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January 4, 2018
Cleanup effort begins on burned river park areas
D e L u z , R a i n b ow, C a m p P e ndl e t o n , Pa l a ,
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Volume 22, Issue 1
REMEMBERING 2017
Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent
Nearly 300 acres of the future San Luis Rey River Park were burned by the Lilac fire, and the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation has begun cleanup efforts. “As wildfires go damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been, which is a testament to the strength of our integrated emergency management system,” said Department of Parks and Recreation marketing and public outreach manager Jessica Geiszler. “Agencies banded together to tackle the disaster head-on, and that confined the spread of the fire and limited damage to one region.” The cleanup includes the trimming of damaged branches as well as ash on the ground. “Any branches that burned will be pruned back so they don’t pose a danger,” Geiszler said. “Cleanup is minimal; our team is already working to make the burned parkland healthy again,” Geiszler said. “We’re pruning burned trees and will continue to clean up vegetation downed by strong Santa Ana winds, mostly palm fronds and small branches.”
Fallbrook Regional Health District director Stephen Abbott, center, takes a moment to reflect July 28 before casting his vote on a Julie Reeder photo resolution to ratify the sale of the Fallbrook Hospital building to mental health provider Crestwood Behavioral Health, Inc. Abbott joined board members, left to right, Barbara Mroz, president Gordon Tinker, Howard Salmon and Bill Leach in voting yes on the controversial sale.
see CLEANUP, page A-10
thisweek Announcements �������������������������A-2 Business ���������������������������������������D-5 Business Directory ���������������������C-8 Calendar........................................A-2 Classifieds ������������������������������������B-7 Dining & Food ������������������������������B-3 Education.......................................D-4 Entertainment ������������������������������B-2 Health & Fitness ��������������������������B-4 Home & Garden �������������������������C-1 Legals.............................................B-6 Obituaries �������������������������������������A-8 Opinion �����������������������������������������A-5 Real Estate �����������������������������������C-2 Sheriff’s Log ���������������������������������A-8 Sports.............................................D-1 Wine................................................D-6
Courtesy photo Heavy rains hit the Fallbrook area in January causing flooded roads, fallen trees, sink holes and power outages. In a six-day period (Jan. 19-24) storms dropped 5.83 inches in Fallbrook, 6.15 inches in Bonsall, 7.17 inches in Rainbow and 6.07 inches at Camp Pendleton.
Shane Gibson photo Dignitaries celebrate May 16 the grand opening of the newly completed SR-76 (now offering two lanes in each direction between Interstate 5 and Interstate 15) by planting a variety of native and drought resistant plants that will be used to landscape the areas lining the highway.
Investigation into Dec. 26 commercial burglaries continues
Suspects in five commercial burglaries committed Dec. 26 are shown in these surveillance photos. Photos courtesy of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
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Tom Ferrall tferrall@reedermedia.com The investigation into the Dec. 26 commercial burglaries that resulted in five businesses having to replace glass front doors was continuing as of Jan. 2, according to detective sergeant Patrick Yates of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Two male suspects, operating between 3 and 4 a.m., used a sledge hammer to smash glass doors at the following businesses: Yama Sushi Restaurant, Thai Thai Restaurant, Little Caesars Pizza, Rosa’s Mexican Food and Domino’s Pizza. The suspects, after gaining entry, attempted to break into store cash registers, causing more property damage but failing to get money as all of the business owners or workers had emptied tills upon closing up shop for Christmas. The suspects were also thwarted by impenetrable safes, according to detective Steve Ashkar, who is handling the case.
Ashkar released photos of the suspects taken by a surveillance camera to the Village News and asks that people who have any information about the burglars or the incident call the Fallbrook Sheriff ’s substation at (760) 451-3100. Ashkar added that the surveillance footage showed the suspects arriving in a black sedan, although the make and model was not decipherable. Yates said Jan. 2 that patrol deputies were working on a possible lead they obtained while responding to another call. “Patrol units called to another case may have gathered some information useful to this case,” said Yates. Yama Sushi, Thai Thai and Little Caesars are located in the shopping center on South Main Avenue that is anchored by Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. Yama Sushi and Little Caesars opened for business as usual Dec. 26. Thai Thai remained closed for a holiday
see BURGLARIES, page A-4
FOR MORE IMAGES FROM 2017, SEE B-1
Firefighters were prepared to fight Lilac fire Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent
The firefighters of the North County Fire Protection District and elsewhere helped limit the damage of the Lilac fire both during the wildfire and prior to the start of the blaze. The work of the fire service in fighting the fire included not only the fire suppression activity but also preparation for such an event. “They certainly put it all out there on this one,” said NCFPD fire chief Steve Abbott. The knowledge of the Santa Ana wind condition allowed the fire department to be prepared for the possibility of a fast-spreading fire. “We were really blessed by having a good detailed situational awareness of the weather conditions,” Abbott said. That also allowed prepositioning from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “We stacked up virtually every resource that we had,” Abbott said. “Being on scene quickly helped quite a bit.” The operations center was staffed on a 24-hour basis beginning with the high winds which created the risk of a fire, so that staffing was in place when the fire started. The dispatch agency which includes NCFPD was also prepared for a wind-driven fire. “We certainly benefited from having the San Diego north zone North Comm being the operational coordinator and having a dropped boundary agreement,” Abbott said.
“It allowed for a very seamless, very rapid response.” (The formal name of the entity is the North County Dispatch Joint Powers Authority. The agency includes the Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, San Marcos, Solana Beach, and Vista fire departments and the North County and Rancho Santa Fe fire protection districts and is commonly called North Comm. Although the Valley Center Fire Protection District and the Pala, Pauma, Rincon, and San Pasqual reservation fire departments are not members of the joint powers authority they contract with North Comm for fire suppression and emergency medical dispatch services as does Del Mar’s fire department.) Mutual aid means that other fire departments join the local fire department to control a blaze. Automatic aid agreements, or dropped boundaries, send the closest available resource regardless of jurisdiction to a fire or medical incident. The assistance North County Fire Protection District firefighters received from other agencies was complemented with the NCFPD personnel’s knowledge of the community. “They were familiar with the area,” Abbott said. “They were really able to maximize their ability of making a lot of individual saves on homes.” The 2007 Rice Fire utilized about a dozen engines from various departments. “We had 15 times that in the
see FIRE, page A-5