Mayor Nina Jonas: With the approach of summer weather and the possibility of wildfires, I've turned this space over to Fire Chief Mike Elle this week.

The saving of two homes from an East Fork fire last week, the charred tree skeletons along Highway 75 south of town, and the forecast for sunny days are a reminder that this year brings an early and lengthy season for wildfires.

It's also the traditional spring-cleaning time, and spring cleaning is an excellent time to take "firewise" precautions.

"Defensible space" is key. This means maintaining landscaping that reduces the chance of fire spreading between homes and surrounding vegetation. Defensible space not only makes it harder for a wildfire to spread from wild lands to homes or from one home to another; it also gives firefighters a staging area to protect your home. Clean your gutters, store firewood away from your home, and keep flammable items off decks and balconies too.

The best ways to prevent fires are by simply taking precautions that almost everybody knows but too often overlooks. Check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Clean lint screens every time you use the clothes dryer and clean the dryer exhaust vent leading outside once a year. Call the chimney sweep annually, or more often if you have frequent fires in the fireplace. Put ashes in airtight, metal containers.

If you're staining a deck or painting as part of spring cleaning, soak oily rags in water and then put them in an airtight container. Spontaneous combustion can occur in piles of oily rags. Lastly but most important, can firefighters see your street address from the road or street in front of your house?

We should all thank our elected officials for realizing the importance of being prepared to combat both wildfires and structure fires in the Wood River Valley. All we ask is that our residents do their part. An excellent checklist is available at www.firewise.org.

Be safe.

Chief Elle 

A "Pick-Up Party" to clean dog poop and other trash from Warm Springs Ranch will be Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The site of former Warm Springs restaurant and golf course on Warm Spring Road has been open to the public free of charge for a number of years, and is a popular location for walking dogs and playing Frisbee.

"It is a huge asset for everyone," said Lara McLean, a lieutenant/medic with the Ketchum Fire Department. She also owns All Hail the Dog, a company that sells luxury dog beds filled with recycled plastic and is one of the sponsors of the event.

"The owner has been very generous in spending her own money to maintain the property, and we want to give back to her by helping to clean up the park we all know and love," McLean said.

The pick-up party will include contests for the best dog trick and Frisbee catch, as well as demonstrations of how to perform CPR and Heimlich maneuvers on dogs. The Ketchum fire department has special CPR masks for dog first aid, McLean noted.

She will bring her own dogs, Junebug and Rhylee, who often accompany her to fire safety talks to school children and demonstrate how to "stop, drop and roll" in case of fire and to find two ways out of every building.

The pick-up party is co-sponsored by Idahound, a local producer of raw dog food. Snacks will be donated by Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill, Perry's and Starbucks.

Nine firefighters, including four from Ketchum, are back from three days of intensive training in mountaineering skills with the Sawtooth Mountain Guides.

"As more people venture further into the backcountry, the need for rescuers to learn techniques for working on steep mountain terrain is growing," Capt. Miles Canfield said. The group practiced techniques for using crampons and ice axes, as well as rappelling, at the Williams Peak Hut, owned by the Sawtooth guides, near Redfish Lake.

Ketchum, Sun Valley and Wood River fire departments are the first responders to backcountry accidents along with Blaine County Search and Rescue, the Galena Backcountry Ski Patrol and Sun Valley Heli Ski. Sun Valley Heli Ski will transport rescuers to the scene if they are available. Most of the equipment has been donated by the Ketchum & Sun Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association, whose major fundraising event is the annual Firefighters Ball.

"We appreciate the cooperation of all the local agencies whose personnel make up the backcountry rescue team," Ketchum Fire Chief Mike Elle said. "Working together is critical for success in high-risk, low-frequency, backcountry rescue situations."

Ketchum will observe Arbor Day on Friday, May 8 with a free program from 3-4 p.m. at Atkinson Park to teach children and their parents about the importance of trees in the urban environment and proper tree-planting techniques. The speaker at the program at Atkinson Park will be City Arborist Juerg Stauffacher.

The ceremony will include planting a hardy fruit tree next to Ketchum's Watch Me Grow Garden and celebration of Ketchum's designation as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation for the 11th year in a row.

Although Arbor Day was celebrated in most of the country last week, communities are encouraged to set their own celebrations according to local growing conditions. Since Ketchum is a bit colder than most of the country, the date here has been changed.