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THE RANCHO SANTA FE NEWS
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 10, N0. 9
May 2, 2014
SPRINGING INTO FASHION Fashions by CoCo Rose, Ooh Fashionista, Housgoods, Active Angelz, Swimwear Anywhere, Body Boutique and Kenneth Barlis fill the courtyard of the Cielo Village on April 24. The event was the third annual Spring Xposure 2014 fashion show hosted by Fine Magazine. See more photos from the event on page A12. Photo by Tony Cagala
Dana Evanson, the docent and administrator of the Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society the La Flecha House, designed by Lilian Rice. Photo
by Christina Macone-Greene
Rancho Santa Fe walking tour offers a glimpse of history By Christina Macone-Greene which lasts about 45 min-
Firefighters from Del Mar and other North County communities take part in the wildfire training exercises in April. Fire officials are predicting this fire season to be above normal due to the lack of rain and drought conditions.
‘Above normal’ fire season predicted By Tony Cagala
REGION — The green tops of brush filling the canyons and terrain throughout San Diego County is merely masking a potentially dangerous situation. Beneath the greenery, are dead stems and twigs — fuels long since dried out from prolonged periods without rain that have county fire officials and Cal Fire predicting this season to be an above normal fire season. “All the predictions are leading us to believe that it’s going to be an extremely active fire season,” Capt. Kendal Bortisser, a Cal Fire public information officer, said during a three-day wildfire
training exercise that took place earlier this month. More than 700 firefighters from departments all around the county participated in the training exercise at the Viejas Indian Reservation. “The whole idea behind this exercise is to give the firefighters the opportunity to kick the dirt off their boots, get on the brush engines, get out there lay some hose, cut some line, work with the aircraft in preparation of the upcoming fire season,” Bortisser said. The exercises, he equated to the analogy of cutting your firewood before the winter. “You don’t wait until
it starts snowing before you cut firewood,” he said. Predictive Services for the National Interagency Fire Center is seeing an above normal fire activity level in the county for May through July, typically the peak fire season period. “Even though we’re in fire season year round, it’s going to start kicking up in next several months,” Bortisser added. Cal Fire, as recently as April 10, announced the hiring of nearly 100 additional seasonal firefighters for the Northern California region to help prepare for the season. Normally Cal Fire oper-
ates staffing levels in three different seasons: Peak, transition and winter. “During peak is when we step up all of our apparatus, all of our stations, camps, crews; all of our aircraft — everything is fully staffed,” explained Bortisser. Cal Fire moved into peak staffing levels the first week of April — that’s earlier than most fire officials can remember, Bortisser explained. Mid-May is when peak staffing levels are traditionally achieved. “That’s a result of the TURN TO FIRE ON A18
RANCHO SANTA FE — Driving down the streets of the Rancho Santa Fe Village is entirely different than taking a walk through it. On foot, it’s impossible not to recognize the history surrounding this village which predominately highlights Spanish Colonial Revival-style buildings. While The Rancho Fe Historical Society has offered walking tours in the past, it wasn’t until last year that it designed a walking tour map for its visitors. The feedback has been huge. Dana Evanson, the docent and administrator of the Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society, said there are a wide variety of tour guests who stroll through the village. “We have everything from family reunions, class reunions, people who are staying at the Rancho Santa Fe Inn, members of clubs, university students, people who are attending a convention in town, and some of the Red Had Society ladies,” Evanson said. “I also do walking tours for the Cub Scouts since this is considered a history requirement that they can put under their belt.” Surrounding communities often take part in the walking tour; Evanson said that a large group of their visitors come from Carlsbad. The walking tour,
utes, takes visitors to 15 different sites. A handful of these locales include the La Flecha House, State Historic Landmark No. 982, Country Squire Courtyard, The Francisco Building, Louise Badger Home, La Valencia Apartments, and more. Lilian Rice, a 1910 alumnus from the University of California, Berkley, designed many residences, and much of the architecture, peppered throughout the village. Evanson said the most popular site is the Lilian Rice Row Houses. “They are all connected and built to look like a Spanish village. All of the colors, styles and setbacks are different,” she said, noting how they were built in 1927 for new residents in the ranch. Evanson calls the walking tour rather self-contained, and people don’t have to travel far on foot to see everything. “One of the beauties of Rancho Santa Fe is that it’s rural, and I point out to people that there are no street lights,” said Evanson, explaining why visitors love the atmosphere. As a docent, she also likes people to understand that the architecture in the village acts as a “play of shadow and light” against the adobe. TURN TO HISTORY ON A18