This is the fourth installment of our ‘California Burning’ series that originally ran in Fall 2020. It was awarded First Place for Investigative Reporting by the National Newspaper Association. We are reprinting the series—with updates for 2021—because the threats to our Mountain Communities continue. We will all be safer when more of us understand the urgency of these issues, including why fire-hardening homes needs to be a community-wide effort.

When It Comes to Wildfire, Simple Doesn’t Work Anymore

By Tom Kuekes, Former Mount Pinos District Ranger

If my name is familiar to you, it’s probably because I was your District Ranger for the Los Padres National Forest Mt. Pinos Ranger District during the devastating Day fire of 2006.

In a forestry career that spanned 32 years and five states, that was the signature event. If you know me, you probably remember the passion I had for our National Forest, and for trying to keep people safe.

I’ve been retired for twelve yeas now, but I get to spend more time hiking now than I did when I was working, and I still try to keep up with goings-on in the Mountain Communities.

So, I’ve been following, at a distance, the controversy about proposed tree thinning projects on the Mt. Pinos District. There is plenty of heat, but the light seems to be scattered.

I learned a lot about forests and fire during my career, and I continue to learn by keeping up on today’s ever more ferocious fire seasons. I follow a number of…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Above (l-r): Impacts of the 2013 Grand fire were felt throughout our region, from Tejon Ranch to Piñon Pines, Gorman to Frazier Park and out to Frazier Mountain High School’s Falcon Field in Lebec.

Ranger Tom Kuekes, 2006, during the Day fire

Prescribed, controlled burn treatment on Frazier Mountain in 2019 clears the forest floor of invasive grasses and shrubs that are more flammable than trees. Invasives often take hold after logging occurs in forests.

Wildfire and “forest fire” are not synonymous. This Gorman wildfire burned across grasslands and chaparral in 2014. The majority of lands burning in California now are often like this.

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This is part of the December 3, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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