Highway 208 petition is missing

Last weekend the petition calling for safety changes to Highway 208 disappeared from Nevada Trading Company/Topaz Joe's. The employees at the store think that someone accidentally picked it up from the counter when they made a purchase of a newspaper or picked up other information fliers from the counter. This petition is important and a lot of time and effort has gone into obtaining the more than 300 signatures already gathered. It will take a long time to replace the work already done. So to all of the residents who might have purchased a newspaper or picked up fliers or other information from the counter, look through your things to make sure you didn't accidentally pick the petition up by mistake. Please return it to the store or to Ole Chavez at the Topaz Ranch Estates Water Company, 3908 Carter Way or call 266-3212. No questions will be asked and the community will all be so grateful for its safe return.

n With the arrival of summer and the promise of triple-digit temperatures by the weekend, community thoughts need to turn to the definite threat of wildland fire danger in the Topaz Ranch Estates/Topaz Lake/Holbrook area.

While doing some research on another project the other day, I stumbled onto an informative Web site that you just might want to take a look at. It is an assessment called the Douglas County Fire Plan compiled by Resource Concepts, Inc. On the Web site, it discusses the fire hazards and risks to all the communities of Douglas County, but of particular interest to me was the assessments they made of our area.

According to the report, TRE and Holbrook are classified in the high hazard category for possible wildland fire devastation. Topaz Lake was listed in the moderate category. Something to definitely think about. For most of us in the area, memories are still vivid of the two fires within the months of June and July 2002. The first, the Cannon Fire which consumed more than 15,000 acres, was human caused and almost cost us the community of Walker, Calif. Before we could fully recover from that fire, lightning caused the Gate Complex Fire which devastated 9,866 acres and almost consumed the Topaz Lake and Holbrook communities.

TRE was listed as a high ignition risk, with lightning storms being the primary risk and the overhead power lines posing a secondary risk. A "worst case scenario" for TRE, the report stated, could likely occur in the event of a lightning or human-caused ignition in the area of Granite and Brecca streets. With south winds exceeding 25 mph, a fire could rapidly spread north and upslope through dense piñons and sagebrush vegetation surrounding that area. Homes could be immediately threatened by fire. The scenario would be worse if volunteer fire department resources were unavailable at the time of ignition. A minimum of 30 minutes (and more likely one hour) is needed for career-department resources to respond to an emergency in the community. Many homes could be lost before fire suppression resources would have the opportunity to respond.

For Holbrook Junction area, the primary hazard factors were limited address signage on some residences and limited implementation of defensible space throughout the community.

The Web site offered a list of risk and hazard reduction recommendations. It is well worth the read and gives common sense solutions to help our south county communities reduce the risk of wildland fire destruction.

Take the time, read the information, stop by Station 4 Topaz Ranch Estates Volunteer Fire Department or Station 5 Topaz Lake Volunteer Fire Department and talk about the information with any of the volunteers or station employees if you have any questions. They are there to help and there is a lot we, as a community, can do to reduce the hazards and make our community a safer place to live.

For more information visit www.rci-nv.com/reports/douglas and go to the table of contents to read the information on the different communities in Douglas County. This important information was provided by Resource Concepts, Inc., 340 N. Minnesota St., Carson City, NV 89703-4152, phone number 883-1600.

Until next week, stay safe and keep on keepin' on.

n Jonni Hill can be reached through The Record-Courier at jhill@recordcourier.com or by calling 782-5121, ext. 213, or after hours at JHILL47@aol.com