Public scrutinizes firebreak plan

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• Supervisors approve Cambria Ranch firebreak

  Supervisors approve Cambria Ranch firebreak

  San Luis Obispo County supervisors unanimously supported a 4-mile-long shaded fuel break between Cambria’s northern and eastern boundaries and the heavily forested Cambria Ranch by the Sea.

  In their action Tuesday, the supervisors denied an appeal brought against the firebreak project. The supervisors also upheld a permit for the project approved Dec. 16 by the county Planning Department.

  If the supervisors’ decision Tuesday isn’t challenged at the California Coastal Commission, Cal Fire could begin the grant-funded work soon to create a 100-foot-wide buffer zone between homes and a large stand of Cambria’s rare native Monterey pines on the 1,465-acre ranch owned by Ralph and Tracy Covell.

• Firebreak plan gets approval

  Firebreak plan gets approval

  Cal Fire’s controversial fuel break around Cambria was approved Friday by San Luis Obispo County’s Planning Department. The fire agency has said “a fully intact forest” will remain.

  If nobody appeals the decision during the 14-day appeal process, a permit could be issued in about three weeks, according to Cal Fire Forester Alan Peters. If an appeal is filed by Dec. 30, the issue would go to the Board of Supervisors.

  Cal Fire’s final environmental assessment of the project was released earlier this month. The agency made few changes other than additions to its draft environmental document.

• Firebreak to control wildfire risk in Cambria passes final roadblock

  Firebreak to control wildfire risk in Cambria passes final roadblock

  A plan for a shaded firebreak around 4 miles of the northern and eastern edges of Cambria has cleared its final hurdle after the window to appeal a county decision upholding approval of the project closed Tuesday without further appeals.

  Work on the project will start as soon as the blooming and nesting seasons wind down, a Cal Fire representative indicated Tuesday.

  The project is intended to reduce the chance a catastrophic wildfire will spread from the forest into Cambria.

• Cambria firebreak plan can proceed

  Cambria firebreak plan can proceed

  Plans for a shaded firebreak around 4 miles of the northern and eastern edges of Cambria appears to have cleared its final hurdle after the window to appeal a county decision upholding approval of the project closed Tuesday, March 20, without any appeals being filed.

  Work on the project will start as soon as the blooming and nesting seasons wane down, a Cal Fire representative indicated Tuesday.

  The $39,240, 48-acre project will remove dense brush and other fire fuels from 100-foot-wide sections of the 1,465-acre Cambria Pines by the Sea Ranch west of Bridge Street and east of Cambria Pines Road in sections adjacent to the Pine

• Getting closer to beginning of work on firebreak

  Getting closer to beginning of work on firebreak

  Off and on in recent months, firefighters have flagged trees, brush and areas to be affected or avoided during upcoming firebreak work in a 4-mile long ribbon of land between urbanized Cambria and the Cambria Pines by the Sea Ranch, which surrounds much of the town’s northern and eastern boundaries.

  A lot of the previously placed tagging may have to be replaced, according to Cal Fire forester Alan Peters, because “flagging only lasts a little while.”

  Each flag color sends a different message, Peters explained. Pink marks various boundaries, orange alerts workers to save a particular plant or plants and blue delineates stream-protection zones to avoid. Cal Fire is currently developing its strategies for notifying adjacent neighbors about the work. “We sent them all certified letters a few months ago,” Peters wrote in several email interviews, “and if need be, we’ll probably go door-to-door as the time nears.”