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171
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Volume 171 • Issue 76 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
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Photo courtesy of AirShotz
The 2022 El Dorado County Fair broke records in attendance, the livestock auction and more as 73,000 people made their way through the gates for a weekend of fun.
Record numbers flock to the fair Thomas Frey Staff writer
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
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record 73,000 people enjoyed rides, food, music and more at the 2022 El Dorado County Fair. “It’s a record-breaker,” said El Dorado County Fair CEO Kathy Dunkak. “I think it’s mostly because people didn’t have a fair for two years and the other was the weather was amazing.” The previous record of 67,000 was set in 2019 when the last fair was hosted. Attendance records go back to 2002. Saturday, June 18, saw 22,500 attendees. Friday, June 17, and Sunday, June 19, were the most attended Friday and Sunday, while June 16 nearly broke the Thursday record but was about 200 attendees short, according to Dunkak who noted how much weather can indeed play a big role. In 2016 fair attendance was around 61,000. A 2017 heatwave, including a 105-degree Sunday, led to attendance dropping to 54,000 before heading back up to 63,000 in 2018. Records were also broken at the carnival as there were more riders and ticket sales than ever before. “The lines were crazy but everybody was smiling and having a good time,” Dunkak said. “The kids were stoked and that’s the best part.” Dunkak, who is in her first year as CEO, added that more money was bid at the Junior Livestock Auction than at previous fairs — $925,000. “The buyers came out and showed those kids love,” Dunkak said. All of these records were set while smaller than normal staff held down operations. Dunkak noted that normally there are 125-130 people on the n
See Fair, page A2
El Dorado County Medic 49, currently housed at the Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District Station 49, will temporarily go out of service July 1. The fire protection district’s board of directors will decide whether to put it to rest permanently in a meeting July 12.
Fire agencies to decide on ambulance services Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
shortage of emergency personnel. One reason is because of COVID-19 pandemic shut downs, he said. “A lot of paramedic schools were shut down or it was made very difficult to complete their contact hours and that made it difficult for people to complete the training,” Veerkamp said. Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District Chief Matt Gallagher said firefighting personnel are moving to fire departments outside the county, where ambulance work is not required and/or where they can earn more money. Gallagher also said staff are moving to departments where they can earn more money. The district lost five people in the last few months and three more are leaving by the end of June, Gallagher told the Mountain Democrat. “We’re just having a hard time with staffing and retaining,” Gallagher said. “We are losing people and not getting qualified applicants to fill the positions, so we’re constantly running low on people.” Gallagher said the district has lost three
The Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District Board of Directors will consider putting one ambulance out of service at its July 12 meeting. Fire officials say Station 49, currently housing Medic 49, is unable to properly staff the ambulance. The board previously voted to temporarily put the ambulance out of service beginning July 1 until more personnel could be hired. The board deadlocked on a vote June 14 to permanently put Medic 49 out of service. A vacancy on the board will be filled July 12 to prevent another tie vote. The shortage of emergency services personnel is not exclusive to the county, according to county fire authorities. Brian Veerkamp, executive director of the El Dorado County Emergency Services Authority (West Slope Joint Powers Authority), which manages the entire ambulance system on the West Slope, said the nation is currently facing a
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See Ambulance, page A3
$3.3 million to fund fire fuels reduction on West Slope Eric Jaramishian Staff writer The El Dorado County Fire Safe Council will receive more than $3.3 million to reduce fire PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
fuels along roads and remove bark beetle killed trees. The grants are part of a nearly $118 million Cal Fire grant package, which will fund 144 wildfire prevention projects across California, according to a press release from Cal Fire. The fire safe council will receive more than $2 million for a south county fuel reduction project to create four shaded fuel breaks on 447 acres and hazardous fuel reduction along nearly 33 miles of priority county roads — portions of Outingdale, Fairplay, Omo Ranch, Mt. Aukum, Pleasant Valley, Oak Hill and Big Oak roads and a portion of Fowler Lane.
The project is designed to increase wildfire resiliency, improve access for first responders during a wildfire, improve emergency egress for more than 27,000 residents and reduce roadway-related wildfire ignitions, the press release states. The treatment zone encompasses 845 acres, where 4,813 residences at or in the vicinity of the project are expected to benefit. Communities within the project area include Diamond Springs, Omo Ranch and Outingdale. More than $1.2 million was awarded for dead and dying tree removal to slow the bark beetle infestation that has killed thousands
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of trees in the county since 2015. Cal Fire officials state the beetles are reproducing and spreading to more trees. The trees threaten public safety as they could fall on structures, access roads and electrical lines, as well as fuel a fire. “(Bark beetle infestation) is a large issue that affects the Central Sierra and now the Northern Sierra,” said Ken Pimlott, chair of the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council. “There is a broader issue of the drought that has created this disposition with these trees.” During a voluntary enrollment period, residents can apply to have hazard trees removed within 150
Jeff Little, DDS
“Look For My Column On Page 3 Today!”
— Ken Pimlott, chair of the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council feet from their home, permitted structures or access route. Most households will be required to contribute a quarter of the cost. Each household will cost around $4,000. Households below 100% of current area low-income levels will have no contribution requirement. “Removing these trees can get very expensive and not many people would be able to afford to do this, so this will
be a huge benefit to the community,” Pimlott said. The project covers more than 51,000 structures. The application for this service will be made available in December of this year, said El Dorado County Fire Council executives. Another $705,670 was granted for implementing shaded fuel breaks along access n
See Fire fund, page A3
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