievement, shining example of WUI council operating at the community level
Right mix of community leaders, resource professionals, and community service providers
Key to this success is having well-respected community leaders who are passionate about the well-being of their community



A collaborative partnership to educate homeowners about reducing their risk to wildfire in the Wildland Urban Interface
		At this time the Lowcountry WUI Council will be taking time off for the Holidays. After the New year the Council will rejoin and focus on scheduling where the next How to Have a FireWise Home. The Council wishes everyone a Happy and Safe Holiday.
	PAST EVENTS AND TOPICS The State of South Carolina conducted a State wide Fire Review. This review team is made up of Fire Managers for federal, state agencies in the Southeast. One of their stops was attending one of our meetings to see what we were about. This is what the had to say afterwards when the final review came out. SOUTHERN AREA HAZARD MITIGATION PROJECT REVIEW SOUTH CAROLINA Background The Southern Area includes thirteen states that have unique characteristics such as fuels, weather, topography, and fire history, as well as land ownership and demographics. While there are many differences between the individual states, one common denominator across the South is a history of wildland fire coupled with an abundance of homes, developments, and communities scattered, adjacent to, and throughout the wildland area. The area where human development intermingles with the wildland is known as the Wildland Urban Interface or Intermix (WUI). Wildland fire poses a threat to the safety and well being of these WUI areas, and the firefighters who protect them, on a daily basis across the South. It is widely recognized that an integrated approach of fire prevention, preparedness, hazardous fuel reduction, and community assistance is required to minimize the threat of wildland fire. The advent of the National Fire Plan in 2001 provided a significant increase in federal funds available for fire preparedness and hazardous fuel mitigation projects across the country. A portion of these funds is required to be utilized specifically for hazard mitigation projects including prevention, education, and fuels treatments. The Southern Area allocates these hazard mitigation funds to individual states based upon grant proposals that are reviewed and approved by the Southern Area Hazard Mitigation Grant Committee. The approved projects tend to have the same mixture of similarity and differences as the states themselves. The Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) agreed that, with several years of mitigation projects already behind us, it is appropriate to review projects across the region to gather valuable “Lessons Learned” and share these lessons across the area. The objectives of these reviews are to provide an overview of the National Fire Plan application in the Southern Region, provide oversight to ensure that Congressional intent of the program is being met and display positive program outcomes from application of this valuable funding source. These objectives will be accomplished by reviewing a sampling of National Fire Plan Projects in each state in the Southern Area. The South Carolina Forestry Commission volunteered to host a review July 9 through 13, 2007. This review is documented in the following pages. The review team will post “Lessons Learned” on the SGSF web site. Date: July 9-13, 2007 State: South Carolina Review Team Members: Kent Grizzard - Deputy State Forester, Mississippi John Miller - Fire Chief, Virginia David Frederick - SGSF Fire Representative Dan Olsen - Asst. Dir. Fire & Aviation, USFS Region 8 Steve Wells - Fire Staff, USFS, Francis Marion/Sumter NF Mike Bozzo – WUI Coordinator, SCFC Blue Heron Learning Center and Low Country WUI Council: The Review Team was joined by the Low Country WUI Council: Milton Woods, Good Hope Plantation, 16,000 acres Bob Franklin, Clemson University Keith Penrose USFWS Service WUI Coordinator Heidi Williams USFWS Dan Morgan, Hardeevillle, FD Jennifer Majors, DNR Joey Rowell, Ridgeland FD Tom Rhodes, Mayor Pro Temp Pete Stuckey, Unit Forester, SCFC Council Chair, Calvin Bailey, SCFC was unable to attend due to previous commitment, but met with the review team the night before. Jasper county is rapidly growing Initial focus on education on the need for fire in the ecosystem. Jasper Co. has had one countywide Firewise meeting and three “pocket” or community meetings. Starting to get interest outside of Jasper County. “We as individual fire departments don’t have the resources to go it alone. The WUI council allows us to work together and combine the expertise and resources to affect the entire county.” (Dan Morgan, Asst. Fire Chief, Hardeville FD) Working with county government and developers to develop zoning and land use planning for smart development utilizing Firewise principles. Jasper Co. passed a resolution supporting prescribed burning Partnered with “Keep Jasper County Green” initiative. All persons who purchase building permits are given a Firewise information packet. Developers/builders are encouraged to include these packets with the homeowner’s packets. Fire departments were volunteer departments until only a few years ago. Now are paid departments. Fire departments issue burn permits inside protection areas. “People fear getting a ticket, but, more importantly, people are being educated on the risks of uncontrolled fire.” (Joey Rowell, Ridgeland FD) Ridgeland and Hardeeville are experiencing extreme growth. Newer developments tend to be “green” Targeting Firewise efforts before there is a problem. FD doing door-to-door invitations to meetings, etc. Ridgeland working with smaller communities as well. Installing dry hydrants with help from US FWS. Fire department does some limbing, pruning, etc to improve access, but primarily provided contractor contact information to landowners. “Community pride has a tremendous effect on individuals.” Honey Hill community is targeted for Firewise Community USA status. Great collaboration effort with this council. This WUI council has the potential to expand into other counties and would be a good idea to share across the southern region. Anyone buying a building permit receives a Firewise packet. Hardeeville is the 4th largest city, area wise (56 square miles), in the state. Council will put in for more grant monies once they become a non profit. Don’t need to be a non profit to apply for NFP grants. Council wants to be able to reduce insurance rates for Firewise communities. Insurance companies are more likely to give discounts rather than some other incentives for wildfire mitigation activities, the required mitigation activities need to be clearly defined and measurable. Wagon Branch community is putting in dry hydrants and providing for fire apparatus access. Average lot size in this community is five acres and new developments are being targeted for Firewise education. Clemson University is providing prescribed burning training SC has a Prescribed Fire Council. SC Forestry Commission is providing grants for communities to do hazard mitigation and has helped in the purchasing of chippers for other communities. The Low Country WUI Council has just mailed 350 fliers about the next WUI community meeting. Outstanding achievement, shining example of WUI council operating at the community level Right mix of community leaders, resource professionals, and community service providers Key to this success is having well-respected community leaders who are passionate about the well-being of their community