More on "Red Flag" Land Closures

Wendy received the following response from the Marin County Fire Department to her inquiry about whether we could still hike on public lands in the county when "Red Flag" warnings closed roads to those areas.

"Unfortunately, during a “Red Flag” event, we don’t have the capacity to fax notifications out to interested parties.  Having said that, the local land owners (MMWD, Marin County Open Space, State and Federal Parks) do not close the parks to hikers, bikers and equestrian activities.  They only close certain roads to vehicular access, and prohibit certain activities that could introduce an ignition source to their respective parks, such as defensible space clearing activities, camp fires, etc.  You can call the park/landowners for a list of these specific activities, but nature walks/hikes are certainly allowed by all of them.

"Also, we maintain a fire information line, where we announce the duration/status of these restrictions.  That number is 415-473-7191.  If you have any further questions, please contact me."

Regards,

Scott D. Alber, PE, EFO, CFO, FM, MIFireE

BATTALION CHIEF/FIRE MARSHAL

Marin County Fire Department

PO Box 518/33 Castle Rock Avenue

Woodacre, CA 94973

415.473.6566 T

415.473.4246 F

415.717.1520 M

CRS Dial 711

salber@marincounty.org

So the good news is that we can still hike despite the "Red Flag" situation.

But the bad news is that we may not be able to get to the trailhead due to road closures.