AND MORE …
This is our catch-all page where we can include some items of community importance that didn't seem to fit in any of the previous pages.
- Tree Removals
- A Few Words About the Fire Department
- Resources for our Firefighters
Tree Removals
Living in the forest means that clearing trees may be necessary both before and after a home is built. Most of the lots at Lake Almanor West have substantial numbers of trees on them, and it usually requires some clearing to make room for a new structure. Thereafter, tree removal occurs as trees become distressed or die, or when tree growth causes overcrowding (i.e., insufficient clearance between tree crowns). In each case there are some steps that must be taken to ensure that proper permissions or permits are obtained BEFORE anything is cut.
The WACC Architectural Committee must give approval before you can cut any tree over six (6) inches in diameter, where the diameter is measured a chest height. By WACC policy, this step is required in all situations, although there may be temporary blanket waivers in effect regarding special circumstances (like burned trees); check with the WACC Office for current specifics. In addition, you may also need to obtain a CalFire permit before cutting trees, subject to the conditions noted below.
• New Construction — In the situation were initial lot clearing needs to occur to allow new construction to begin, a CalFire permit is ALWAYS required. This involves a one-time exemption called a "Less Than 3 Acre Conversion Exemption" that must be prepared by a Registered Professional Forester (RPF). The actual clearing must be done by a Licensed Timber Operator (LTO). More information is found on the link noted in the next paragraph.
• After Initial Construction — Where tree removals are performed AFTER a home is constructed, other CalFire permits and exemptions may come into play. Some circumstances require RPF and LTO services, while others do not. The most recent guidance from CalFire on the matter is found at this LINK.
A Few Words About the Fire Department
Not surprisingly, one of the primary participants in Firewise activities is the local fire department. In our case, that's the West Shore Fire Department, formerly the West Almanor Fire Department, located at 947 Long Iron Drive in the development. The fire department is the primary element of the West Almanor Community Services District (WACSD), a tax-funded Plumas County agency whose authority and charter comes from the Plumas County Board of Supervisors. The organization has one full-time employee, the Fire Chief / General Manager, and about a dozen volunteer firefighters and EMTs. Oversight is provided by the WACSD Board of Directors, a group of five individuals elected from within the district. The official district boundaries coincide with the boundaries of Lake Almanor West (roughly one square mile in area). However, by the terms of a June 2020 Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) with the Prattville-Almanor Fire Protection District to our south, which formed the West Shore Fire Department, the team automatically responds to emergencies within both of those districts. It also responds to the small enclave of Big Meadows under a services contract agreement. Furthermore, Plumas County has assigned a large extended response area to the department, covering in excess of 170 square miles, reaching approximately from the lake shoreline on the east to the county line on the west, and from Hwy 36 on the north to an irregular boundary below Butt Lake on the south. The department also responds (when dispatched) as mutual aid to neighboring districts around the lake.
During the 2021 Dixie Fire the Fire Chief and roughly half of the volunteer team stayed behind when the west shore was evacuated. As a designated CalFire task force, they provided protection for the critical water supply infrastructure while aiding the many visiting strike teams with local insights on safe zones, water sources, access routes, etc. They actively fought spot fires and flareups during the primary assault on the development and for many days after the main fire front had passed.
The mailing address for WACSD and West Shore Fire Department is 947 Long Iron Drive, Chester, CA 96020. E-mail can be addressed to westalmanorfd@citlink.net , and the business phone number is (530) 259-5112 .
Resources for Our Firefighters
This portion of the webpage contains a collection of miscellaneous items of interest to the West Shore Fire Department (WSFD) emergency responders, both firefighters and EMTs. It is an informal source of primarily geographic reference material that focuses on the local response area.
District Overview
Previously illustrated on this webpage was our overall response area that extends from the lake shoreline west to the County line. Our actual district boundaries are illustrated below, with the West Almanor Community Services District (WACSD) on the north and the Prattville-Almanor Fire Protection District (PAFPD) on the south. The Big Meadows tract, which is covered by WSFD under a services contract, is further south and is identified on the map with the letter “A”.
Next up are simplified street maps of (a) Lake Almanor West, (b) the Prattville-Almanor district, and (c) the Big Meadows tract.
Fire Authority Boundaries and Property Ownership
Fire protection ultimate authority for federal lands is generally assigned to the federal government (either US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management). Private lands usually fall under the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). However, there are exceptions, and the local region is one such case. Under a longstanding agreement, CalFire has the State Responsibility Area (SRA) covering private lands basically north of Lake Almanor West, while the US Forest Service has a Federal Responsibility Area (FRA) covering all federal lands AND private lands in the area south of Lake Almanor West. This distribution of responsibilities is illustrated in the map below where white is SRA and yellow is FRA. And, just to add another complication, the Chester Fire District is a separate Local Responsibility Area (LRA).
The property immediately adjacent to the Prattville-Almanor Fire Protection District is largely Lassen National Forest. Embedded within the PAFPD are USFS parcels (campgrounds, cabin leaseholds) as well as PG&E parcels (a company group camp, worksites, shoreline strip). The situation adjacent to Lake Almanor West is illustrated below.
Off the Pavement
While most “in-district” WSFD responses are to incidents between the highway and the lake, there are occasional calls to emergencies in the extended response area to the west of Highway 89. With the exception of the county road leading to Butt Lake, there are no paved roads in that region, and none of the roads there are plowed in the winter. Instead, there is a network of unpaved county, Forest Service and private (logging company) routes of varying condition serving that large area. Maintenance is sporadic and there are no guarantees that any given route will be accessible, especially right after storms or a heavy winter might produce washouts, down trees or rock slides. An occasional road reconnaissance tour of the major routes is therefore considered good practice.
Navigating the off-highway region can be challenging for those unfamiliar with the area, especially when there is pressure to reach an emergency incident location as quickly as possible. A comprehensive navigation guide was therefore prepared a few years ago to aid responders in gaining general familiarity as well as providing some key location references. That guide is found at this LINK.
More on Maps and Navigation
Getting comfortable with journeys off the highway usually requires some study and some practice. Both require an investment of interest and time. Fortunately there are some resources available to emergency responders to help with the "study" and preparation part of the process. To obtain some self-help materials in electronic form only requires that a responder provide an empty thumb drive to Dale Knutsen, WACSD Board Member and ad hoc Public Information Officer. It will be returned with a some annotated briefing materials and a copy of a 90 page self-study document on the subject. An additional item that was more recently created is found below, a very basic map of the local area with an overlay of the three most common map grid systems that first responders may encounter when being dispatched to an outlying incident. If you understand those grids, you are already well on your way to becoming a competent off-highway navigator.
