LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Proactive Lafayette property owners helped prevent a catastrophe


Photo courtesy Lafayette Police Dept.

The drone shot from the Lafayette Police Department shows the aftermath of the Aug. 1 vegetation fire on Reliez Valley Road. The charred, 1.5-acre circular area in the center shows that the fire avoided the homes that ringed the blaze.

"It could have been a real disaster," said Kathy Woofter of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District fire prevention bureau. "Thanks to the Reliez Valley Road and Windsong Way property owners, who abated the weeds and created defensible space by limbing up the trees, the fire did not spread onto their property. And it allowed our firefighters to quickly put out the fire."

Both Woofter and Jim Call of the Moraga-Orinda Fire District remind property owners that they are the true first responders, and to abate problem vegetation on their parcels.