The County of Santa Clara and the county’s Fire District are ramping up wildfire prevention efforts, just as the region heads into another fire season plagued with severe drought conditions. With the 2020 megafires—the Santa Clara (SCU) and Santa Cruz (CZU) lightning complex fires—still fresh in mind, firefighters and emergency officials have been working over the past year to create new wildfire prevention strategies.
Fire officials on May 3 presented a comprehensive plan to the County Board of Supervisors, which unanimously greenlighted the new efforts.
“There’s an obvious need for urgency as we continue to experience larger and more damaging wildfires each year. Unfortunately, fire season is no longer a season. It seems almost constant,” Supervisor Joe Simitian said. “We have to keep looking for opportunities to improve fire prevention year-round, and to give local communities the help they need to keep their homes, businesses and families safe.”
The new initiatives include:
• A pilot Community Wildfire Program with the addition of a specialist who will conduct inspections for residents living in high fire hazard areas and provide guidance on creating defensible spaces around properties;
• A new fuels reduction crew to support existing (or establish new) community programs to bolster evacuation routes, create defensible space around critical infrastructure, and create fuel breaks around communities;
• Community education webinars for wildfire preparedness; and
• The use of an online data tool to run training simulations and to alert the public of evacuations with real-time information.
The new efforts will be funded, in part, by state grant money requested by the county and local jurisdiction partners after the SCU and CZU lightning complex fires two years ago. Of the $7 million awarded to the Town of Los Gatos for the West Valley cities, the county’s Fire District will receive $2 million. Additional funding from other grants is also pending.
“We are lucky to live in a natural landscape surrounded by scenic mountains, but that also means we must contend with an ever-changing wildfire environment,” said Mike Mathiesen, the county’s Battalion Chief of Pre-Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience. “This program is a phased approach that focuses on collaboration with local, state and federal agencies to develop critical preventative measures, so we’re better set up for the increasing risk of catastrophic fires in our area.”
For emergency preparedness information, visit PrepareSCC.org. The public can also sign up for free emergency alerts to mobile devices, landlines and/or email at AlertSCC.org.
