A Sonoma County community’s efforts to clean and restore their neighborhood lake may have helped save their homes from a wildfire.
Some Penngrove residents have spent the past year removing weeds and algae from the lake. A year ago, the lake was an eyesore after the drought turned it into an algae-covered mess.
“It was mostly covered in duckweed, azola and the reeds had taken over quite a bit as well” said Penngrove resident Lisa Van Enkevort.
Residents teamed up to restore it. They tried scooping the weeds out themselves. But they quickly realized it was a much bigger job.
After raising thousands of dollars, they hired experts to remove 76 cubic yards of weeds. Then, they bought 850 weed eating carp to keep it clean. But their goal wasn’t just beautification. It was also fire protection.
“If there was a fire nearby, and if they couldn’t use the lake, we were out of luck. We wanted to make sure that did not happen,” Beth Field said.
Last Monday, their efforts paid off when a wildfire broke out nearby and threatening homes. Cal Fire dipped into the lake seven times to help get the blaze under control.
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“Not only did they protect themselves, their property their community but also maybe a neighboring community that benefits as well,” said Paul Karpus with Cal Fire's Tactical Air Operations.
Cal Fire’s tactical air operations chief says having access to clean lakes and ponds is critical especially in remote areas too much algae or moss can make their equipment inoperable.
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The women say they are proud of their efforts and feel more at ease getting through the rest of the fire season.
"It turns out it is a good resource because it saved our neighborhood last week, last Monday," said Van Enkevort.
