Wildland Urban Interface Training Exercise in Cascade Shores on Tuesday

Sign Up

Sign up for our free newsletters to receive the latest news from our region in your inbox every weekday.

• News Regional news
• Fire News Emergency updates
• Events Weekly events calendar

Grass Valley, Calif. July 24, 2017 – CAL FIRE is hosting a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Structure Defense Drill in Cascade Shores, Tuesday July 25, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The drill will include: Engine Company “Bump and Run” structure defense with home prep, hose deployment as well as a progressive hose lay. Following the drill, there will be a barbeque lunch hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County and the Cascade Shores Firewise Community.

Seven to eight homes, spaced out within the community, will be utilized as a training environment for multiple fire engine crews to access driveways and yards around the perimeter of the home for structure defense. Firefighters will deploy fire hoses on the ground, spray water and use hand tools (not disturbing the ground), to simulate extinguishing a wildfire threatening the home. Fire crews will simulate preparing the home to survive a flame front burning through the community and move onto the next home for defense preparation and extinguishment. Fire engines will be moving about the community streets, going in and out of resident’s driveways multiple times and moving to the next home for structure defense tactics. Six to 10 engines and 40-50 fire personnel including our local fire department cooperators: Nevada County Consolidated, Rough and Ready, North San Juan Fire, Ophir Hill, Higgins, and Penn Valley Fire will be participating in the drill.

“We’re happy to host this exercise to help educate our community in how best to prepare their home for wildfire. It’s our duty to create a defensible space so the firefighters may provide an effective offense in a safe environment.” Said Joan Hardy, Cascade Shores Firewise Community volunteer. “I was evacuated during the 2015 Lowell Fire and knew I had done everything I could to help my home survive without any fire suppression resources.”

To learn more about how to make your own home more fire safe, visit: http://readyforwildfire.org or the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County online at: www.areyoufiresafe.com or by phoning (530) 272-1122.