Meeting August 7 in Deerhorn Valley on fire mitigation funds

By Kim Hamilton, Editor, Deerhorn Valley Antler

August 6, 2012 (Deerhorn Valley)--We are now well into a perilous fire season. SDG&E, in its guise as the “Sunrise Powerlink Fire Mitigation Group,” has notified some 1,300 at-risk homeowners along the Powerlink that they are “potentially qualified to receive grant funds for the creation of defensible space or structure hardening...” Up to $2,000 per parcel is being made available on a yearly basis. Make no mistake: this is not done out of the goodness of their hearts. Nor will it eliminate the increased danger we now face from Powerlink. It was simply a requirement for approval. A “partial mitigation.”

We, the at-risk and soon-to-be-crushed (as our Governor threatened last week), need answers to some serious questions about these “grants”:

"At Home” is a new series highlighting creative homes and lifestyles in San Diego East County communities.

By

Miriam Raftery

“Straw bale building is like a barn raising—a wonderful, friendly activity that reaches out and brings people together.” – Kim Hamilton

October 30, 2011 (Deerhorn Valley) – Four years after the Harris Fire burned down their barn, Kim Hamilton and Rob Deason celebrate completion of a new art and music studio made with straw-bale construction and hands-on help from friends, family and neighbors.  Since the community also lost its former gathering place at a local fire station, the new studio doubles as a meeting room for the Deerhorn Valley Community Association.

The new structure is both fire resistant and green--built of natural, sustainable materials with insulating qualities ideal for the climate extremes found in this rural community.