Town meeting on fire safety and prevention to be held at Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club

The Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club is hosting a town meeting on July 23 at 4 p.m. to present the latest information on fire safety and prevention. The public is invited, and refreshments will be served.

The meeting was planned for the first Tuesday after the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club begins its annual racing meet in the hopes that neighbors would find the time to mix and mingle at the Garden Club. In light of the recent disaster in Yarnell, Ariz., the meeting — which will be dedicated to the 19 “Granite Mountain Hotshots” who lost their lives on June 30 battling a wildfire near Prescott, Ariz. — has a much more topical theme.

Conor Lenahan, the urban forester for the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Department, will talk about the state of wild fire “fuel” in the back country and closer to home, and ways to safeguard one’s property.

Tom Clotfelter, a longtime Rancho Santa Fe resident, will discuss “sheltering in place,” and his experiences during the 2007 wildfires which burned within one block of his home in the center of the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant.

Matt Wellhouser, chief of the Rancho Santa Fe Patrol, will discuss the role of the RSF Patrol during a wildfire, and other fire scenarios.

Information will be available about CERT classes, and an overview of upcoming events at the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club will be on display.