Collaborative efforts control fires in the Wash

The San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District works closely with the Bureau of Land Management and City of Redlands to minimize fire hazards within the Wash. A fire in November destroyed a homeless encampment in the Wash, but the residents there kept the blaze from spreading to adjacent habitat land. Ash and charred debris from wildfires can take a toll on local watersheds. Nature removes nitrates and sediment caused from fire through plant absorption and filtration as water seeps underground, but the impacts on wetland habitat can still be devastating.