Sheriff’s Work Crew Tuolumne County Community Wildfire Defense Project 

November 8, 2025 – Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office officials report that they are pleased to announce that the TCSO Dambacher Detention Center (DDC) Work Crew is partnering with Tuolumne County Roads to conduct defensible space clearing and roadside vegetation management through the USDA’s Community Wildfire Defense Grant. To prepare for this work, inmates were trained and certified in the use of specialized equipment – providing them with an opportunity to build skillsets they can use in the future.

The Work Crew’s project is focused on roadside clearance in Pinecrest, between Highway 108 and Pinecrest Lake, to remove roadside vegetation and makes roadside signs visible again. Of the 22.67 miles of road clearance funded by the grant, the DDC Work Crew is planning to clear 12 miles. Cleared wood and vegetation are being chipped and delivered to Mountain High School, a satellite school of Summerville High School. If your non-profit is interested in woodchips, you may submit a request to our work Crew at: DDCWorkCrew@tuolumnecounty.ca.gov.

The USDA Community Wildfire Defense Grant was applied for and awarded to the Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services. The Sheriff’s Work Crew, via the Jail Industry Authority (Penal Code 4325), enables our work crew to collaborate with County Roads and operate under an MOU to support defensible space work and roadside vegetation management within the project area. The goal of the grant is to create more Firewise Communities and other fire-adaptive cohorts within at-risk and low-income communities in Tuolumne County.

A special thanks to all our partners including Tuolumne County Roads, Community Corrections Partnership and Tuolumne County Solid Waste.

For more information on the grant and its deployment in Tuolumne County, please visit: www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/.../USDA-Community.

View video here.

Source: Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office