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PALA — We’re coming off a big rain, the hills are green, and the weather is pleasant, but the firefighting community wants everyone to remember what could be waiting around the seasonal corner.

And to be prepared.

At the Pala Casino Spa Resort this week, more than 100 fire professionals are meeting at the 2012 Interagency Wildland Fire Prevention, Education and Mitigation Conference.

Simply put, the conference is to teach professionals how to teach the community how to prepare for a major wildland fire.

The message: prepare now when the fire danger is low so that come summer and fall, when flames are scorching the earth, measures to minimize or prevent damage will already be in place.

“People come and go in San Diego,” said Hylton Haynes, an associate project manager for Firewise Communities, a national nonprofit organization.

“It’s a military town. Not everyone is aware of where they are living. Continuing to do this public outreach is critical.”

“A lot of people are aware of the danger, but they don’t understand that they can reduce the danger to themselves by just doing some landscaping and moving a wood pile,” added Pat Durland, founder of Stone Creek Fire, which has the same basic goals of fire safety as Firewise.

“We’re trying to move from the conceptual danger to removing the risk … and that doesn’t happen until they move the wood pile,” Durland said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs organized the conference, and it’s being attended by tribal, state and federal fire officials, as well as others such as insurance company representatives.

For information about how to prepare, go to firewise.org, firesafecouncil.org, or stonecreekfire.com.

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