You’re driving home on a Saturday, round a corner and come upon this scene: Two of your fire department’s engines are parked in front of a bar with lights flashing.

Your first impression? Maybe a customer had a heart attack or stroke, and firefighters are providing first aid. Or perhaps they just doused a kitchen fire.

Then you get closer and see two firemen holding a guy by the arms while a third is dousing him in the head and groin with a fire hose.
   

With denial of appeals filed by two Sacramento-area environmental groups, a much-needed, 5,600-acre clearing project on the Stanislaus National Forest can begin.

The Phase II Fuel Reduction, Forest Health and Road Management Project calls for logging, shredding and pile burning on portions of the Wrights, Hull and Rush Creek drainage, southeast of Highway 108 between Cold Springs and Long Barn. Much of the Mi-Wok Ranger District project is in the Wildland Urban Interface, where fire can be a significant threat to nearby homes and businesses.

Not only that, but the project calls for commercial logging on up to 2,192 acres. This could provide a needed shot in the arm for the timber industry, which with the closure of Sierra Pacific Industries’ Standard Mill has been hit particularly hard by the 2009 recession.