IGO — Every day, CAL FIRE’s defensible space inspectors, foresters, and firefighters work to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires that can otherwise threaten communities and natural resources.

Proving the power of prevention and planning, these teams can point to a proactive fuel reduction project around CalVet’s Northern California Veterans Cemetery last year as evidence of what’s possible, and what’s underway in communities throughout the state.

Their work paid major dividends on June 27 when a vehicle caught fire and started a vegetation blaze near the cemetery’s entrance, said Aaron Hathaway, pre-fire engineer for CAL FIRE’s Shasta-Trinity Unit based in nearby Redding.

Fire officials named it the “Veterans Fire” because it began near Veterans Memorial Drive, a section of Gas Point Road where the cemetery’s entrance is located. The fire burned 85 acres northwest of the cemetery.

Because CAL FIRE in 2023 had cleared brush and undergrowth outside the cemetery’s south and west sides, along with a small parcel on the north side, crews were able to prevent the flames from reaching the cemetery property.

“It really helped slow the spread,” Hathaway said.

“Left uncleared, the fire could have fanned across an area of planned expansion near the cemetery’s entrance,” Cemetery Operations Manager Christine Odson said.

“Over five or six months, they got rid of lots of manzanita,” she said. “The fire would have come right into the cemetery.”

That, in turn, could have jeopardized the cemetery’s memorial building, putting its new fire sprinkler system to a test. Instead, the blaze claimed no structures.

CalVet and CAL FIRE signed a cooperative agreement in 2022 for CAL FIRE to “treat” land around the cemetery. The fire mitigation treatment entails thinning smaller-diameter trees and clearing away undergrowth — in this case manzanita, a form of vegetation that can be fast-burning. The agreement will continue through 2032.

The cemetery project technically falls under the heading of a Vegetation Management Plan, which involves clearing potential fire fuel (dry vegetation) to more than 1,000 feet from structures. Defensible space mandates 100-foot clearance of fuels around homes and businesses.

These earlier efforts to reduce vegetation held the flames to four to five feet high, which enabled hand crews to attack them on the ground during the Veterans Fire. Untreated growth can spew flames 12 to 15 feet high, sending embers flying that can cause small fires to spread rapidly and create more dangerous conditions, Hathaway said.

“The project is funded within CAL FIRE’s budget for prevention, and represents a case where two state agencies work closely together to safeguard state and, therefore, taxpayer property,” he said.

The proactive fire mitigation work protected the cemetery as planned. “They did an amazing job,” CalVet’s Odson said.

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The Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo is one of three state veterans cemeteries managed by CalVet. The other two are located at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville and the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery in Seaside. For more information on these cemeteries, please visit www.calvet.ca.gov/VetServices/Pages/State-Veterans-Cemeteries.aspx.

For more information on CAL FIRE, please visit www.fire.ca.gov.