Volunteers clear road on Fitch mountain

On Saturday morning, more than twenty volunteers gathered on the
upper reaches of Fitch Mountain to sweep the area of broom.
It was the first time that the privately owned mountain top has
been opened to the community for fire safety measures. Volunteers
cleared an overgrown fire road, pulling out broom plants so that a
fire engine could get to the top of the mountain in case of
emergency.
Some of the broom pulled by volunteers was nearly fifteen feet
tall.
“Broom is particularly bad because it’s very invasive. It will
replace native plants, smother trees, climb signposts and cover
them up. It’s particularly rampant along roads on the mountain
because when there is a road there’s cleared area so there’s
sunshine,” Laura Tietz, the founder of Fire Free Fitch,
explained.
And thanks to the unusually wet May weather, the timing of the
broom removal was perfect.
“One reason we’re doing this strong effort to remove broom this
year is because of all the rain. It has made the soil much softer,
so we can actually pull broom out, roots and all,” Tietz
explained.
While Fire Free Fitch—which is running a broom abatement program
focusing on education and removal—served as the instigator for the
project, the effort was a true collaboration between four local
organizations. Those organizations included Fire Free Fitch, Cal
Fire, Fire Safe Sonoma, and the Rotary Club of Healdsburg.
Fire Free Fitch advertised and coordinated the effort. Fire Safe
Sonoma provided the use of a wood chipper, and Cal Fire’s battalion
chief Kim Thompson led Saturday’s effort on the ground. The Rotary
Club of Healdsburg provided funding for event insurance, which
enabled community members to participate in the broom removal.
Residents of Fitch Mountain came out, they said, to improve and
protect their native landscape. “This is our playground,” said
Fitch Mountain resident Scott Schadlich, who wielded a weed
wrencher to help loosen the largest broom plants prior to
pulling.
Not every volunteer was a Fitch Mountain resident; some were
just fans. “I just hike it,” said Lily Tomkovic. “We’ve always
noticed how much broom there is. I used to think it was beautiful,
but then I learned it can be dangerous. I saw the signs posted on
the mountain about the removal and called Laura to see if I could
help.”
Battalion Chief Kim Thompson was impressed with the number of
community members who came out to volunteer on a Saturday
morning.
“It’s fantastic in the sense that it does bring the community
out, and it does give us access for trucks,” Thompson said.
Thompson also saw the gathering as an educational opportunity.
“I’ve been doing a lot of talking to the people who did come out,
discussing the fire season and things they can do at their own
homes,” he added. “The rains have allowed the vegetation to grow
higher and thicker than normal. The good part is that we’re not
getting the fires that we were getting this time last year, so it
gives us all a little more time to prepare.”
Caerleon Safford of Fire Safe Sonoma noted that her organization
provides wood chippers for independent homeowners who are clearing
defensible space and fire roads. “We really like to do neighborhood
projects too,” Safford said. “Ten houses in a row making defensible
space are far more effective than 10 single houses putting in
defensible space separately. The more everybody works together, the
better.”
As Tietz put it, “You’re only as safe as your neighbors, and
your neighbors are only safe if you are.”
And fire engine access to the top of Fitch Mountain will not
only make Fitch Mountain residents safer—it will make Healdsburg
residents safer, too.
Tietz noted, “The fire chief has called it the single most
potentially dangerous fire hazard for the city of Healdsburg—a fire
that starts on the mountain and goes downhill.”
“These are essential fire roads,” Ed Wilson, the landowners’
attorney said. “That’s why the owners have them in here. They’re
overgrown, and there are more still to do, but this is our pilot
project.”
Wilson added, “I’ll give Laura the full accolades for pulling
everyone together to get this done.”
While broom abatement is Fire Free Fitch’s current focus, the
non-profit organization also offers code-approved reflective road
signs to any member of Sonoma County at the below-cost price of $10
per sign. Emergency responders often have trouble locating
addresses, especially in rural areas at night. For more
information, email [email protected].