County Fire clears about 622 acres and establishes fuel break from Highway 18 to Devil Canyon

The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District has finished a fuels reduction project along the northern edge of the city of San Bernardino, where neighborhoods meet wildland, the county said Oct. 8.

Crews cleared about 622 acres of vegetation for the North San Bernardino Fuels Reduction Project and built a strategic fuel break between Highway 18 and Devil Canyon, according to the county.

Workers also hauled over 2,000 discarded tires and over 20 tons of trash out of the area and disposed of them, the county said.

What the work is meant to do

The county said the project reduces hazardous fuels and creates places where firefighters can take on a wildfire more effectively and try to slow its advance toward nearby communities.

Removing the trash and tires got rid of materials that could make a fire burn hotter and create more hazards during a wildfire, according to the county.

The county said fuels reduction cannot remove the threat of wildfire. It said proactive mitigation can reduce how intensely a fire burns, slow its spread and give firefighters more chances to protect people, property and communities.

A map released with the announcement labels the work area "North San Bernardino Front Country Fuels Reduction."

Program and partners

The project falls under the fire district's Fuels Mitigation Program, the county said.

Through that program, County Fire personnel look year-round for places where vegetation management can lower fire intensity, help slow a fire's spread and give firefighters safer, more effective positions from which to defend communities, and then carry out projects there, according to the county.

Several public and private partners supported the work, the county said. They included Burrtec Waste Industries, CAL FIRE, the San Bernardino County Flood Control District, Union Pacific Railroad, the city of San Bernardino and the California Conservation Corps' Pomona Crew 1.

The county's announcement did not list a cost for the project or the dates the work began and ended.