HomeMy WebLinkAboutFD Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Acceptance____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting: 12/17/2018
Disposition: Resolution No. 14614
Agenda Item No: 4.d
Meeting Date: December 17, 2018
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Fire Department
Prepared by: Christopher Gray, Fire Chief City Manager Approval: ______________
TOPIC: MARIN COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN ACCEPTANCE
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE MARIN COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE
PROTECTION PLAN
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a resolution accepting the Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan as a guiding
document for wildfire prevention efforts in San Rafael.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was created through a collaborative
process to provide a comprehensive framework to address the risk of wildfire. The report includes
corrective actions, including specific areas of risk in San Rafael. By accepting the CWPP, the City is
recognizing that the Plan provides an important framework for systematically addressing wildfire risks.
Accepting the Plan also provides supportive documentation for upcoming grant applications. A full wildfire
safety action plan will be presented to City Council on January 22nd, 2019.
BACKGROUND:
Beginning in 2015, the Marin County Fire Department worked with the San Rafael Fire Department,
FIREsafe MARIN, and other local fire agencies to develop a comprehensive CWPP for Marin County.
The San Rafael Fire Department identified priority areas in the City for fuel reduction and structural
ignitability mitigation efforts. Scientific analysis and mapping projects produced a report of current wildfire
risks and proposed mitigation measures. The Marin County CWPP was formally approved by the County
Board of supervisors in March 2017. The CWPP remains a living document, incorporating updates and
new action items. The San Rafael Fire Department has contributed regular updates to the plan and has
taken steps to incorporate the findings into the City’s ongoing all-hazard planning and fire prevention
efforts.
ANALYSIS:
The Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) provides a scientifically based
assessment of wildfire threat in the wildland urban interface (WUI) of all of Marin County. The CWPP was
developed through a collaborative process involving Marin County fire agencies, County officials, County,
State, and Federal land management agencies, and community members. It meets the CWPP
requirement set forth in the federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which include the following:
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
stakeholder collaboration; identifying and prioritizing areas for fuel reduction activities; and addressing
structural ignitability.
A science-based hazard, asset, risk assessment was performed using up-to-date, high resolution
topography and fuels information combined with local fuel moisture and weather data. The assessment
was focused on identifying areas of concern throughout the county and beginning to prioritize areas
where wildfire threat is greatest. Hazard mitigation efforts can then be focused to address specific issues
in the areas of greatest concern.
The CWPP asserts that Marin County will reduce wildland fire hazard using a collaborative
and integrated approach that includes the following strategies:
•Pre-fire planning.
•Public education and outreach to promote and implement fire adapted community practices.
•Vegetation management and fuel reduction at the county and community levels.
•Reducing structure ignitability by promoting and enforcing building codes, ordinances, and
statutes
Moreover, the CWPP serves as a framework for future collaboration that can be used to identify, prioritize,
implement, and monitor hazard reduction activities throughout Marin County. It is intended to be a living
document that will be updated periodically by FIRESafe MARIN, local fire agencies, and the Marin County
Fire Department, in collaboration with a broader group of County stakeholders. The CWPP is also
intended to support the California Fire Plan and CAL FIRE’s Unit Strategic Fire Plan. While this CWPP
broadly covers all of Marin County, this plan supports and encourages more focused plans for wildfire
protection at the local level.
The San Rafael 2017 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan includes the recommendation to “develop City-specific
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) with enhanced wildfire mapping”. Accepting the Marin
County CWPP partially fulfils this recommendation while funding is secured for more detailed San Rafael
wildfire risk mapping. This resolution does not preclude the City from pursing a City CWPP and parcel
level fuel mapping.
By formally accepting the Marin County CWPP, the City will demonstrate to other agencies that San
Rafael’s wildfire prevention efforts are aligned with the broader County efforts. In addition, this action
would serve to support wildfire-related grant funding opportunities because grant applications from
organizations with an approved CWPP may be more favorably viewed than organizations who do not
have an approved CWPP.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt a resolution accepting the Marin CWPP as a guiding document for wildfire prevention efforts in
San Rafael.
ATTACHMENTS:
1.Resolution
2.Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
RESOLUTION NO. 14614
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, STATE OF
CALIFORNIA ACCEPTING THE MARIN COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION
PLAN AS A GUIDING DOCUMENT FOR WILDFIRE PREVENTION EFFORTS IN SAN
RAFAEL
WHEREAS, wildfire is an ever-increasing concern for many communities in California
and across the United States; and
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael recognizes the importance of wildfire mitigation in
order to protect the community; and
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael contributed to the preparation of the Marin County
Community Wildfire Protection Plan; and
WHEREAS, the Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan aims to protect life
and reduce property loss due to wildfire by identifying wildfire risk and mitigation measures; and
WHEREAS, the Plan provides a scientifically based assessment of wildfire threat; and
WHEREAS, the Plan incorporates pre-fire planning, public education, vegetation
management, and recommendations to reduce structure ignitability; and
WHEREAS, the Plan meets the requirements set forth in the federal Healthy Forests
Restoration Act;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San Rafael
does hereby accept the Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (initial publication
2016); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of San Rafael incorporates the CWPP
analysis and recommendations into the City’s ongoing all-hazard planning and fire prevention
efforts.
I, Lindsay Lara, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was
duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the San Rafael City Council
held on Monday the 17th day of December 2018 by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Councilmembers: Bushey, Colin, Gamblin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips
Councilmembers: None
Councilmembers: None
___________________________
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk
Marin County Fire Department
COMMUNITY
WILDFIRE
PROTECTION PLAN
2016
in collaboration with
Cover photo, istock.com, copyright David Safanda, 2007.
This Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) provides a scientifically based assessment of wildfire
threat in the wildland urban interface (WUI) of Marin County, California. This CWPP was developed
through a collaborative process involving Marin County fire agencies, county officials, county, state,
and federal land management agencies, and community members. It meets the CWPP requirements
set forth in the federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which include:
•Stakeholder collaboration (Section 3).
•Identifying and prioritizing areas for fuel reduction activities (Sections 4 and 5).
•Addressing structural ignitability (Section 7).
Wildfire poses the greatest risk to human life and property in Marin County’s densely populated WUI,
which holds an estimated 69,000 living units. Marin County is home to 23 communities listed on CAL
FIRE’s Communities at Risk list, with approximately 80% of the total land area in the county designated
as having moderate to very high fire hazard severity ratings. The county has a long fire history with
many large fires over the past decades, several of which have occurred in the WUI. To compound the
issue, national fire suppression policies and practices have contributed to the continuous growth (and
overgrowth) of vegetation resulting in dangerous fuel loads (see Section 1.6).
Executive Summary
● ● ● Executive Summary
● ● ● i
A science-based hazard, asset, risk assessment was performed
using up-to-date, high resolution topography and fuels information
combined with local fuel moisture and weather data. The assessment
was focused on identifying areas of concern throughout the county
and beginning to prioritize areas where wildfire threat is greatest.
Hazard mitigation efforts can then be focused to address specific
issues in the areas of greatest concern (see Sections 4 and 5).
Marin County will reduce wildland fire hazard using a collaborative
and integrated approach that includes the following strategies (see
Section 8):
•Pre-fire planning.
•Public education and outreach to promote and implement
fire adapted community practices.
•Vegetation management and fuel reduction at the county
and community levels.
•Reducing structure ignitability by promoting and enforcing
building codes, ordinances, and statutes.
This document provides a framework for future collaboration
that can be used to identify, prioritize, implement, and monitor
hazard reduction activities throughout the county. It is intended
to be a living document that will be updated periodically by
FIRESafe MARIN and the Marin County Fire Department (MCFD)
in collaboration with a broader group of county stakeholders.
This document is also intended to support the California Fire Plan
and CAL FIRE’s Unit Strategic Fire Plan. While this CWPP broadly
covers the entire county, this plan supports and encourages more
focused plans for wildfire protection at the city, community, and
neighborhood scales.
● ● ● Executive Summary
● ● ● ii
●● ● Plan Amendments
●● ● iii
Plan Amendments
Table 1. Plan Amendments.
Date Section Updated Page Numbers
Updated Description of Update Updated
By
This document contains blank pages to accommodate two-sided printing.
●● ● Contents
Contents
Figures ......................................................................................................................................................................................... vii
Tables .......................................................................................................................................................................................... viii
1.County Overview ........................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Fire Agencies, Capabilities, and Preparedness ............................................................................................ 2
1.2 Agency Coordination ............................................................................................................................................ 7
1.3 Population and Housing ..................................................................................................................................... 9
1.3.1 Population Flux ..................................................................................................................................... 10
1.4 Land Ownership ................................................................................................................................................... 10
1.5 Natural Resources ............................................................................................................................................... 11
1.5.1 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................................ 11
1.5.2 Watersheds and Water Districts .................................................................................................... 12
1.6 Marin County’s Wildland Urban Interface ................................................................................................. 13
1.7 Roads and Streets ............................................................................................................................................... 15
2.Fire Environment ...................................................................................................................... 17
2.1 Weather .................................................................................................................................................................. 17
2.2 Vegetation and Fuels Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 19
2.2.1 Vegetation Diseases and Infestations ......................................................................................... 22
2.3 Topography ........................................................................................................................................................... 24
2.4 Fire History ............................................................................................................................................................ 24
2.5 Ignition History .................................................................................................................................................... 26
3.Collaboration ............................................................................................................................. 29
3.1 FIRESafe MARIN ................................................................................................................................................... 30
3.2 Fire Agencies ......................................................................................................................................................... 30
3.3 Land Management Agencies .......................................................................................................................... 30
3.4 Community Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................. 31
4.Hazard, Asset, Risk Assessment Approach ......................................................................... 35
4.1 Assets at Risk ........................................................................................................................................................ 35
4.1.1 Areas of Concern ................................................................................................................................. 38
4.1.2 Fire Road and Fuelbreak Networks .............................................................................................. 38
4.2 Risk Assessment Approach ............................................................................................................................. 39
4.2.1 Step 1: Prepare Community Base Map and Areas of Concern .......................................... 41
4.2.2 Step 2: Prepare Veget ation and Fuel Model Data .................................................................. 41
4.2.3 Step 3: Acquire Local Weather and Fuel Moisture Data ...................................................... 41
4.2.4 Step 4: Prepare a Population Density Map ................................................................................ 43
4.2.5 Step 5: Perform Fire Behavior Modeling .................................................................................... 43
4.2.6 Step 6: Develop Composite Maps ................................................................................................ 45
4.2.7 Step 7: Develop Rankings for Areas of Concern ..................................................................... 45
●● ● Contents
5.Modeling Results ...................................................................................................................... 47
5.1 Average Fire Season Modeling Results ...................................................................................................... 47
5.2 Extreme Fire Conditions Modeling Results ............................................................................................... 51
5.3 Discussion of Findings ...................................................................................................................................... 55
6.Pre-Fire Management Strategies and Tactics .................................................................... 57
6.1 Building Codes and Standards ....................................................................................................................... 57
6.2 Hazardous Fuel Reduction ............................................................................................................................... 58
6.3 Information and Education ............................................................................................................................. 59
6.3.1 Information ............................................................................................................................................ 59
6.3.2 Education and Outreach ................................................................................................................... 59
6.4 Fire Detection Cameras ..................................................................................................................................... 60
7.Structural Ignitability ............................................................................................................... 61
7.1 Opportunities to Reduce Structural Ignitability ...................................................................................... 62
7.1.1 Increase Education about Structural Ignitability and Defensible Space ........................ 62
7.1.2 Inventory Structures with Shake and Shingle Roofing ......................................................... 63
7.1.3 Uniform Adoption of WUI Ordinance ......................................................................................... 64
7.2 Structure Ignitability Efforts Currently in Place ....................................................................................... 64
8.Recommendations and Action Plan .................................................................................... 67
8.1 Plan Recommendations .................................................................................................................................... 67
8.1.1 Continue to identify and evaluate wildland fire hazards ..................................................... 67
8.1.2 Articulate and Promote the Concept of Land Use Planning Related to Fire Risk ...... 68
8.1.3 Support and continue to participate in the collaborative development and
implementation of wildland fire protection plans .................................................................. 68
8.1.4 Increase awareness, knowledge, and actions implemented by individuals and
communities to reduce human loss and property damage from wildland fires ........ 69
8.1.5 Integrate fire and fuels management practices ...................................................................... 70
8.2 Action Plan ............................................................................................................................................................. 71
8.2.1 Environmental Review and Permitting ........................................................................................ 71
8.3 Plan Management ............................................................................................................................................... 71
9.References .................................................................................................................................. 73
Appendix A: Updated Fuel Map Generation ............................................................................ 75
A.1 Processing Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 75
A.2 Input Datasets ...................................................................................................................................................... 75
A.3 Image Processing ................................................................................................................................................ 76
A.4 Fuel Model Crosswalk ....................................................................................................................................... 76
A.5 Fuel Model Adjustments .................................................................................................................................. 77
A.6 Landscape File Creation .................................................................................................................................... 77
A.7 References .............................................................................................................................................................. 78
Appendix B: Areas of Concern and Marin County Fire Plan Projects ................................ 79
Appendix C: Glossary .................................................................................................................. 101
Appendix D: CWPP Action Plan ............................................................................................... 107
●● ● Figures
Figures
Figure 1. Map of Marin County and the wildland urban interface boundaries (red). ..................................... 1
Figure 2. Map of the federal responsibility areas (red), state responsibility areas & MCFD (blue),
and local responsibility areas (yellow) in Marin County. ..................................................................................... 3
Figure 3. Map of Marin County professional fire service agency jurisdictions. ................................................. 5
Figure 4. Population density in and around Marin County’s WUI. ...................................................................... 14
Figure 5. Updated high-resolution (5 x 5 meter) fuel model map for Marin County. ................................. 22
Figure 6. Map of large fires that have occurred in Marin County’s WUI. .......................................................... 26
Figure 7. Fire statistics for Marin County from 1974 through 2014. .................................................................. 27
Figure 8. Map of ignition history data for all authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) in Marin
County from 2002 through 2011. ............................................................................................................................. 28
Figure 9. Map of the areas of concern identified by stakeholder agencies in Marin County. .................. 38
Figure 10. The steps used to perform the hazard, asset, risk assessment. ...................................................... 40
Figure 11. RAWS station locations in Marin County. Note that data from the Robinhood site in
Novato were not used for this analysis as the data were not yet available. ............................................ 42
Figure 12. Population density in Ma rin County based on the 2010 Census. .................................................. 43
Figure 13. Potential flame length for the average fire conditions weather scenario. .................................. 47
Figure 14. Predicted rate of spread for the average fire conditions weather scenario. .............................. 48
Figure 15. Composite map of population density, flame length, and rate of spread for the
average fire conditions model scenario. ................................................................................................................ 49
Figure 16. Areas of concern rankings in Marin County based on population density, flame
length, and rate of spread for the average fire conditions model scenario. ........................................... 50
Figure 17. Potential flame length for the extreme fire conditions scenario. ................................................... 51
Figure 18. Predicted rate of spread for the extreme fire conditions scenario. ............................................... 52
Figure 19. Composite map of population density, flame length, and rate of spread for the
extreme fire conditions scenario. .............................................................................................................................. 53
Figure 20. Areas of concern rankings in Marin County based on population density, flame
length, and rate of spread for the extreme fire conditions scenario. ......................................................... 54
●● ● Tables
Tables
Table 1. Plan Amendments ................................................................................................................................................... iii
Table 2. Number of parcels and living units located in the SRA by fire jurisdiction. ....................................... 4
Table 3. Marin County fire service agencies. ................................................................................................................... 5
Table 4. Mutual aid agreements/plans and assistance-for-hire agreements ..................................................... 8
Table 5. Population distribution by ci ty or town and surrounding area .............................................................. 9
Table 6. Distribution of land ownership in Marin County. ...................................................................................... 10
Table 7. Fuel model types for Marin County. ............................................................................................................... 21
Table 8. Ignition history data for Marin County from 1974 through 2014 ...................................................... 27
Table 9. Participants in this CWPP process ................................................................................................................... 29
Table 10. Marin County CWPP public meeting dates, times, and locations .................................................... 32
Table 11. Summary of the public’s concerns regarding fire hazards throughout Marin County. ............ 33
Table 12. Marin County communities at risk and fire district jurisdiction ........................................................ 37
Table 13. Fuel moisture and weather values used for the average fire season and extreme fire
conditions modeling scenarios .................................................................................................................................. 42
Table 14. Fire suppression interpretations of flame length and fire line intensity ........................................ 44
Table 15. Marin County communities at risk and areas of concern relative rankings, based on
the results of the asset, hazard, risk modeling .................................................................................................... 55
● ● ● Signatures
● ● ● ix
Signatures
The Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was developed in accordance with the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act. The plan was developed collaboratively among county stakeholders,
including federal, state, local, and private land owners, and local fire departments throughout the
county. The plan includes a prioritized list of hazardous fuel reduction strategies and addresses
measures that community members can take to reduce structural ignitability. The undersigned have
reviewed the Marin County CWPP and accept this document as the final draft representing 2016.
____________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Mark Heine, Marin County Fire Chief ’s Association Date
____________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Jason Weber, Marin County Fire Department Date
____________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Katie Rice, Chair of FIRESafe MARIN Date
____________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Christie Neill, President of FIRESafe MARIN Date
____________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Date Steve Kinsey, Chair, Marin County Board of Supervisors Date
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 1
1. County Overview
Marin County is located in the North San Francisco Bay Area in California (Figure 1). The county is
approximately 520 square miles (332,800 acres) with a population of approximately 261,000,1 and is
largely rural. The county is bordered by Sonoma County to the northeast, the East San Francisco Bay
Area to the southeast, and San Francisco County to the south, with the Pacific Ocean along its
western border. Most of the county’s population resides in the eastern, urban-developed region of
the county along the Highway 101 corridor. The west region of the county—in and around Pt.
Reyes—is a popular local tourist region covered by parklands and recreation areas, and the
northwest is sparsely populated, agricultural rangeland.
Figure 1. Map of Marin County and the wildland urban interface boundaries (red).
1 U.S. Census Bureau Marin County population estimate for 2014, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06041.html, July 20,
2015
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 2
Approximately 60,000 acres—18% of the county’s land area—falls within the wildland urban interface
(WUI) where residences (i.e., homes and structures) are intermixed with open space and wildland
vegetation. A recent assessment by the Marin County Fire Department (MCFD) revealed that there
are approximately 69,000 living units valued at $59 billion within the WUI (Marin County Fire
Department, 2015). Because of the mix and density of structure and natural fuels combined with
limited access and egress routes, fire management becomes more complex in WUI environments. In
Marin County specifically, many of the access roads within the WUI are narrow and winding and are
often on hillsides with overgrown vegetation, making it even more difficult and costly to reduce fire
hazards, fight wildfires, and protect homes and lives in these areas.
1.1 Fire Agencies, Capabilities, and Preparedness
Fire protection in California is the responsibility of either the federal, state, or local government. On
federally owned land, or federal responsibility areas (FRA), fire protection is provided by the federal
government, oftentimes in partnership with local grants and contracts. In state responsibility areas
(SRA), CAL FIRE typically provides fire protection. However, in some counties CAL FIRE contracts with
county fire departments to provide protection of the SRA – this is the case in Marin County, where
CAL FIRE contracts with MCFD. Local responsibility areas (LRA) include incorporated cities and
cultivated agriculture lands, and fire protection is typically provided by city fire departments, fire
protection districts, counties, and by CAL FIRE under contract to local government.2 Figure 2 shows
the FRA , SRA, and LRA in Marin County.
2 http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/fire_prevention_wildland_faqs#desig01
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 3
Figure 2. Map of the federal responsibility areas (red), state & MCFD responsibility areas (blue),
and local responsibility areas (yellow) in Marin County.
CAL FIRE contracts with MCFD to provide wildland fire protection and associated fire prevention
activities for lands designated by the State Board of Forestry as SRA. Marin is one of six counties in
the state who contract with CAL FIRE to protect SRA. The MCFD is responsible for the protection of
approximately 200,000 acres of SRA within the county and is the primary agency that handles
wildland fires. MCFD also provides similar protection services to approximately 100,000 acres of FRA
in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), the Muir Woods National Monument, and the
Point Reyes National Seashore.
Within Marin County, there are 96,195 parcels and 106,679 living units; of these living units, an
estimated 69,000 units are located in the WUI. There are 17,152 parcels and 14,560 living units
located in the county’s SRA; of these, 15,977 parcels are located in the WUI. Location within the WUI
puts these parcels and living units at greater risk from wildfires due to surrounding vegetation and
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 4
their proximity to wildlands. Table 2 lists the number of parcels and living units located in the SRA by
fire jurisdiction.3
Table 2. Number of parcels and living units located in the SRA by fire jurisdiction.
Fire Jurisdiction Number of
Parcels
Number of
Living Units
Marin County Fire Department 7,060 5,854
Southern Marin Fire Department 2,732 2,625
Novato Fire Protection District 2,040 1,706
Bolinas Fire Protection District 1,238 719
Ross Valley Fire Department 1,072 960
Kentfield Fire Protection District 818 815
Inverness Public Utilities District 752 618
Marinwood Fire Department 477 413
San Rafael Fire Department (CSA-19) 385 381
Stinson Beach Fire Protection District 328 283
Tiburon Fire Protection District 250 186
Total 17,152 14,560
MCFD staffs an Emergency Command Center (ECC) that dispatches for MCFD and local volunteer fire
departments, coordinates wildland incidents within the SRA or FRA, and acts as the county’s Office of
Emergency Services (OES) coordination center for fire dispatching. In addition to MCFD, there are
thirteen professional fire service agencies and one volunteer department—Tomale s Volunteer Fire
Company (TVFC)—that provide fire services in Marin County. TVFC provides 12 firefighters to MCFD’s
Tomales response zone. In addition, one private fire brigade, Skywalker Fire, is situated on the Lucas
Valley Ranch . Figure 3 shows a jurisdictional map for MCFD and the other thirteen professional fire
service agencies in Marin County, and Table 3 provides information on all of the fire service agencies
in the county.
3 Parcel and living unit data are based on the 2015-16 Marin County Tax Assessor’s Roll. The next update of these data is scheduled
for release in July 2016.
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 5
Figure 3. Map of Marin County professional fire service agency jurisdictions.
Table 3. Marin County fire service agencies.
Personnel Fire Stations Fire Apparatus Additional
Equipment/Services
Marin County Fire Department
160 firefighters (full time,
seasonal, volunteer), 14
person Tamalpais Fire
Crew
Six
Seven Type 1 (two reserves),
12 Type 3 (5 reserves), one
Type 4, one ECV, one
transport/bulldozer, three
water tenders, four
ambulances/medic
Four Fire Detection
Cameras, two
Lookout Towers
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 6
Personnel Fire Stations Fire Apparatus Additional
Equipment/Services
Novato Fire Protection District
76 (60 emergency
response personnel, 15
administrative personnel,
one fire mechanic)
Five stations, one
administrative
office building,
one training
tower
Seven Type 1 ALS (2
reserve), two Type 3 ALS,
one OES Type 1, four ALS
ambulances (two first out,
one cross staffed and one
reserve), one ALS aerial
ladder truck , one water
tender
Weather station,
thermal imaging
cameras
Kentfield Fire Protection District
20 firefighters (full time,
seasonal, volunteer) One Three Type 1, one ladder
truck , two utility units N/A
Bolinas Fire Protection District
21 firefighters (full time,
part time, seasonal,
volunteer)
One Two Type 1, one Type 3, one
MCI trailer N/A
Stinson Beach Fire Protection District
5 personnel (30
volunteers) One
Two Type 1, one Type 3, one
water tender, one BLS
ambulance, two command
vehicles
San Rafael Fire Department
72 line personnel (full
time), 10
administrative/prevention
personnel
Seven
Nine Type 1 (two reserve),
one Type 3, two ladder
trucks, four medic
ambulances, one hose
tender, five utility units,
three BC command vehicles
Eight thermal
imaging cameras
Ross Valley Department
32 personnel (full time) Four Four Type 1 (three reserves),
one Type 3
Tiburon Fire Protection District
43 personnel (full time,
volunteer) Two
Four Type 1, one Type 3, one
rescue, one fireboat, one
medic ambulance
Three thermal
imaging cameras
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 7
Personnel Fire Stations Fire Apparatus Additional
Equipment/Services
Corte Madera Fire Department
26 personnel (full time,
reserves) Two
Three Type 1 (one reserve),
two ambulances (one
reserve), two command
vehicles (one truck, one
SUV), three utility vehicles
(two trucks, one SUV)
Mill Valley Fire Department
35 personnel (25 full
time, 10 volunteer) Two
Three Type 1 (one reserve),
one Type 3, one ALS
ambulance, three command
vehicles, two utility trucks
Larkspur Fire Department
17 personnel (full time) Two
Three Type 1 (one reserve),
one Type 3, one water
tender – Type 1 tactical
Marinwood Fire Protection District
31 firefighters (11 full
time, 20 volunteer) One Two Type 1, one Type 3,
utility truck
Southern Marin Fire Protection District
53 (6 administrative, 47
emergency response) Two
Four Type 1 (1 reserve), one
Type 3, two ALS
ambulances, one heavy
rescue, one ladder truck,
two Battalion Chief vehicles,
three utility trucks, three
staff vehicles
One boat, one dive
tender unit, one IRB,
CAL OES water
rescue resources
(IRB and RWC)
1.2 Agency Coordination
In addition to the CAL FIRE contract, Marin County has a well-organized local mutual aid system,
based on the principles of resource sharing and cooperation with a goal of providing the public with
the highest level of service that no one agency is equipped to provide. These agreements include
resources from all fire agencies, law enforcement, volunteer fire departments, the OES, the National
Park Service (NPS), CAL FIRE, and local landowners. Table 4 lists the mutual aid agreements/plans
and assistance-for-hire agreements. Mutual aid agreements are agreements among emergency
responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries to supplement the resources of any
fire agency during a period of actual or potential need.
● ● ● County Overview
● ● ● 8
Table 4. Mutual aid agreements/plans and assistance-for-hire agreements.
Mutual Aid Agreements and Plans
Countywide Mutual Threat Zone Plan
Marin Sonoma County Mutual Threat Zone Plan
Marin County Mutual Aid Agreement
County of Marin Urban Search and Rescue
County of Marin Office of Emergency Services
State of California Master Mutual Aid
North Bay Incident Management Team
Assistance-for-Hire Agreements
Marin Municipal Water District
Skywalker Ranch Fire Brigade
National Park Service in the areas of Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden
Gate National Recreation Area, and Muir Woods National Monument
The ECC has been maintained by MCFD since the 1930s and serves as an independent dispatch
center. The ECC receives, disseminates, and transmits information to field units, and has the
additional responsibility to act in a supervisory role for incidents prior to the arrival of field units. The
ECC also acts as the central ordering point for all state resources that are committed to SRA incidents
in the county, and for Region II California Office of Emergency Services requests and OES
coordination of local government fire resources entering or leaving the county operational area. The
ECC processes approximately 4,500 calls annually, and is also responsible for handling all business
calls received by the department. In 2015, the ECC upgraded to a new Computer Aided Dispatch
(CAD) system to improve response coordination with all units.
The Communications Division of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office operates the Marin County Public
Safety Communications Center, which is located in the Sheriff ’s Office Headquarters in San Rafael.
The center provides service to the Sheriff’s Office, five police departments, nine fire departments, six
paramedic service areas, the Marin County Department of Public Works, and many other city and
county government service departments. The center is the primary 9-1-1 public safety answering
point for all unincorporated areas of the county, as well as Mill Valley, Belvede re, Sausalito, Larkspur,
Corte Madera, San Anselmo, and Tiburon.4
4 http://marinsheriff.org/about.aspx?gi_id=5
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1.3 Population and Housing
According to the most recent census data, the population of Marin County is approximately 261,000,5
with 87% of people living in LRA , 12% living in SRA, and 1% living in FRA. Table 5 shows the
population distribution in Marin County by city or town.
Table 5. Population distribution by city or town and surrounding area.
City, Town, or Community Population % County Total
San Rafael 59,237 23%
Novato 55,005 21%
Mill Valley 14,403 6%
San Anselmo 12,676 5%
Larkspur 12,325 5%
Tamalpais -Homestead Valley 10,735 4%
Corte Madera 9,916 4%
Tiburon 9,224 4%
Fairfax 7,638 3%
Sausalito 7,135 3%
Kentfield 6,485 3%
Lucas Valley-Marinwood 6,094 2%
Strawberry 5,393 2%
Santa Venetia 4,292 2%
Marin City 2,666 1%
Ross 2,483 1%
Sleepy Hollow 2,384 1%
Belvedere 2,129 1%
Lagunitas-Forest Knolls 1,819 1%
Bolinas 1,620 1%
Woodacre 1,348 1%
Black Point-Green Point 1,306 1%
Inverness 1,304 1%
Point Reyes Station, Alto, Stinson Beach, San
Geronimo, Muir Beach, Dillon Beach, Tomales, Nicasio 3,530 2%
Total 241,147 95%
Note: the remaining 5% of the county’s population lives in rural areas outside of the cities and towns listed in this table.
5 Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014; Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division,
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
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Most of the towns and cities in Marin County are “built-out,” resulting in modest levels of new
development. However, some future residential development is expected on the hillsides of the San
Geronimo Valley, and in Lucas Valley, Nicasio, and Point Reyes Station. In addition, as the value of
parcels increases, more lots along the Throckmorton Ridge and Panoramic Highway are being
developed.
1.3.1 Population Flux
An important consideration from a fire planning and emergency response perspective is the tourist
population and temporal shifts in the transient population during the summer fire season,
particularly in the western coastal areas. On warm days during the summer, the transient tourist
population more than doubles as people come to the county’s parks, beaches, and recreation areas.
There is often heavy traffic on roadways to and from west Marin County and along Highway 1.
Consideration of the tourist population flux is important for planning strategic fuels treatment
projects, reducing potential ignition sources, and allocating emergency response personnel.
1.4 Land Ownership
Land owners and vegetation managers in Marin County are some of the key stakeholders in the
CWPP development process. Land ownership in Marin County is quite diverse and includes federal,
state, local (county), and private property owners; Tabl e 6 shows the distribution of land ownership in
the county.
Table 6. Distribution of land ownership in Marin County.
Land Owner Percent
Ownership
Private 56%
National Park Service 24%
Marin Municipal Water District 6%
County Open Space District 5%
State Parks 4%
Other Parksa 5%
Total 100%
a Includes land controlled by municipalities and school districts, Army Corps, California
Department of Agriculture, California Fish & Wildlife, North Marin Water District, and private
organizations.
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1.5 Natural Resources
1.5.1 Biodiversity
Marin County has a wide variety of plants including several rare or locally endemic species. The
landscape provides a range of elevations, aspects, soil types, and moisture levels that support
savannas, grasslands, oak-bay woodlands, chaparral, redwood forests, and wetlands.
Rare, threatened, or endangered species (both plants and animals) are present in Marin County.
Extensive information about vegetation and their habitats is included in the Marin County Parks and
Open Space District’s (MCOSD) Vegetation and Biodiversity Management Plan. The county has critical
habitats for the following list of special-status or locally rare species—see the Vegetation and
Biodiversity Management Plan (May & Associates Inc., 2015) for Latin names:
• Wildlife (birds) – Cooper’s hawk, sharp shinned hawk, white-tailed kite, grasshopper sparrow,
northern spotted owl, olive-sided flycatcher, brant, northern harrier, San Francisco common
yellowthroat, California black rail, snowy egret, osprey, California clapper rail, Samuel’s song
sparrow, California horned lark, yellow warbler, burrowing owl, Sacramento splittail, California
black rail, golden eagle, Virginia rail, San Pablo song sparrow
• Wildlife (fish, frogs) – coho salmon, central California coast steelhead, Chinook salmon,
California red-legged frog (a threatened species)
• Wildlife (other) – pallid bat, American badger, salt marsh harvest mouse, land snail
• Broadleaf herbaceous annuals and perennials – indigo bush, coast ground cone, Tiburon
buckwheat, Mt. Tamalpais jewelflower, Brewer’s redmaids, Hooker’s tobacco brush, silver
lupine (host plant of mission blue butterfly), coast rhododendron, marsh milk vetch,
Humboldt Bay owl’s clover, Point Reyes bird’s beak, bent-flowered fiddleneck, Mt. Tamalpais
manzanita, Mt. Tamalpais lessingia, common manzanita, Brewer’s claytonia, Van Houtte’s
columbine, serpentine reedgrass, St. Helena morning glory, Calistoga navarettia, rough leaf
aster, needle-leaved yellow linanthus, coast piperia, California lace fern, bristly linanthus,
Wallace spike -moss, marsh zigadenus, Oakland star tulip, Mt. Tamalpais thistle, Marin dwarf
flax, Marin County navarettia, Santa Cruz microseris, coast rock crest, California bottlebrush
grass, California fremontia, Durango root, bristly leptosiphon, wind poppy, San Francisco gum
plant, San Francisco leafy fleabane, black sage, tufted eschscholzia, wooly headed lessingia,
fragrant fritillary, Baker’s navarettia, streamside daisy, featherleaf navarettia, Lobb’s buttercup,
Tiburon indian paintbrush, Tiburon jewelflower, California grass of Parnassus, Tiburon
mariposa lily, Santa Cruz clover, pitted onion, long-rayed brodiaea, serpentine coyote mint
Challenges to Marin County’s biodiversity include controlling and eliminating invasive species
because they displace native plants and can change ecosystem functions. Small shrubs are
particularly hard to control because they may be widely distributed spatially. In addition to displacing
native species, some invasive shrubs can form a dense understory beneath forest canopies, and
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could alter fire behavior and severity. Invasive trees, shrubs, plants, and grasses in Marin County
include:
• Trees – acacia, blue gum eucalyptus, Monterey cypress, Monterey pine
• Shrubs – cotoneaster, French broom, Himalayan blackberry, Pride of Madeira, Scotch broom,
Spanish broom
• Plants – Bullthistle, purple starthistle, wooly distaff thistle, yellow starthistle, fennel, highway
iceplant (also known as Hottentot fig), perennial pepperweed (also known as tall whitetop),
puncture vine, stinkwort, thoroughwort (also known as eupatorium)
• Perennial Grasses – cordgrass, erect veldtgrass, Fescue, Harding grass, jubata grass/pampas
grass, velvet grass
• Annual Grasses – barbed goatgrass, Italian wildrye, medusahead, rattlesnake grass, wild oats
1.5.2 Watersheds and Water Districts
There are more than 21,000 acres of protected watershed land on Mt. Tamalpais and in the west
Marin hills, including seven reservoirs, which provide 75% of the water for central and southern
Marin. The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) was founded in 1912 and manages the
watershed land in central and southern Marin, including the seven reservoirs. The MMWD watershed
has 92 miles of roads, 59 miles of trails,
and a network of wildfire protection fuel
breaks. Access and use of the lands by
the public is limited to protect the natural
landscape. During extreme fire weather
conditions, such as Red Flag Warnings
and other emergencies, vehicle access is
limited on MMWD land.6
The North Marin Water District (NMWD),7
founded in 1948, is an independent
special district in the northern portion of
the county and operates under the
authority of Division 12 of the California
Water Code. NMWD provides water service to the greater Novato area and to areas of West Marin
(Point Reyes Station, Olema, Bear Valley, Inverness Park and Paradise Ranch Estates). NMWD
purchases approximately 80% of its Novato water supply from the Sonoma County Water Agency,
with the remaining 20% derived from the District’s Stafford Lake Reservoir (located in Marin County
just west of Novato) and recycled water (Bentley and Landeros, 2015).
6 https://www.marinwater.org/27/About
7 “Bon Tempe Lake” (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dbaron/9388923977/) by David Baron
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/dbaron/) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode). No
changes were made to this image.
Photo by David Baron7
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1.6 Marin County’s Wildland Urban Interface
The WUI zone map used throughout this CWPP was assembled using geographic information system
(GIS) data layers acquired from the Marin County GIS web portal, MarinMap.8 The WUI zone helps
inform decisions on where to focus vegetation management and fuel reduction projects. The WUI
zone determination is also a major
component of MCFD’s Strategic Fire Plan
(Marin County Fire Department, 2015),
which in turn is part of CAL FIRE’s
Strategic Fire Plan.
Homes and structures located anywhere
in and around the WUI are at a higher risk
for exposure to wildland fire. Fire can
spread rapidly throughout WUI areas
through adjacent structures and/or
vegetation, or by ember dispersion.
Property owners in the WUI have a
responsibility to prepare their property
for structure defense by providing adequate defensible space and complying with WUI building
codes and ordinances (see Section 7).9 The WUI boundaries for Marin County were determined based
on areas with high structure density and proximity to areas with a high density of burnable fuels.
8 http://www.marinmap.org/Html5Viewer/Index.html?viewer=mmdataviewer&Run=WUILayerON&ServiceId=13&LayerName=U
rban%20Wildland%20Interface&extent=5950502.26733493,2207544.30421775,5994476.00578578,2244189.08626013
9 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=prc&group=04001-05000&file=4291-4299
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Figure 4 shows Marin County’s WUI boundaries overlaid with population density ; as shown in the
figure, much of the county’s population resides in or near the WUI.
Figure 4. Population density in and around Marin County’s WUI.
Unincorporated rural areas within the county include the coastal communities of Muir Beach, Stinson
Beach, and Bolinas; communities near Tomales Bay including Olema, Point Reyes Station, Inverness,
Inverness Park, Marshall, Tomales, and Dillon Beach;
and rural areas in the interior valleys including Nicasio,
Lagunitas, Forest Knolls, San Geronimo, and Woodacre.
These communities are primarily situated within or
adjacent to the WUI, with moderate to dense
concentrations of structures. Marin County has
approximately 60,000 acres of WUI adjacent to 200,000
acres of watershed. Response times in these
communities present significant challenges to keeping
fires from directly impacting the communities and sub-
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divisions (especially those within the SRA) as emergency fire access and evacuation egress is limited
by narrow, winding roads lined with dense vegetation.
1.7 Roads and Streets
In Marin County, cul-de-sacs generally service
new housing developments and most of the
smaller canyons, valleys, and hillsides. Some
planned unit developments are served by
privately-maintained roads, which create
access issues (i.e., narrow paved widths and
limited on-street parking). According to
California Fire Code specifications, roadways
that are considered hazardous in terms of fire
access and protection are those with
• less than 20 feet of unobstructed
paved surface and 13.6 vertical feet;
• dead-ends longer than 800 feet, and;
• cul-de-sac diameter less than 68 feet.
Driveways that are less than 16 feet wide or that do not have adequate turnaround space are also
considered hazardous. A large number of roadways and driveways in many of Marin County’s
communities fall into one or more of the above categories.
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2. Fire Environment
The mix of weather, diverse vegetation and fuel characteristics, complex topography, and land use
and development patterns in Marin County are important contributors to the fire environment. The
MCFD Woodacre ECC currently manages data from four Remote Automated Weather Stations
(RAWS) for predicting fire danger utilizing the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) during
the fire season. The RAWS are located in Woodacre, Middle Peak, Barnabe, and Big Rock , and a new
station in Novato will be coming online soon.
2.1 Weather
Marin County is bounded by the
cool waters of the Pacific Ocean to
the west, the San Francisco and
Richardson Bays to the southeast,
the San Pablo Bay to the east, and
Sonoma County agricultural lands
to the north. The combination of
these large bodies of water,
location in the mid-latitudes, and
the persistent high pressure over
the eastern Pacific Ocean results in
several micro-climates. Weather in
the county consists of warm, dry
summers and cool, wet winters. The
climate in early fall and late spring
is generally similar to the summer, and late fall is similar to winter. Spring is generally cool, but not as
wet as the winter. While these general weather conditions are fairly representative of the typical
Marin County weather, complex topography, annual variability of weather patterns, and less frequent
and transient weather patterns are important to fire conditions.
Summer Weather Conditions
In the late spring through early fall, the combination of frequent and strong high-pressure systems
(known as the Pacific High) over California combined with the cool waters of the ocean/bays results
in persistent fog and low clouds along the coast (including over southern Marin County near the San
Francisco Bay). The fog often penetrates into the inland valleys of northern and central Marin County,
especially during overnight hours. At the coastline, mist from fog can keep the land surfaces
modestly moist while inland land surfaces above the fog or inversion are often very dry.
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The Pacific High that persists from late spring through early fall over the eastern Pacific, combined
with a thermal low pressure over the Central Valley of California, results in an almost continuous sea
breeze. These winds usher in cool and moist air and can be strong (15 to 25 mph), especially over the
ridge tops and through northwest to southeast lying valleys, including San Geronimo/Ross, Hicks,
and Lucas Valleys. These westerly winds are usually highest in the afternoon, decrease in the evening,
and are light overnight before increasing again in the late morning/early afternoon.
Extreme Summer Weather Conditions
Occasionally in the summer and more often in the fall, the Pacific High moves inland and centers
over Oregon and Idaho, while low pressure moves from the Central Valley of California to southern
California and Arizona. The resulting north-to-south pressure gradient can be strong enough to
retard the typical sea breeze and can even result in winds blowing from the land to the ocean
(offshore winds). As the offshore winds move air from the Great Basin to the coastal areas of
California, the air descends and compresses, which greatly warms and dries the air. Under these
“Diablo” wind conditions, temperatures in Marin County can reach 100°F in the inland areas and even
80°F at the coast, and relative humidity
can be very low. In addition, wind
speeds can be high (20 to 40 mph) and
gusty, and are often much faster over
the mountains and ridge tops such as
Mt. Tamalpais, Loma Alta, and Mt.
Burdell compared to low-lying areas.
Wind speeds can be high over the
ridges and mountains at all times of
day under this “offshore” wind pattern,
and are often much slower or even
calm at night in low-lying areas
because nighttime cooling decouples
the aloft winds from the surface winds.
It is during these Diablo wind events
that there is a high potential for large,
wind-driven fires should there be an ignition. Historically, the largest and most destructive fires have
occurred during these offshore (also known as Foehn) wind events, including the Angel Island and
the Vision fires.
A few times per year in the summer and early fall, monsoonal flow from Mexico brings in moist and
unstable air over central and northern California, which can result in thunderstorms with or without
precipitation. With the otherwise dry summer conditions, the lightning can ignite fires. These
monsoonal flow patterns are usually only one to two day events.
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Winter Weather Conditions
Beginning in late November and lasting through the end of March, the Pacific High moves south and
weakens, allowing storms that originate in the Gulf of Alaska to move over California. These storms
bring precipitation and, at times, strong winds out of the south. Each storm usually results in one-
fourth inch to several inches of rain over a day or so. Near Mt. Tamalpais, rainfall amounts are
enhanced by orographic lifting, resulting in higher rain amounts in the Kentfield and Fairfax areas
compared to the rest of the county. Typically, after the first rain in November, the cool weather and
occasional storm keeps the ground wet through late Spring. However, in some years, significant rain
does not occur until later in the year (e.g., early-to-late December) and there can be several weeks
without any storms and rain. During storms, temperatures are usually mild.
When there are no storms over California, a land-breeze typically forms (i.e., winds blowing from the
Central Valley to the Pacific Ocean). These winds can reach 30 mph, and travel through the southeast
to northwest lying valleys, over low-lying ridges such as the Marin Headlands, and through the
Golden Gate. These winds are usually highest in the mid-morning hours and decrease in the
afternoon as the Central Valley warms during the day. The winds are associated with cold and
modestly moist air.
Spring Transitional Conditions
In late February/early March through late April, the Pacific High strengthens and moves north, and
storms impacting the county become less frequent. During this time of year there is often a low
pressure area over the desert in southwest California. The combination of the Pacific High to the
north and low-pressure to the southwest results in strong winds blowing from the northwest to the
southeast. Like the sea breeze, these winds bring in cool, moist air and are usually highest in the
afternoon hours. Because of winter and spring rains, the land is wet and there is little danger of
wildland fire despite the high winds and only occasional precipitation. There is often little coastal fog
this time of year.
2.2 Vegetation and Fuels Characteristics
Vegetation, which is also known as fuel, plays a
major role in fire behavior and potential fire
hazards. A fuel’s composition, including
moisture level, chemical make-up, and density,
determines its degree of flammability. Of these,
fuel moisture level is the most important
consideration. Generally, live trees contain a
great deal of moisture while dead logs contain
very little. The moisture content and
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distribution of fuels define how quickly a fire can spread and how intense or hot it may become. High
moisture content will slow the burning process since heat from the fire must first eliminate moisture.
In addition to moisture, a fuel’s chemical makeup determines how readily it will burn. Some plants,
shrubs, and trees such as chamise and eucalyptus (both present in Marin County) contain oils or
resins that promote combustion, causing them to burn more easily, quickly, and intensely. Finally, the
density of a fuel influences its flammability; when fuels are close together but not too dense, they will
ignite each other, causing the fuel to spread readily. However, if fuels are so close that air cannot
circulate easily, the fuel will not burn freely.10
Marin County has extensive topographic diversity that supports a variety of vegetation types.
Environmental factors, such as temperature, precipitation, soil type, aspect, slope, and land use
history, all help determine the existing vegetation at any given location. In the central and eastern
parts of the county, north facing slopes are usually densely wooded from lower elevations to ridge
peaks with a mixture of mostly hardwood tree species such as coast live oak, California bay, Pacific
madrone, and other oak species. Marshlands are also present throughout the county; once ignited,
marsh fires can be difficult to contain and extinguish.
Grasslands with a mixture of native and nonnative annual and perennial plant species occur most
often in the northern and western parts of the county due to a combination of soil type, lower
rainfall, and a long history of ranching. The southern and western facing slopes tend to have a higher
percentage of grasslands, which in turn have the potential to experience higher rates of fire spread.
Grassland fires are dangerous even
without extreme fire weather scenarios
due to the rapid rate of fire spread; in
some cases, fires spread so quickly that
large areas can burn before response
resources are able to arrive.
In the west portion of the county closer to
the coast, where precipitation is higher
and marine influence is greater, most
areas are densely forested with conifer
species (i.e., Bishop pine, Douglas-fir, and
coast redwood) and associated hardwood
species. Chaparral vegetation also occurs
in parts of the county, especially on
steeper south and west facing slopes. This mix of densely forested areas mixed with chaparral results
in higher fuel loads and potentially higher fire intensity. Expansion of the residential community into
areas of heavier vegetation has resulted in homes existing in close proximity to dense natural foliage;
these homes are often completely surrounded by highly combustible or tall vegetation, increasing
the potential that wildland fires could impact them.
10 http://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/learning-center/fire-in-depth/fire-behavior.cfm
● ● ● Fire Environment
● ● ● 21
As part of the development of this CWPP, an updated vegetation map layer was created using the
most recent vegetation information available from a variety of state and local data sources.
Vegetation distribution in Marin County is characterized by approximately 20 different types of
vegetation which have been classified into 15 fire behavior fuel models. Table 7 lists the fuel model
types for Marin County, while Figure 5 shows a fuel model map; the data shown was developed to
support this CWPP and represent the most up-to-date and highest-resolution vegetation coverage
information for the county. The methods used to develop the data set are described in Appendix A.
Table 7. Fuel model types for Marin County.
Scott & Burgan Fuel Model Description
and Number Acres Percent of
County Total
Moderate load, dry climate grass (104) 79,727 24%
Short, sparse, dry climate grass (101) 62,050 18%
Very high load broadleaf litter (189) 51,227 15%
Low load, humid climate timber-shrub (144) 29,637 9%
Very high load, dry climate timber-shrub (165) 29,120 9%
High load, dry climate shrub (145) 24,186 7%
Urban/developed (91) 18,714 6%
Low load compact conifer litter (181) 7,008 2%
Moderate load dry climate shrub (142) 6,308 2%
Low load, very coarse, humid climate grass (103) 6,147 2%
Very high load, dry climate shrub (147) 5,572 2%
Open water (98) 5,514 2%
Moderate load, humid climate timber-grass-shrub (163) 2,324 1%
Bare ground (99) 2,169 1%
Other 6,412 2%
Total 336,116 100%
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Figure 5. Updated high-resolution (5 x 5 meter) fuel model map for Marin County.
2.2.1 Vegetation Diseases and Infestations
Insect infestations and plant diseases, such as California oak mortality syndrome (sudden oak death),
are increasing and threaten to change the structure and overall health of native plant communities in
Marin County (May & Associates Inc., 2015). Sudden oak death has no known cure and is the biggest
concern; this syndrome is caused by the fungus-like Phytophthora ramorum, which has led to
widespread mortality of several tree species in California since the mid-1990s; the tanoak
(Lithocarpus densiflorus) in particular appears to have little or no resistance to the disease. Sudden
oak death has resulted in stands of essentially dead trees with very low fuel moistures. Studies
examining the impacts of sudden oak death on fire behavior indicate that while predicted surface fire
behavior in sudden oak death stands seems to conform to a common fuel model already in use for
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hardwood stands, the very low
moisture content of dead tanoak
leaves may lead to crown ignitions
more often during fires of “normal”
intensity (Lee, 2009).11
Two other plant diseases prevalent in
Marin County are pitch canker (which
affects conifers such as Bishop pine
and other pine species), and madrone
twig dieback (which affects Pacific
madrones). Pitch canker is caused by
the fungus Fusarium circinatum (F.
subglutinans, F. sp. pini), which enters the tree through wounds caused by insects. While some trees
do recover, most infected trees are eventually killed by the fungus. Management of this disease
largely focuses on containment to reduce the fungus spreading to other trees. Pitch canker is a
particular issue in the NPS lands of Pt. Reyes National Seashore, where many acres of young Bishop
pines that were seeded on the Inverness Ridge by the Mount Vision Fire of 1995 have been infected.
These dead and dying trees have created large swaths of land with dense and dry fuel loads.
Madrone twig dieback is caused by the native fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea, and appears to be
getting worse throughout the county due to drought effects on Pacific madrones.
Three additional threats to trees common to Marin County include:
• Bark and ambrosia beetles (Monarthrum dentiger and monarthrum scutellare), which target
oak and tanoak trees. Sudden oak death may be exacerbating the effects of beetle
infestations which prey on trees already weakened by this disease.
• Root rot, caused by oak root fungus (Armillaria mellea), is primarily associated with oaks and
other hardwoods but also attacks conifers. These fungal infestations cause canopy thinning
and branch dieback and can kill mature trees. As with the beetle infestations, sudden oak
death may be exacerbating the effects of root rot fungus in the county forests.
• Velvet-top fungus (Phaeolus schweinitzii) is a root rot fungus affecting Douglas-fir and other
conifers, with the infection typically occurring through a wound.
11 “Dead Coast Live Oak in Marin.Steve Swain[1]” (https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfsregion5/5812704230/) by the USFS Region 5
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfsregion5/) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode). No changes
were made to this image.
Photo by USFS Region 511
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2.3 Topography
Topography characterizes the land surface
features of an area in terms of elevation,
aspect, and slope. Aspect is the compass
direction that a slope faces, which can
have a strong influence on surface
temperature, and more importantly on fuel
moistures. Both elevation and aspect play
an important role in the type of vegetation
present, the length of the growing season,
and the amount of sunlight absorbed by
vegetation. Generally, southern aspects
receive more solar radiation than northern
aspects; the result is that soil and
vegetation on southern aspects is warmer
and dryer than soil and vegetation on northern aspects. Slope is a measure of land steepness and
can significantly influence fire behavior as fire tends to spread more rapidly on steeper slopes. For
example, as slope increases from 20 – 40%, flame heights can double and rates of fire spread can
increase fourfold; from 40 – 60%, flame heights can become three times higher and rates of spread
can increase eightfold.12
Marin County is topographically diverse, with rolling hills, valleys and ridges that trend from
northwest to southeast. Elevation throughout the county varies considerably, with Mt. Tamalpais’
peak resting at 2,574 feet above sea level and many communities at or near sea level.
Correspondingly, there is considerable diversity in slope percentages. The San Geronimo Valley
slopes run from level (in the valley itself) to near 70%. Mt. Barnabe has slopes that run from 20 to
70%, and Throckmorton ridge has slopes that range in steepness from 40 – 100%. These slope
changes can make fighting fires extremely difficult.
2.4 Fire History
In the time before the county was settled, fire was a natural part of the ecosystem. Much of the
vegetation in what is now the wildlands of Marin County depended on fire to renew itself by
removing old, dead fuel in order to make room for healthy new vegetation and promote the growth
of native plant species. Once the land was settled, businessmen, landowners, and homeowners had
an interest in protecting the natural assets of Marin County and their own investments. Uncontrolled
fires had already burned large tracts in the past and valuable lumber, structures, and field crops had
12 Adapted from the S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior course material (National Wildfire Coordinating Group,
http://training.nwcg.gov/courses/s290.html)
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been destroyed. A series of fires that
occurred in the late 1800s prompted the
organization of the first fire departments in
Marin County around the turn of the
century.13
Since then, national fire suppression
policies and practices (among other
factors) have contributed to the continuous
growth (and overgrowth) of vegetation
resulting in dangerous fuel density, or fuel
loads. Combined with this fuel
accumulation, the public have been
building homes closer and closer to wildlands, which is creating the WUI fire issues that are now
present in many parts of Marin County and the country.
Throughout its history, Marin County has experienced many wildland fires. Figure 6 shows a map of
large fires that have occurred in Marin’s WUI.
13 Adapted from http://www.marincounty.org/depts/fr/divisions/administration/history/1910
● ● ● Fire Environment
● ● ● 26
Figure 6. Map of large fires that have occurred in Marin County’s WUI.
The most recent Marin County fire that resulted in significant structure loss was the Vision Fire in
1995, which destroyed 48 structures in the community of Inverness. In 1929, the base of Mt.
Tamalpais —specifically the community of Mill Valley—experienced a significant fire known as the
Great Mill Valley Fire. That fire’s footprint is now developed with more than 1,100 homes (valued at
$1.3 billion) which have significantly altered the natural vegetation through urban and suburban
development.
2.5 Ignition History
Ignition data for all authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) were acquired and analyzed to evaluate
ignition trends within the county. Figure 7 and Table 8 present the fire statistics for the county from
1972 through 2014. Figure 8 shows a map of the ignition history for all AHJ for 2002 through 2011,
classified by ignition category.
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● ● ● 27
Figure 7. Fire statistics for Marin County from 1974 through 2014.
Table 8. Fire cause and size classification references.
Cause Class Cause Class
Reference Size Class (acres) Size Class
Reference
Lightning 1 0 - 0.25 A
Vehicles, Powerlines, Equipment Use 2 0.26 - 9.9 B
Smoking 3 10 - 99.9 C
Campfire 4 100 - 299 D
Debris Burning 5 300 - 999 E
Railroad 6 1000 - 4999 F
Arson 7 5000+ G
Accidental, Playing with Fire 8
Miscellaneous, Unknown, Undetermined 9
Figure 7 identifies the significant wildfire ignition sources and fire sizes over the 42-year ignition
history. Cause and size classes refer to uniform federal, state, and local fire cause and size
classifications, which are shown in Table 8.
● ● ● Fire Environment
● ● ● 28
Figure 8. Map of ignition history data for all AHJ in Marin County from 2002 through 2011.
Recent research indicates higher summer temperatures will likely increase the annual window of high
fire risk. Future changes in fire frequency and severity are difficult to predict; however, regional
climate change associated with elevated greenhouse gas concentrations could alter large weather
patterns and produce conditions conducive to extreme fire behavior. A warmer climate will bring
drier winters, higher spring temperatures, and early snowmelt. Combined with drought conditions,
this leads to drier soils in early summer, drier vegetation, and an increase in the number of days in
the year with flammable fuels, all which further raise the likelihood of fires.14 Fuel and vegetation
treatments will be challenging to implement at spatial scales large enough to make a difference,
especially if the number of wildfires increase greatly in the future; still, fuel and vegetation treatments
can enhance resilience in areas with high resource and economic values such as the WUI.
14 http://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/wildland-fire
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3. Collaboration
A key requirement when developing a CWPP is stakeholder and community involvement and
collaboration. A CWPP provides a mechanism for obtaining community input and identifying high
risk areas, possible fire hazards, and potential projects intended to mitigate areas of concern and fire
hazard. This Plan integrated this community-focused approach through a number of public and
stakeholder meetings and is intended to provide the community a forum for identifying assets and
communities at risk from wildfire.
Stakeholder input and review was actively sought throughout the development of this CWPP. The
information contained in this plan is a reflection of county stakeholders and the public working
together to develop a living document that can be used over the next 5 to 10 years to implement the
recommended action plan described in Section 8. In addition to feedback from elected officials and
public citizens throughout Marin County’s cities and towns, Table 9 lists the stakeholders comprised
of fire agencies, land management agencies, utility operators, homeowners associations, FIRESafe
MARIN, and other private and public entities that participated in this CWPP process.
Table 9. Participants in this CWPP process.
Public, Private, and Volunteer Fire Agencies and Associations
Marin County Fire
Department
Ross Valley Fire
Department
San Rafael Fire
Department
Southern Marin Fire
Protection District
Tiburon Fire Protection
District
Corte Madera Fire
Department
Larkspur Fire
Department Marinwood Fire Department
Mill Valley Fire
Department
Novato Fire Protection
District
Bolinas Fire Protection
District
Stinson Beach Fire
Protection District
Inverness Public Utilities
District
Nicasio Volunteer Fire
Department CAL FIRE Skywalker Ranch Fire
Brigade
Muir Beach Volunteer
Fire Department
Kentfield Fire Protection
District
Tomales Volunteer Fire
Department
Marin County Fire Chiefs
Association (Mark Heine,
Pres.)
Land Management Agencies
National Park Service Marin Municipal Water
District
Marin County Parks and
Open Space District California State Parks
Private Groups and Foundations
Pacific Gas and Electric North Bay Conservation Corps
Homeowners Associations
Homeowners Associations
throughout Marin County
West Marin ranch and agricultural
landowners Large private landowners
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3.1 FIRESafe MARIN
FIRESafe MARIN (FSM), Marin County’s Fire Safe Council, promotes public and private partnerships to
enhance wildfire safety and build Firewise Communities.15 FSM is a nonprofit organization with the
dual mission of reducing wildland fire hazards and improving fire-safety awareness in Marin County.
FSM receives significant investments through CAL FIRE SRA Grants, PG&E Grants, other state and
federal entities, and private donations. This CWPP work was funded through a CAL FIRE SRA grant to
FSM.
3.2 Fire Agencies
To engage local fire departments and agencies in the CWP P process, a stakeholder meeting was held
specifically for fire chiefs representing all fire departments in the county. The meeting was held on
August 20, 2015, from 9:00-11:30 a.m. at the Novato Fire District administrative office. Meeting
attendance included at least one representative from each department or district in Marin County.
The format of the meeting included a brief presentation by the CWPP team followed by a question
and answer session. During this meeting, the fire chiefs were asked to identify the areas of concern
and hazard mitigation projects within their jurisdictions (see Figure 9 in Section 4.1.1). This
information was processed for use in developing this CWPP.
3.3 Land Management Agencies
To en gage Marin’s land management agencies, three stakeholder meetings were held. The format of
the meetings included a brief CWPP project update followed by a question and answer session. Each
land management agency was asked to provide information regarding areas of concern and hazard
mitigation projects within their jurisdictions. This information was processed for use in developing
this CWPP.
The cities within Marin County, along with land management agencies, work to reduce fire hazards as
directed by their management and planning documents. Planning is driven by the goals of protecting
natural habitat and special species while managing the growth of invasive species. Management
strategies can be challenging and require interagency cooperation and collaboration in fuel break
and fuel reduction areas. Emphasis during fuel treatment planning will need to consider how to
minimize the introduction, spread, and removal of invasive species. Agencies within Marin County
include:
15 The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) established the Firewise Communities Program to encourage local fire safety
solutions by involving homeowners to take individual responsibility for preparing their homes for the risks of wildfires. The Firewise
program uses their website (http://www.firewise.org/) to provide information and promotes ways to keep homes from igniting.
● ● ● Collaboration
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• National Park Service – works under the guidance of a Fire Management Plan (FMP) which
has gone through the federal environmental compliance process. The FMP’s priority is to
increase the reduction of hazardous fuels in high priority areas using prescribed fire and
mechanical treatments (e.g., along road corridors, around structures, and in strategic areas to
create fuel breaks).
• Marin Municipal Water District – currently operates under the Mt. Tamalpais Area Vegetation
Management Plan (VMP). The MMWD released its draft Wildfire Protection and Habitat
Improvement Plan in August 2012 (Leonard Charles and Associates, 2012).
• Marin County Parks and Open Space District – released its draft Vegetation and Biodiversity
Management Plan (VBMP) in April 2015 to direct resource management efforts on the
county’s 34 preserves to maintain and increase biodiversity while reducing the risk of wildfire
(May & Associates Inc., 2015). MCOSD manages nearly 16,000 acres including an extensive
network of approximately 249 miles of roads and trails. A significant portion of MCOSD’s
preserves are adjacent to private homes, structures, and evacuation routes; consequently, a
great deal of effort is involved in working with neighbors and other local agencies to resolve
disputes over responsibility for fuel reduction and defensible space.
• CA State Parks – reviews all proposed fuel breaks and vegetation modification zones for
environmental impacts. The impacts of greatest concern are the spread and proliferation of
invasive species and the cost of invasive management in the fuel reduction zones,
fragmentation of suitable habitat for native species, impacts to listed and special status
species, and sediment issues associated with an increase in bare soil. In lieu of installing fuel
breaks, the State Parks work with MCFD on vegetation modification zones to reduce fire
hazards. Vegetation modification areas were completed to State Parks specifications to meet
the goals of fuel reduction while minimizing environmental impacts. State Parks treat many
fuel modification zones due to increases in invasive plant infestations in the locations where
vegetation modification has been employed.
• Marin Audubon Society – established in 1956 as part of the effort to prevent development
of houses on Richardson Bay tidelands. The Marin Audubon Society (MAS) was one of the
founders of Audubon Canyon Ranch, and was instrumental in protecting Bothin Marsh in Mill
Valley and the Marin Islands National Wildlife Refuge in San Rafael, which supports the
largest heron rookery in San Francisco Bay. MAS restores wetlands on its properties and then
donates many of them to the California Department of Fish and Game and the Marin County
Open Space District.16
3.4 Community Stakeholders
To capture the issues and concerns of private land and homeowners, neighborhood groups, civic
organizations, professional organizations, and environmental groups, a series of public meetings
16 http://www.marinaudubon.org/about.php#mission
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were conducted in four regions of the county: Mill Valley (southern Marin County); Pt. Reyes (west
Marin County); San Anselmo (central Marin County); and Novato (northern Marin County). The
meetings were publicized through local fire departments and agencies, the FSM website, county
websites, and print media, and email invitations were sent to several hundred individuals and groups.
Table 10 lists the public meeting dates, times, and locations.
Table 10. Marin County CWPP public meeting dates, time, and locations.
Date and time Location
October 12, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Mill Valley Community Center, Mountain View Room
October 13, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Pt. Reyes Bear Valley Visitors Center, Red Barn Room
October 14, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m. San Anselmo, City Council Chambers
October 15, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Novato, City Hall
The meeting format consisted of a brief presentation (approximately 20 minutes) conducted by
various members of the CWPP team and included an overview of the purpose of preparing a CWPP,
the CWPP process, and Marin’s
fire history. The remaining 60-
70 minutes included a question
and answer session managed
by the CWPP team to ensure
that participants had an
opportunity to voice their
concerns. The concerns and
ideas expressed during the
public meetings were captured
in meeting notes. Public
concerns regarding fire hazards
were fairly consistent
throughout the county, and
Table 11 includes a summary of
these concerns.
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Table 11. Summary of the public’s concerns regarding fire hazards throughout Marin County.
Concerns Suggestions
Evacuation routes
- Prioritize evacuation routes for fuel reduction programs
- Develop traffic congestion controls along evacuation routes
- Implement stronger parking enforcement along evacuation routes
- Continue to maintain foot trail network in Mill Valley
- Implement maintenance program for foot trail network in Fairfax
- Encourage community-level drills for evacuation preparedness
- Consider if additional vegetation reduction are required from roadways
that are key evacuation routes into or out of a particular neighborhood
Defensible space
- Increase the number of annual inspections
- Increase enforcement
- Consider providing defensible space financial assistance for seniors
- Increase chipper programs
Cooperation with large
land managers/owners
- Provide a collaboration mechanism between private property owners
(and Home Owners Associations) and large land owners (i.e., MCOSD,
MMWD, NPS)
- Consider the creation of transition zones (areas between developed
residential areas and open space areas) where additional defensible space
or additional vegetation clearance is needed
Absentee property
owners
- Better enforce defensible space compliance with absentee property owners
- Develop a program to address fuel reduction on vacant properties
Fuel reduction - Consider grazing as a fuel reduction strategy
Increased use of
technology for fire
protection
- Develop an App for Marin County evacuation routes
- Consider ways to improve the coverage of the fire detection cameras
- Consider ways to use drone technology for fire protection
Public
Education/Outreach
- Develop and distribute more information about fire resistant landscaping
- Create a fire blog
Tree removal - Consider how to make the tree removal process less cumbersome and less
expensive
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4. Hazard, Asset, Risk Assessment
Approach
Wildfire threat can be defined as the result of an analysis of potential fire behavior and the likelihood
of fire to occur relative to the assets (or communities) at risk. CAL FIRE is required by law to map
areas of significant fire hazards based on fuels, terrain, weather, and other relevant factors. These
zones, referred to as Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), influence how people construct buildings
and protect property to reduce risk associated with wildland fires. The maps were last updated in the
mid-1980s and early 1990s, and are currently being updated by CAL FIRE to incorporate improved
fire science, data, and mapping techniques (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
2007).
While the CAL FIRE FHSZ maps are useful in examining potential fire hazard severity at the state-
level, the underlying data and methods used to develop the FHSZ maps can be improved upon by
using local (and more recent) fuel characteristics and improved fire modeling methods. The CAL FIRE
FHSZ maps also do not take into account local perspectives and priorities regarding communities at
risk and areas of concern.
To improve upon the currently available state-level fire hazard assessment information, an
independent hazard, asset, risk assessment was performed to help identify and prioritize areas within
the county that are potentially at a high threat from wildfire based on more recent fuels data,
advanced modeling techniques, and local input. The assessment was performed by modeling
potential fire behavior and the probability or likelihood that an area will burn given an ignition. Next,
the fire modeling output was combined with areas of concern and assets at risk. Composite maps
were generated indicating relative potential fire hazards throughout the county.
4.1 Assets at Risk
Assets at risk are defined as structures and resources that can be damaged or destroyed by wildland
fire. Assets in Marin County include real estate (homes and businesses), emergency communication
facilities, transportation and utility infrastructure, watersheds, protected wildlands, tourist and
recreation areas, and agricultural lands. In addition to providing a framework for protecting citizens
and providing for firefighter safety, the California Fire Plan identifies the following assets warranting
consideration in pre-fire planning: watersheds and water; wildlife; habitat; special status plants and
animals; scenic, cultural and historic areas; recreation; rangeland; structures; infrastructure; and air
quality.
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There are approximately 111,000 living units in
Marin County with a median home value of
approximately $1 million (Mara, 2015). As many
homes in the county are located in the WUI, if a
major wildland fire were to result in the loss of
many homes, it could have a short-term negative
impact on Marin County’s property tax base.
The Mt. Tamalpais watershed supplies central and
southern Marin County with 75% of their fresh
water. Given the area’s seasonal rainfall, any
major wildfire impacting the heavily forested watershed will result in major silting and subsequent
degradation of water quantity and quality in the watershed. This watershed—as well as the lands
managed by MCOSD, state parks, and NPS—are largely contiguous. They harbor several endangered,
threatened, and special-status species, including the coho salmon and northern spotted owl. The
area is also part of a major migrating bird flyway and nesting area.17
Marin County is also a major tourist destination. Major parks within Marin County include California
State Parks (Mt. Tamalpais, Samuel P. Taylor, and China Cam p), NPS’s GGNRA, Muir Woods National
Monument, and Point Reyes National Seashore. The Point Reyes National Seashore and Muir Woods
National Monument together attract 3.5 million visitors annually. The GGNRA, a majority of which
resides within Marin County, attracts an additional 14.9 million visitors per year and contributes an
estimated $365.2 million annually to the economy (Prado, 2016). A major wildfire affecting any of
these parks could have negative impacts on the local economy for years after the event.
Finally, Marin County’s agricultural land base includes nearly
137,000 acres of privately owned agriculturally zoned land
and 32,000 acres of federally-owned land that is leased to
agricultural operators. Agricultural operations include
livestock and livestock products; aquaculture; field crops;
and fruit, vegetable, and nursery crops. The gross value of all
agricultural production was approximately $101 million in
2014 (Marin County Department of Agriculture, 2014).
To help protect people and property from potential
catastrophic wildfire, the National Fire Plan identifies communities that are at high risk of damage
from wildfire. These high risk communities identified within the WUI were published in the Federal
Register in 2001. In California, CAL FIRE has the responsibility for managing the list.18 With
17 “Mt Tamalpais Watershed from Mt Tamalpais summit”
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelvieira/2440494686/in/photostream/) by Miquel Vieira
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelvieira/) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode). No
changes were made to this image.
18 National Fire Plan Communities at Risk List, http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/fireplan/fireplanning_communities_at_risk (last accessed
February 3, 2016)
Photo by Miquel Vieira17
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● ● ● 37
California's extensive WUI situation, the list of communities extends beyond just those adjacent to
Federal lands; there are 1,329 communities currently on the California Communities at Risk List.
Marin County has 23 of these at risk communities, as shown in Table 12. A countywide assessment of
the wildland fire threat undertaken by CAL FIRE revealed that nearly 313,000 acres (approximately
82% of the total land area of the county) are ranked as having moderate to very high fire hazard
severity zone ratings.
Table 12. Marin County communities at risk and fire district jurisdiction.
Community Fire Department/District
Bolinas Bolinas Fire Protection District
Corte Madera Corte Madera Fire Department
Fairfax Ross Valley Fire Department
Inverness Inverness Fire Department
Inverness Park Inverness Fire Department
Kentfield Kentfield Fire Protection District
Lagunitas-Forest Knolls Marin County Fire Department
Larkspur Larkspur Fire Department
Lucas Valley-Marinwood Marinwood Fire Department
Marin City Marin County Fire Department
Mill Valley Mill Valley Fire Department
Novato Novato Fire Protection District
Olema Marin County Fire Department
Ross Ross Valley Fire Department
San Anselmo Ross Valley Fire Department
San Rafael San Rafael Fire Department
Santa Venetia San Rafael Fire Department
Sausalito Southern Marin Fire Protection District
Stinson Beach Stinson Beach Fire Protection District
Strawberry Southern Marin Fire Protection District
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley Southern Marin Fire Protection District
Tiburon Tiburon Fire Protection District
Woodacre Marin County Fire Department
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4.1.1 Areas of Concern
One of the objectives in developing this CWPP was to compile and begin to prioritize a list of hazard
reduction strategies and projects throughout the county. As part of the CWPP process, fire
departments, land management agencies, and other stakeholders were asked to identify and provide
information about the areas they are most concerned about within their jurisdictions. Not
surprisingly, almost all of the areas identified by stakeholders fall within Marin’s WUI boundary.
Figure 9 shows a map of the areas of concern identified by stakeholder agencies.
Figure 9. Map of the areas of concern identified by stakeholder agencies in Marin County.
4.1.2 Fire Road and Fuelbreak Networks
Historically, fuel reduction efforts have focused on maintaining Marin’s main fire road and fuel break
networks that extend from the shore of the San Francisco Bay in Sausalito to Lagunitas. This network
of fire roads and fuel breaks generally follows ridge top emergency access roads and incorporates
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● ● ● 39
natural (existing grassland) or human-made features (e.g., golf course). In addition, there are lateral
fuel breaks that extend from the primary fuel break to the east, and specific fuel breaks and projects
(i.e., prescribed burns, fuel removal projects) implemented to protect specific communities.
Maintaining fire roads and fuelbreaks that provide access for firefighting equipment and personnel
to undeveloped areas is important.
In addition to the areas of concern and fuel break information, agencies provided information about
fuel reduction projects and/or hazard mitigation efforts within their jurisdictions. Appendix B
provides a list of the areas of concern information and hazard mitigation efforts provided by the
stakeholder agencies listed in alphabetical order by agency name (not in order of priority). Appendix
B also includes a list of past, current, and/or planned projects from the 2015 Marin Unit Fire Plan. The
lists in Appendix B are intended to provide a starting point for identifying and prioritizing a more
complete, countywide list of future fuel reduction and outreach projects.
4.2 Risk Assessment Approach
To help identify and prioritize areas within the county that are potentially at a high risk of threat from
wildfire, a hazard, asset, risk assessment was performed using recently updated fuels data and
representative weather scenarios. Figure 10 shows the steps used to perform the hazard, asset, risk
assessment.
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● ● ● 40
Figure 10. The steps used to perform the hazard, asset, risk assessment.
● ● ● Hazard, Asset, Risk Assessment Approach
● ● ● 41
4.2.1 Step 1: Prepare Community Base Map and Areas of Concern
A base map of Marin County was assembled using GIS data layers acquired primarily from Marin
County’s GIS portal, marinmap.org. The base map included map layers of political boundaries, fire
districts, land ownership, census data, infrastructure, building footprints, a parcel map, WUI
boundaries, sensitive habitats, and areas of concern. Information regarding areas of concern was
provided by each stakeholder agency and was digitized and merged into one GIS map layer (see
Section 4.1.1 and Figure 9). The community base map and corresponding map layers were made
available for viewing through an ESRI ArcOnline website.
4.2.2 Step 2: Prepare Vegetation and Fuel Model Data
FlamMap is a fire behavior model that can be used to predict potential fire behavior based on fuels
(and fuel moisture), topography, and weather conditions. As part of the development of this CWPP,
an updated, high-resolution (5 x 5 meter) gridded vegetation map was developed using a
combination of vegetation data provided by local land management agencies and recently obtained
LiDAR measurements (see Section 2.2 and Appendix A). The 5 x 5 meter data were used as input to
FlamMap for modeling potential fire behavior.
4.2.3 Step 3: Acquire Local Weather and Fuel Moisture Data
In addition to fuel characteristics, the FlamMap fire behavior model requires information about fuel
moisture and weather conditions. Two fire weather scenarios were chosen to represent annual
wildfire conditions for an average fire season and a fire season under extreme fire conditions. The
average fire season scenario was created by summarizing the weather and fuel moisture parameters
from April through October (a typical fire season), and was used to represent the fire weather
conditions during a typical summer day in Marin County. The extreme fire conditions scenario was
created using the 97th percentile weather data from July through October, and represents the hottest
and driest time periods during the summer months when fire behavior would be the most intense
and difficult to control.
The fire weather statistics model, IFT-FireFamilyPlus, available through the Interagency Fuels
Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS), was used summarize fuel moisture, wind speed, and
wind direction data for each fire weather scenario for four RAWS available in the Weather
Information Management System (WIMS). Data were summarized by station and weather scenario
for the Mt. Barnaby, Big Rock, Woodacre, and Middle Peak RAWS stations (Figure 11). Because there
was little variability in the data values among the four RAWS stations for each scenario, data from the
four stations were averaged to represent the county as a whole. Table 1 3 lists the fuel moisture and
weather values for the average fire season and extreme fire conditions scenarios.
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Figure 11. RAWS station locations in Marin County. Note that data from the Robinhood site in
Novato were not used for this analysis as the data were not yet available.
Table 13. Fuel moisture and weather values used for the average fire season and
extreme fire conditions modeling scenarios.
Parameter (units) Average Fire
Season
Extreme Fire
Conditions
1-hour fuel moisture 8% 3%
10-hour fuel moisture 10% 4%
1,000-hour fuel moisture 13% 6%
Herbaceous fuel moisture 17% 4%
Live wood fuel moisture 73% 65%
Wind speed 6 miles per hour 15 miles per hour
Wind direction 216° 206°
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4.2.4 Step 4: Prepare a Population Density Map
Population density data for Marin County were acquired from the U .S. Census Bureau. The data were
mapped and used in the hazard, value, risk assessment to identify populated areas, which represent
areas with high structure density. These data were used as a surrogate for representing areas of high
asset value that are important from a fire protection perspective. Figure 12 shows the population
density map for Marin County.
Figure 12. Population density in Marin County based on the 2010 Census.
4.2.5 Step 5: Perform Fire Behavior M odeling
Wildfire modeling attempts to predict fire behavior, such as how quickly a fire might spread, how
much heat it might generate, and in which direction it might move. Most fire behavior models
require three key inputs: (1) fuel model information, (2) fuel moisture, and (3) weather. Fire behavior
modeling can provide an indication of how difficult a fire might be to suppress and the likelihood of
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fire transition from the ground to the tree canopy, which can help identify areas where extreme fire
behavior may occur.
The FlamMap fire behavior model was used to model flame length and rate of spread. Flame length
is commonly used as a gauge of fire potential because it provides an indicator of possible fire
behavior from a suppression perspective. Table 1 4 shows the fire suppression interpretations of
flame length; fires with lower flame lengths are typically easier to suppress while fires with higher
flame lengths are much more difficult.
Table 14. Fire suppression interpretations of flame length and fire line intensity.
Flame Length (feet) Fire Intensity
(btu/feet/second) Interpretations
0-4 0-100
Fires can generally be attacked at
the head or flanks by persons
using hand tools. Hand line should
hold the fire.
4-8 100-500
Fires are too intense for direct
attack on the head by persons
using hand tools. Hand line cannot
be relied on to hold fires.
Equipment such as bulldozers,
engines, and retardant aircraft can
be effective.
8-11 500-1,000
Fires may present serious control
problems – torching out, crowning,
and spotting. Control efforts at the
head of the fire will probably be
ineffective.
11+ 1,000+
Crowning, spotting, and major
runs are common. Control efforts
at the head of the fire will
probably be ineffective.
Rate of spread is an indicator of how rapidly a fire might spread, and is defined as the rate of forward
spread of the fire head expressed in feet per minute. FlamMap runs were performed for the two
weather scenarios identified in Table 13 using the custom fuel model data developed for Marin
County (see Figure 5 in Section 2.2) and topographical data (slope, aspect, and elevation).
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4.2.6 Step 6: Develop Composite Maps
The population density maps and fire behavior modeling maps shown in this section are 5 x 5 meter
gridded (or raster) GIS data layers.
The composite maps from the hazard, value, risk assessment were composed using a suitability
modeling approach. Suitability modeling is a GIS-based method used for identifying areas based on
specific criteria. For this work , suitability modeling was used to identify areas of high fire hazard (or
concern) based on fire behavior potentials, population density, and proximity to areas of concern.
The Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS software, Spatial Analyst, was used for
this analysis. Spatial Analyst is a raster- or grid-based software package that provides a platform for
developing and manipulating gridded data. Spatial Analyst can be used to develop suitability models
that produce maps highlighting “suitable” geographic areas based on defined model criteria and
weighting schemes.
4.2.7 Step 7: Develop Rankings for Areas of Concern
The area of concern map (Figure 9 in Section 4.1.1) was overlaid on the composite population, flame
length, and rate of spread map (Step 5 above). Using GIS software, spatial statistics were calculated
within each polygon boundary representing an area of concern. Within each polygon boundary, the
underlying composite grid cell values were averaged; the sum of all grid cell values falling within a
polygon boundary was divided by the number of grid cells within the boundary. The result is a
relative ranking of the areas of concern across the county. The highest ranking areas indicate places
that may be of highest concern in terms of both fire hazard and population. This information can be
used to prioritize areas of concern and potential fuel reduction strategies.
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● ● ● 47
5. Modeling Results
The approach outlined in Section 4.2 was used to perform the hazard, asset, risk assessment
modeling using the population density data (Figure 12) and the weather and fuel moisture data for
both the average fire season and extreme fire conditions scenarios (Table 13). The remainder of this
section discusses the modeling results.
5.1 Average Fire Season Modeling Results
The average fire season modeling scenario is based on the fuel moisture and weather data shown in
Table 1 3 in Section 4.2.3. Modeled flame length for the average fire season scenario is shown in
Figure 13; red and orange show potential flame lengths greater than 8 feet, indicating areas that
might exhibit more extreme fire behavior and/or be relatively more hazardous from a fire
suppression perspective (see Table 14 in Section 4.2.5).
Figure 13. Potential flame length for the average fire season weather scenario.
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● ● ● 48
Rate of spread is defined as the rate of forward spread of the fire head expressed in feet per minute.
The higher the rate of spread, the more difficult a fire is to suppress. The rate of spread model output
for the average fire season scenario is shown in Figure 14; orange and red show areas where more
extreme fire behavior is likely given an ignition.
Figure 14. Predicted rate of spread for the average fire season weather scenario.
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● ● ● 49
Using GIS data processing techniques (see Section 4.2.6), the population density, flame length, and
rate of spread maps were merged and processed to identify areas that have very high population
density, flame lengths, and rate of spread. Figure 15 shows this composite map; red and orange
show areas of very high to high population density, flame length, and rate of spread. These are areas
of high asset value where fire behavior is likely to be extreme.
Figure 15. Composite map of population density, flame length, and rate of spread for the
average fire season model scenario.
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To help prioritize areas of the county where fuel reduction and hazard mitigation efforts might be
focused, Figure 14 was overlaid with the areas of concern boundaries (Figure 9 in Section 4.1.1), and
GIS processing methods were used to calculate spatial statistics within these areas of concern (see
Section 4.2.7). This information was used to rank the areas of concern, shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16. Areas of concern rankings in Marin County based on population density, flame
length, and rate of spread for the average fire season model scenario.
The red areas in Figure 16 indicate the top 33% of the areas of concern, where population density,
flame length, and rate of spread could all be potentially very high. The orange areas indicate the
middle 33% (high), and the green indicate the lower 33% (moderate).
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● ● ● 51
5.2 Extreme Fire Conditions Modeling Results
The extreme fire conditions modeling scenario is based on the fuel moisture and weather data shown
in Table 13. Modeled flame length for the extreme fire season scenario is shown in Figure 17; red and
orange show potential flame lengths greater than 8 feet, indicating areas that would likely exhibit
more extreme fire behavior and be relatively more hazardous from a fire suppression perspective
(see Table 14). Note that under the extreme fire conditions scenario, much more of the county area
has flame length above 8 feet compared to the average fire season scenario shown in Figure 13.
Figure 17. Potential flame length for the extreme fire conditions scenario.
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The rate of spread model output for the extreme fire conditions scenario is shown in Figure 18; red
and orange show areas that are likely to exhibit more extreme fire behavior. Under the extreme fire
conditions scenario, rates of spread are greater in northwestern regions of the county.
Figure 18. Predicted rate of spread for the extreme fire conditions scenario.
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● ● ● 53
Using GIS data processing techniques (see Section 4.2.6), the population density, flame length, and
rate of spread maps were merged to identify areas that have very high population density, flame
lengths, and rate of spread. Figure 19 shows this composite map for the extreme fire conditions
scenario; red and orange show areas of very high to high population density, flame length, and rate
of spread. Again, note that under the extreme fire conditions scenario, much more of the county area
is located in these very high to high condition areas compared to the average fire season scenario
shown in Figure 15.
Figure 19. Composite map of population density, flame length, and rate of spread for the
extreme fire conditions scenario.
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● ● ● 54
To help prioritize areas of the county where fuel reduction and hazard mitigation efforts might be
focused, Figure 19 was overlaid with the areas of concern boundaries (Figure 9 in Section 4.1.1), and
GIS processing methods were used to calculate spatial statistics within these areas of concern (see
Section 4.2.7). This information was used to rank the areas of concern, shown in Figure 20.
Figure 20. Areas of concern rankings in Marin County based on population density, flame
length, and rate of spread for the extreme fire conditions scenario.
The red areas in Figure 20 indicate the top 33% of the areas of concern, where population density,
flame length, and rate of spread could all be potentially very high. The orange areas indicate the
middle 33% (high) and the green indicate the lower 33% (moderate).
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5.3 Discussion of Findings
The overall results of the hazard, value, risk assessment and the relative rankings by community and
area of concern are summarized in Table 15 . Note that almost all of the areas of concern are ranked
very high to high based on the asset, value, risk assessment modeling. The areas that rank moderate
are located in more rural, less densely populated parts of the county, although they should be
considered for hazard reduction efforts. The relative ranking information in Table 15 provides a
starting point for prioritizing areas to focus fuel reduction efforts.
Table 15. Marin County communities at risk and areas of concern relative rankings, based on
the results of the asset, hazard, risk modeling.
Communities at Risk and Areas of Concern Relative Ranking
Bolinas (Bolinas Mesa, Little Mesa, Paradise Valley, NPS and MCOSD
parklands) Very High/High
Corte Madera and Larkspur (Tiburon Ridge, Ring Mountain, Palm Hill WUI) Very High
Corte Madera (Marin Estates, Madrono-Pleasant [Town], Madera del Presidio
Phase II, Chapman, Park/Meadowsweet, Christmas Tree Hill, Blithdale Ridge,
Palm Hill/Blue Rock, Madera del Presidio Phase I)
High
Inverness (watershed and residential areas) High/Moderate
Kentfield (Evergreen Fire Trail; Rancheria Road; Crown Road from 123 Crown
Road to Phoenix Road and continuing on Indian Fire Road to the Blithedale
Ridge/Eldridge Grade intersection; King Mountain Loop project (Larkspur) to
76 Ridgecrest Road; 12 Ridgecrest Road to 76 Ridgecrest Road, including all
of BlueRidge Road southwest facing slope; the area of Goodhill Road and
Crown Road, including the area of Harry Allen Trail; 351 Evergreen Road to
414 Crown Road to 12 Ridgecrest Road, south and southeast facing slope)
High
Larkspur (North Magnolia WUI; Greenbrae Hills WUI; Marina Vista Area WUI;
Baltimore Canyon WUI; Marina Vista/SE Baltimore Canyon; King
Mountain/NW Baltimore Canyon)
High
Mill Valley (MMWD land and open space areas) Very H igh
Mill Valley (Scott Valley, Cascade, PG&E property, Summit, City property,
open space, City right-of-way, private property, Warner Canyon/Scott
Highlands, MMWD/private/City right-of-way)
High
Marin County Fire Department (Hill Ranch, Los Ranchitos, Summit, Bay View,
San Pedro, Mount Tam Lookout, Sleepy Hollow WUI, Throckmorton
/Panoramic WUI, Dickson Lookout, Woodacre/Lagunitas/Forest Knolls WUI,
Mount Tam Middle Peak infrastructure, Rancho Santa Margarita WUI,
Inverness WUI, Green Gulch, Stinson Beach WUI)
High
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Communities at Risk and Areas of Concern Relative Ranking
Marin County Open Space District Lands (areas in and adjacent to
neighborhoods) Very H igh/High
Marin Municipal Water District (Rock Spring, Pine Mountain south gate, Sky
Oaks Meadow, Deer Park Road, Sky Oaks Headquarters, Peters Dam) High/Moderate
Marinwood/Lucas Valley (Limestone Hill area, CSA 13, Horse Hill area, Berry
area, Miller Creek Road Area, Valleystone Project, Lucas Valley Estates) Very H igh/High
Novato (Marin Valley, Novato North, Anderson Rowe) Very H igh
Novato (San Marin, Hilltop, Loma Verde, Wilson West, Cherry Hill, Pacheco
Valley, Little Mountain, Indian Valley, Wildhorse Valley, Wilson East, Ignacio
Valley, Atherton, Blackpoint)
High
Ross Valley (Fairfax, Hawthorne Hills, San Francisco Boulevard, Alameda,
Morningside, upper San Anselmo Avenue) Very H igh
Ross Valley (Ross [east/central/south], San Anselmo [downtown], Cascade
Canyon, Sleepy Hollow) High
San Rafael (San Pedro Ridge, Dominican, Glenwood, Peacock Gap, Gerstle
Park and Cal Park neighborhoods) Very H igh
San Rafael (Smith Ranch areas, West End from San Rafael Hill to Ridgewood
Avenue Bret Harte, Los Ranchitos areas, Terra Linda neighborhoods) High
Sleepy Hollow (Loma Alta area) High
Southern Marin (Meda project, Milland, Ricardo open space, So. Morning
Sun/Tennessee, Hawkhill, Autumn Lane) Very H igh
Southern Marin (Rodeo water tank, U.S. Route 101/Wolfback Ridge,
Seminary, Edwards/Marion, Lattie Lane/Highway 1, Blackfield, Laguna/Forest,
Cabin Drive, Homestead Valley, Fairview Ring Mountain Area, Aqua Hotel
Hill, Highway 1 to Erica/Friars)
High
Tiburon (Middle Ridge, South Knoll Playground, Blackies Pasture, Greenwood
Beach) Very H igh
Tiburon (Ring Mountain, Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve, Tiburon
Marsh, Belvedere Lane and right of ways, Tom Price Park, Sugarloaf Drive to
Paradise Drive, Middle Ridge open space, Romberg Tiburon Center, Paradise
State Park)
High
The data in Table 15 should be viewed at a finer scale within each community listed in order to get a
proper context of the areas of concern at a more local scale. It is important to note that the modeling
performed in this section does not take into account factors such as sensitive habitats, plant species,
practical implementation of fuel reduction projects, or reduction project costs. Fire protection and
land management agencies should work collaboratively to determine which areas to focus efforts on,
and what projects and prescriptions best serve specific areas.
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6. Pre-Fire Management Strategies and
Tactics
The pre-fire management strategies presented in this section focus on vegetation management,
hazardous fuel reduction, pre-fire planning, statutes and regulations, fire prevention, and public
education and outreach.
This CWPP provides county-scale planning information but also recognizes and supports more
focused fire planning efforts to address specific city, community, or neighborhood scale needs. The
CWPP provides guidance for localized plans prepared to more specifically address site-specific issues,
fuels treatment options, specific vegetation prescriptions, refined or redefined community and WUI
boundaries, emergency preparedness, and other issues important to community wildfire safety.
Localized plans have priority and authority over county-level recommendations.
Marin County fire agencies (described in Section 1.1) take a holistic approach to pre-fire and fuels
management by implementing a variety of practices and programs focused around the WUI where
there is the greatest wildfire threat to human life and property. Marin County’s wildfire programs
include:
1. Building and vegetation management codes that consider building materials, as well as
construction, engineering, and vegetation management standards.
2. Hazardous fuel reduction at both the county and community level. At the county level, this
includes working with private landowners and county agencies to maintain and create
strategic fuel reductions zones; maintain fuel breaks and fire roads; and implementing other
types of fuel reduction projects. At the community level, fire agencies work with property
owners and homeowners associations to create more fire safe communities (i.e., Ready, Set,
Go and Firewise community programs) and to address issues related to road and property
access to provide safe evacuation routes and emergency vehicle entry during a wildfire event.
3. Public outreach and building awareness of the wildfire threat in Marin County.
4. A newly installed network of fire detection cameras.
6.1 Building Codes and Standards
Coordinated pre-fire management efforts occur continuously throughout the county and across fire
agencies. These activities include business and home inspection programs, land development plan
reviews and construction inspections, fire alarm and suppression system plan reviews, fire
investigations, inspections of hazardous and assembly occupancies, reviews of VMPs, a requirement
for all new construction and substantial remodels in the WUI), and building code and standard
● ● ● Pre-Fire Management Strategies and Tactics
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development. Section 8 includes more information about Marin’s building codes and standards for
reducing structure ignitability.
6.2 Hazardous Fuel Reduction
Marin County fire officials work to mitigate fires in the WUI using hazardous fuel modification, which
includes wide area defensible space projects and ridge top fuel breaks, many of which are
constructed by the MCFD’s Tamalpais Fire Crew as well as by other local resources. The location and
extent of the breaks are determined through coordination with the local land management agency
and or landowner, conformance with Marin County’s CWPP, and the availability of grant and other
types of funding.
At the community level, fire agencies work with individuals and homeowners associations to create
more fire safe communities through programs such as Ready, Set, Go! and the Firewise community
programs.19 The Ready, Set, Go! (RSG)
Program is managed by the International
Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). Launched
nationally in March 2011 at the Wildland-
Urban Interface Conference (WUI
Conference), the program helps fire
departments teach individuals who live in
high risk wildfire areas—and the wildland-
urban interface—how to best prepare
themselves and their properties against fire
threats.20
The Firewise Communities Program is
managed by the National Fire Protection
Agency (NFPA) and co-sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the National
Association of State Foresters. The program encourages local solutions for safety by involving
homeowners in taking individual responsibility for preparing their homes from the risk of wildfire.
Firewise is a key component of Fire Adapted Communities, a collaborative approach that connects all
those who play a role in wildfire education, planning, and action with comprehensive resources to
help reduce risk. The Firewise Communities program teaches people how to adapt to living with
wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together and take action to prevent losses.21
19 http://www.marinfirechiefs.org/
20 http://www.wildlandfirersg.org/About/Learn-About-Ready-Set-Go
21 http://www.firewise.org/about.aspx
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FSM is actively involved in working with local agencies to coordinate and support chipper days and
other fuel reduction projects that involve cutting, clearing, pruning, and limbing understory
vegetation around structures, fire roads, and evacuation routes.
6.3 Information and Education
The information and education programs administered throughout Marin County are coordinated
efforts supported by MCFD command staff, the Fire Prevention Bureau, local fire agency personnel,
and cooperators. Cooperators include the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, Marin County OES, FSM, the
Marin County Fire Chiefs’ Association, NPS, MMWD, and MCOSD.
6.3.1 Information
During wildfire events, the public information function is covered 24 hours a day by Incident
Command System qualified Public Information Officers (PIO) and by MCFD’s ECC personnel. The
overall goal of this function is to keep the people of Marin County informed by providing timely and
accurate information. In addition, MCFD is in constant contact with CAL FIRE’s Duty Chief regarding
fire condition updates and ensures all local dignitaries are regularly briefed with changes or updates.
Fire agencies across Marin County regularly provide press releases and interviews to media outlets
on request, and the county has retained a County PIO who is used to support fire agency public
information outreach efforts. In addition, a Public Information Team (PIT), consisting of
representatives from several fire agencies, meets once per month and provides a forum for each
department to communicate with other
departments and the public. The PIT provides a
uniform message and training for county
government across departments and helps
prepare department-specific informational
programs, including social media.
6.3.2 Education and Outreach
Annually, thousands of Marin County residents
attend community events, such as fire station
pancake breakfasts, community fairs where local
fire departments and/or FSM sponsor exhibits,
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training
classes, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) training classes, “Ready, Set, Go!”, and “Get-
Ready”22 classes, and school programs. Fire departments across the county also give presentations to
22 Training for Before, During and After a Disaster, see http://readymarin.org/get-ready/
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the public that include disaster and wildfire event preparedness, home safety, fire safety, defensible
space, and vegetation management.
FIRESafe Marin and MCFD, along with many
cooperators and corporate sponsors, produced a
defensible space and wildland fire preparedness
video. The video, “Marin on Fire,” has several 5-
minute chapters that cover road and property
access, defensible space, making your home ignition
resistant, and tips on what to do if a wildfire is
approaching your house. MCFD has also released a
5-minute video about the few simple things a
homeowner can do to increase their home’s chances of survival during a wildfire event. MCFD and
FSM web sites also have extensive public education links to CAL FIRE wildfire preparedness literature
and to the Marin County Fire Chief’s Association “Ready-Set-Go” site. Department Fire Chiefs are also
frequent contributors to the local newspaper with editorial columns on various aspects of fire safety
and disaster preparedness, including winter/holiday home fire safety and wildfire preparedness.
MCFD strives to make their wildfire and defensible space safety messages consistent with those
promulgated by CAL FIRE. As part of this effort, MCFD posts CAL FIRE’s defensible space flyers and
handouts on their website and makes these brochures available at fire station lobbies. Prior to fire-
season, MCFD annually sends out a mailer to every property owner in Marin County’s SRA. The
mailer contains a check-list of MCFD’s defensible space and maintenance requirements (as per the
California Public Resources Code 4291)23 that need to be completed by the property owner by the
start of fire season. The mailer also includes MCFD’s modified CAL FIRE Defensible Space flyer, and
offers the homeowner a free-of-charge consultation by fire personnel from their local fire station.
FSM also works with local fire agencies to support public education efforts (e.g., mailers, movie
theater “trailers”, newspaper opinion pieces, public events and workshops) to raise the level of public
awareness of the wildland fire threat and improve the defensible space around structures.
6.4 Fire Detection Cameras
With a grant from PG&E, FSM purchased six fire detection cameras for installation in Marin County.
These cameras were installed in summer 2015 and are deployed at Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Barnabe, Big
Rock , and Point Reyes.24 The cameras are linked to a computer system that is monitored by
personnel at MCFD in Woodacre. The archive of images from the cameras is available to the public.
23 Property owners in mountainous areas, forest-covered lands or any land that is covered with flammable material must create at
minimum a 100-foot defensible space (or to the property line) around their homes and other structures, as mandated by California
Public Resources Code 4291.
24 http://www.marincounty.org/depts/fr/fire-detection-cameras
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7. Structural Ignitability
In the WUI where natural fuels and structure fuels are intermixed, fire behavior is complex and
difficult to predict. Research based on modeling, observations, and case studies in the WUI indicates
that structure ignitability during wildland fires depends largely on the characteristics and building
materials of the home and its immediate surroundings.
The dispersion of burning embers from wildfires is the most likely cause of home ignitions. When
embers land near or on a structure, they can ignite near-by vegetation or accumulated debris on the
roof or in the gutter. Embers can also enter the structure through openings such as an open window
or vent, and could ignite the interior of the structure or debris in the attic. Wildfire can further ignite
structures through direct flame contact and/or radiant heat. For this reason, it is important that
structures and property in the WUI are less prone to ignition by ember dispersion, direct flame
contact, and radiant heat.
Marin County’s approach to mitigating structure ignitibility is based on findings from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology that defensive actions by homeowners can significantly affect
fire behavior and structure loss, and that effective fire prevention practices are essential in increasing
structure survivability.
The California Building Code (CBC)—Chapter 7A specifically—addresses the wildland fire threat to
structures by requiring that structures located in state or locally designated WUI areas be built of fire
resistant materials. However, the requirements promulgated by the state only apply to new
construction, and do not address existing structures and additions and remodels to existing
structures.
Since most of the towns and cities in Marin County are “built-out”, most fire departments have
applied the Chapter 7A standards to address home ignitibility for both new and existing
construction. Specifically, Marin County has extensively amended the 2003 International Urban-
Wildland Interface Code. As part of these amendments, MCFD applies more stringent building
standards and requires the preparation of a VMP as defined in MCFD’s VMP Standard. MCFD also
imposes requirements for fire apparatus and water supply access to new and remodeled structures
located in the WUI.
In addition to the amendments, the county requires that alterations or remodels to structures located
in the WUI use specific building elements that comply with WUI-specific standards. For example, if a
window is replaced, the new window is required to be dual-paned with one pane tempered.
The county has amended the 2013 California Fire Code (CFC) Chapter 49 requirements for defensible
space around existing homes (note that the 2013 CFC Chapter 49 requirements are identical to the
Public Resource Code and Government Code requirements). The MCFD amendment modifies the
language of PRC 4291 such that the property line no longer limits the amount of defensible space
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required around structures. If the 100-foot defensible space/fuel modification zone extends from
private to public lands, the defensible space stops at the property boundary. However, fuel
modification/clearance may be permitted after an evaluation and issuance of approval from the
public land management agency.
7.1 Opportunities to Reduce Structure Ignitability
While Marin County has been aggressive in its approach to reduce structure ignitability, there are
opportunities to expand awareness of measures that property owners can take to improve and
enhance structure survivability.
7.1.1 Increase Education about Structural Ignitability and
Defensible Space
Fire officials can increase public education about structural ignitability and defensible space by
Reaching out to venders/contractors who sell fire resistant materials to increase education
and awareness.
It is recommended that all fire officials renew their partnerships with their local building officials in
order to provide information and outreach materials to the local Marin Builders Association. It is also
recommended that fire officials collaborate with local building material vendors in order to better
educate vendors and contractors of the CBC Chapter 7A requirements, and to provide educational
materials for consumers at the point of sale. The educational materials should be consistent and
uniform in look and content and explain the rationale for using fire resistive construction materials
for structures in WUI areas.
These materials could be created and funded by grants through FSM, and should include, but not be
limited to:
• Easy-to-understand WUI maps to help consumers determine if they are in WUI areas.
• Examples and photos of the many types and architectural styles of construction features for
roofs, exterior walls and siding, protective eaves, vents, decks, door, and windows.
• Take-home pamphlets with photos, brief explanations, and links to websites and videos for
additional information.
• Links to the appropriate fire and building authority having jurisdiction, with permit
information.
Using the topic of roof coverings as an example, a sample outreach material could include
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There are many varieties of Class A roofing materials available on the market today. The many styles
allow for flexibility in achieving the desired look of the home while providing fire resistive properties
that are so important in the WUI. Typical Class A roofing products include, but are not limited to, the
following types:
• Asphalt shingles
• Metal/stone-coated metal
• Concrete (standard weight and lightweight)
• Clay tile
• Synthetic
• Slate
• Hybrid composite
Similar information with videos, photos, or samples should be included for all exterior architectural
features identified in CBC Chapter 7A, and placed at all types of general home improvement stores,
such as Home Depot and Rafael Lumber, and at single-focus stores such as window retailers.25
Renewing and continuing efforts to educate and partner with Marin County neighborhoods
located in WUI areas with a focus on structural ignitability. This should be an annual,
seasonal, multi-social media approach and include a direct mail campaign.
Fire officials should develop a program to reach out to local communities encouraging and
supporting the Firewise Communities Program. The five steps of Firewise recognition are:
1. Complete a community wildfire assessment.
2. Form a board or committee, and create an action plan based on the assessment to reduce
the risks.
3. Conduct a “Firewise Day” event.
4. Invest a minimum of $2 per capita in local Firewise actions for the year.
5. Submit an application to become a Firewise Community to your state Firewise liaison.
7.1.2 Inventory Structures with Shake and Shingle Roofing
Research shows that homes with a non-combustible roof and defensible space at least 30 to 60 feet
around the structure have an 85-95% change of survival in a wildfire. At a minimum, a home
structure should have a Class A-rated fire-resistant roof cover or assembly, and preferably one that is
self-extinguishing once a falling ember burns out. Self-extinguishing means that the firebrand will
not burn through to the roof deck and flames will not spread to other parts of the roof. Without a
fire-resistant roof, other approaches toward mitigation will fall short of protecting the home.26
25 Marin Fire and Building Officials do not endorse any specific product or material, but rather look subjectively at each product for
compliance and documented testing performance when considering its use in a local application.
26 Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, see https://disastersafety.org/wildfire
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A complete inventory of all Shake and Shingled roofs (Non-CLASS A and B roofs) should be
completed in each jurisdiction to target education efforts and identify the need for roof conversions.
7.1.3 Uniform Adoption of WUI Ordinance
All fire agencies in Marin should adopt a consistent and uniform WUI ordinance and WUI map. Equal
requirements and enforcement of WUI ordinances and defensible space will have the post positive
effect on structural ignitability in Marin.
7.2 Structure Ignitability Efforts Currently in Place
The following summarizes Marin County’s ongoing structure ignitability efforts and programs.
Building Codes, Ordinances, Standards
• Adoption of the International Code Council’s (ICC’s) International Codes and Standards.
• Adoption of Class A roofing ordinances.
• Designated parking program.
• Application of Marin County WUI Fire Code for new and existing construction, which includes
more stringent building standards, vegetation management (requiring the preparation of a
VMP), and fire apparatus access and water supply requirements to new structures and
structures substantially remodeled.
• Requirement that alterations or remodels to structures located in the WUI use specific
building elements that comply with WUI-specific standards. For example, if a window is
replaced, the new window is required to be dual-paned with one pane tempered.
Fuel and Vegetation Management
• Fire departments develop lists of fire prone vegetation subject to removal or management.
• Partnering with HOAs and FSM on residential chipper programs.
• Increasing dedicated staffing for vegetation management programs.
• Hazard assessment program (created to reverse homeowner fire insurance cancellations).
• Annual weed abatement program.
• Veg etation Management Program (voter approved Municipal Service Tax).
• Establish and maintain fuel breaks (shaded, wide area, ridge top).
• Eucalyptus and Pine tree removal program.
• Paved and unpaved road fuel reduction.
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● ● ● 65
• Evacuation route fuel reduction.
• Fuel reduction on city properties.
• Creating shaded fuel breaks in transition zones between developed residential areas and
open space areas.
Defensible Space Enforcement and Public Education
• Annual public education course on defensible space.
• Partnering with HOAs to become Firewise Communities.
• Defensible space mobile phone App.
• Defensible space videos.
• Implementation of the 2013 CFC Chapter 49 requirements for defensible space around
existing homes (these requirements are identical to the Public Resource Code and
Government Code requirements).
• Modification of the language of PRC 4291 such that the property line no longer limits the
amount of defensible space required around structures. If the 100 foot defensible space/fuel
modification zone intersects from private to public lands, fuel modification/clearance may be
permitted after evaluation and issuance of a permit from the public land management
agency.
• Development of the defensible space mailers, which provides a checklist of defensible space
requirements to be completed by the property owner by the start of the annual fire season.
• Perform a defensible space blitz, in which departments assign seasonal firefighters in
conjunction with on-duty/full-time personnel to go door-to-door in each station's response
zone's target hazard areas.
• Hire dedicated defensible space inspectors to perform inspections in priority communities.
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8. Recommendations and Action Plan
8.1 Plan Recommendations
This CWPP is intended to provide a foundation for—and to facilitate—continued multi-agency
collaboration and cooperation for fire protection planning efforts in Marin County. This is considered
a living document which will be reviewed and revised periodically as needed. The following
recommendations were developed based on the goals and objectives of Marin’s fire agencies for
reducing wildland fire hazard and stakeholder input. The recommendations set forth are aimed at
achieving five key goals:
1. Continue to identify and evaluate wildland fire hazards and recognize life, property, and
natural resource assets at risk, including watershed, wildlife habitat, and other values of
functioning ecosystems.
2. Articulate and promote the concept of land use planning related to fire risk and
individual landowner objectives and responsibilities.
3. Support and continue to participate in the collaborative development and
implementation of wildland fire protection plans and other local, county, and regional
plans that address fire protection and landowner objectives.
4. Increase awareness, knowledge, and actions implemented by individuals and
communities to reduce human loss and property damage from wildland fires, such as
defensible space and fuels reduction activities, and fire prevention through fire safe building
standards.
5. Integrate fire and fuels management practices with landowner priorities and multiple
jurisdictional efforts within local, state, and federal responsibility areas.
The following actions are recommended to move toward achieving these five goals.
8.1.1 Continue to identify and evaluate wildland fire hazards
• Continue to collect, analyze, and maintain multi-agency hazard and resource GIS data.
• Maintain an accessible online GIS portal to store and share the multi-agency maps and data
developed throughout this CWPP process.
• Utilize the GIS information and modeling results presented in Section 5 of this CWPP for
pre-fire planning, and to collaboratively develop priorities for projects throughout the county.
• Develop an inventory of structures with shake and shingle roofing material in each
jurisdiction to identify and target education efforts and the need for roof conversions.
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• Consider ways to improve the coverage of the fire detection cameras.
• Consider ways to use drone technology for fire protection.
8.1.2 Articulate and Promote the Concept of Land Use Planning
Related to Fire Risk
• Continue to promote the concept of land use planning as it relates to fire risk and hazard
reduction and landowner responsibilities; identify the key minimum elements necessary to
achieve a fire safe community and incorporate these elements into community outreach
materials and programs.
• Continue to implement the structural ignitability activities outlined in Section 7.2.
• Develop outreach materials outlined in Section 7.1.1.
• Coordinate with county and local government staff to integrate Firewise approaches into
planning documents and ordinances.
• Continue to secure funding opportunities for dedicated defensible space inspectors.
• Identify approaches to increase the number of WUI properties inspected each year.
• Continue to support community chipper programs to encourage compliance with defensible
space and vegetation management requirements.
• Increase and seek out opportunities to assist landowners with green waste disposal.
• Continue the structure ignitability efforts currently in place (see Section 7.2).
• Consider how to make the tree removal process less cumbersome and less expensive.
8.1.3 Support and continue to participate in the collaborative
development and implementation of wildland fire
protection plans
• Work collaboratively with county, local, and regional agencies and landowners to develop
fuel reduction priorities and strategies based on this CWPP, local CWPPs, and/or other
regional plans.
• Support the development and implementation of local-scale CWPPs.
• Provide a collaboration mechanism between private property owners
(and Home Owners Associations) and large land owners (i.e., MCOSD, MMWD, NPS)
• Consider the creation of transition zones (areas between developed residential areas and
open space areas) where additional defensible space or additional vegetation clearance is
needed.
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● ● ● 69
8.1.4 Increase awareness, knowledge, and actions implemented
by individuals and communities to reduce human loss and
property damage from wildland fires
• Continue to implement the defensible space and outreach activities outlined in Section 7.2.
• Develop outreach materials outlined in Section 7.1.1.
• Continue inter-agency coordination with Marin’s fire service community and other partners
to maintain a community presence and to develop and distribute public information
regarding fuel reduction efforts throughout the county.
• Educate landowners, residents, and business owners about the risks and personal
responsibilities of living in the wildland, including applicable regulations, prevention
measures and preplanning activities.
• Increase efforts to partner with neighborhoods located in WUI areas to educate them on
becoming fire adapted or Firewise communities while increasing one firewise community per
year.
• All fire agencies continue to educate and prepare communities through an emphasis on the
Ready, Set, Go! and the Firewise community programs, and create and support venues in
which individual community members can be actively involved in local fire safe councils,
community emergency response teams, and other community-based efforts in order to
develop readiness plans and educate landowners to mitigate the risks and effects of wildland
fire.
• Continue to increase education and awareness about structural ignitability and defensible
space; develop and distribute educational materials to vendors and contractors who sell or
install fire resistant materials, and make these materials available at local home improvement
stores.
• Increase the number of annual defensible space inspectors and inspections and increase
enforcement.
• Develop and formalize a program for providing defensible space assistance (labor or
financial) for senior citizens without the capacity and means to perform defensible space
work .
• Improve the ability to enforce defensible space compliance with absentee property owners.
• Develop and distribute more information about fire resistant landscaping.
• Create a fire blog.
• Develop an App for evacuation route information.
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● ● ● 70
8.1.5 Integrate fire and fuels management practices
• Continue to implement the vegetation management and fuel reduction activities outlined in
Section 7.2.
• Fire agencies continue working with land managers on strategic fuel treatment planning and
implementation.
• Continue to implement and maintain vegetation/fuel management projects along highly-
traveled roadways and access points into all public lands in order to minimize ignitions.
• Prioritize evacuation routes for fuel reduction programs
• Develop traffic congestion controls along evacuation routes
• Implement stronger parking enforcement along evacuation routes
• Continue to maintain foot trail networks.
• Implement maintenance program for foot trail networks.
• Response agencies to plan and implement annual community-level drills for evacuation
preparedness.
• Develop a program to address fuel reduction on vacant properties.
• Consider grazing as a fuel reduction strategy.
• Partner with appropriate county and local public works agencies to consider vegetation/fuel
reduction from roadways that are key evacuation routes into or out of a particular
neighborhood
• Create extended or enhanced vegetation/fuels management along all identified evacuation
routes from developed residential and open space areas.
• Create transition zones to extend shaded fuel breaks between developed residential areas
and open space areas.
• Identify and implement vegetation management projects in priority WUI communities
throughout the county.
• Work to reduce regulatory barriers that limit hazardous fuels reduction activities (e.g., tree
removal process).
• Use the published science on fire ecology to assess the costs, benefits, and best
implementation tools for different fuels reduction and vegetation management strategies
that are intended to reduce fire risk to lives and property.
• Continue to develop strategic partnerships and funding opportunities with local industries to
support fuel reduction projects.
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● ● ● 71
8.2 Action Plan
Appendix D contains a list of action items based on the key goals and recommendations outlined in
Section 8.1. Each year, FSM and the Marin County Fire Chief’s Association (MCFCA) will request that
stakeholders select and prioritize the action items (from Section 8.1 and Appendix D) that they will
work on. By November 1 of each year, stakeholders will provide a status report of the action items
that were worked on and accomplishments. The action plan in Appendix D will be updated and
presented at the MCFCA annual planning meeting and in the FSM annual report.
8.2.1 Environmental Review and Permitting
This CWPP is an advisory document prepared by FSM in collaboration with stakeholder agencies
pursuant to the HFRA. The CWPP development team was comprised of stakeholders (or their
representatives) and the contents of this CWPP are opinions of these stakeholders. Because this
CWPP is an advisory document, it does not legally commit any public agency to a specific course of
action or project and thus, is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or to the
National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). As such, several counties in California have signed
CWPPs without considering the CWPP as a project subject to CEQA.
However, if funding is received from local, state, or federal agencies to implement a specific project,
and prior to work performed, the lead agency must consider whether the proposed activity is a
project under CEQA or NEPA. If the lead agency makes a determination that the proposed activity is a
project subject to CEQA or NEPA, the lead agency must perform environmental review prior to
obtaining permits or other entitlements by any public agencies to which CEQA or NEPA apply.
8.3 Plan Management
The fire agencies, land management agencies, and private landowners responsible for managing
vegetation in Marin County are encouraged to submit project ideas that focus on reducing fire
hazards in priority areas. Appendix B provides an initial list of identified areas of concern and
potential projects, but should be considered a starting point for continued collaboration and
coordination.
To ensure continued collaboration and the long -term success of this CWPP effort, FSM—in
collaboration with the MCFCA—will lead the effort to continue to evaluate, update, and maintain this
CWPP as needed. The contents of the CWPP will be reviewed and evaluated every three years and
the action plan will be reviewed and updated annually. This plan will be updated with input from the
community and local fire and land management agencies as necessary. Updates to the plan will be
documented as plan amendments as shown in Table 1.
● ● ● References
● ● ● 73
9. References
Bentley D. and Landeros D. (2015) Comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal years ended June
30, 2015 and 2014. Prepared by the North Marin Water District, Novato, CA, October. Available at
http://www.nmwd.com/financials/NMWDFinancials2015.pdf.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (2007) California’s fire hazard severity zones. Fact
sheet by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Office of the State Fire
Marshal, Sacramento, CA, May. Available at
http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/downloads/FHSZ_fact_sheet.pdf.
Lee C. (2009) Sudden oak death and fire in California. Update prepared by the University of California
Cooperative Extension, Humboldt County and Del Norte County Offices. Available at
http://cehumboldt.ucdavis.edu/files/67356.pdf.
Leonard Charles and Associates (2012) Draft Marin Municipal Water District wildfire protection and habitat
improvement plan. Draft report prepared for the Marin Municipal Water District, Corte Madera,
CA, by Leonard Charles and Associates, San Anselmo, CA, August. Available at
https://www.marinwater.org/DocumentCenter/View/955.
Mara J. (2015) Marin median home price passes $1 million. Marin Independent Journal, May 21. Available
at http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20150521/NEWS/150529968.
Marin County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures (2014) 2014 Marin County livestock &
crop report. Prepared by the Marin County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures,
Novato, CA. Available at http://www.marincounty.org/~/media/files/departments/ag/crop-
reports/2014.pdf?la=en.
Marin County Fire Department (2015) 2015 unit strategic fire plan for Marin County Fire Department.
Available at http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/pub/fireplan/fpupload/fpppdf1532.pdf.
May & Associates Inc. (2015) Vegetation and biodiversity management plan. Draft prepared for Marin
County Parks and Open Space District, San Rafael, CA, April. Available at
http://www.marincounty.org/~/media/files/departments/pk/projects/open-
space/vmbp/2015_05mcpvmbpv9lowresweb.pdf?la=en.
Prado M. (2016) Marin national parks serve as economic driver, report finds. Marin Independent Journal,
April 22. Available at http://www.marinij.com/environment-and-nature/20160422/marin-national-
parks-serve-as-economic-driver-report-finds.
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● ● ● 75
Appendix A: Updated Fuel Map
Generation
This appendix provides the methods used to develop the data set for the fuel model types described
in Section 2.2.
A.1 Processing Overview
Fire behavior modeling requires a spatially-explicit fire behavior fuel model map as input, among
other datasets. As part of the development of this CWPP, 5-meter and 30-meter resolution fire
behavior fuel model maps covering Marin County were developed. The maps were derived from
available LiDAR and aerial imagery as well as datasets reflecting vegetation types and the presence of
structures, roads, and waterbodies. These maps provide a critical tool for fire hazard mitigation
planning for Marin County and were used to conduct analyses of fire risk and fire hazard reduction
projects described elsewhere in this document.
A.2 Input Datasets
LiDAR data in LAS point cloud format was obtained via the USGS EarthExplorer website.27 The data
provides complete coverage of Marin County at 2 meter nominal pulse spacing or better, and was
collected in 2010 by the ARRA Golden Gate LiDAR Project.28 The data is in tile format, with 776 tiles
making up the dataset. National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) JPEG2000 orthorectified
imagery collected over Marin County from June 8 through June 13, 2014 was also downloaded from
the USGS Earth Explorer website.
Three available vegetation data sets were used to provide information about vegetation types for
portions of Marin County. The datasets used included (1) the 2008 Marin County Open Space District
(MCOSD) vegetation dataset obtained from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
Global Information System (GIS) Clearinghouse; (2) the 2009 Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD)
vegetation dataset obtained from the CDFW GIS Clearinghouse, and; (3) the Existing Vegetation
Classification and Assessment with LANDSAT of Visible Ecological Groupings (CALVEG) dataset, which
was mostly based on 2007 imagery published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Pacific Southwest Region Remote Sensing Lab.
27 http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
28 http://online.sfsu.edu/ehines/arra_golden_gate_lidar_project.htm
● ● ● Appendix A: Updated Fuel Map Generation
● ● ● 76
In order to refine vegetation information for Marin County, vector data that reflected building
footprints, waterbodies, and road networks were obtained from MarinMap29 and were used to refine
vegetation information for Marin County. The building footprint dataset was produced using 2004
orthoimagery steriopairs. The waterbody and road datasets were derived from U.S. Census TIGER
files, and the road dataset was refined using 2004 orthoimagery.
A.3 Image Processing
LiDAR and NAIP imagery for Marin County were combined to provide information about vegetation
cover and topography across the county. All rasters produced for use in this project were aligned to
the datasets derived from raw LiDAR point clouds, projected to UTM zone 10N using the NAD83
datum with a cell size of 5 meters.
LiDAR tiles were combined and processed using standard ArcGIS geoprocessing tools to derive bare
earth elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation height, and vegetation percent cover. Vegetation height
and vegetation cover on the 5 m grid were calculated using the internal point classification, which
groups vegetation and building returns together. To differentiate between buildings and vegetation,
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values derived from NAIP imagery were used to
mask locations, with NDVI < 0 representing non-vegetation. To exclude shrubs and other low-lying
vegetation from the percent canopy cover calculation, all pixels in the percent canopy cover that had
a canopy height of less than 3 meters were assigned a percent canopy cover value of 0%.
The vegetation and topographic information derived from these datasets were used as inputs to
produce fuel model information for Marin County.
A.4 Fuel Model Crosswalk
To obtain the fuel information required for fire behavior modeling, the LiDAR - and NAIP-derived
datasets were integrated with the vector information reflecting vegetation type, building footprints,
waterbodies, and roads. The result of this analysis was a 5-meter resolution dataset providing 40
Scott and Burgan fire behavior fuel model assignments for all of Marin County (Scott and Burgan,
2005).
The three sources of vegetation type information were then combined. The CALVEG dataset provided
county-wide vegetation type information, while the MMWD and MCOSD vegetation datasets
provided only partial coverage. However, visual inspection revealed the MMWD and MCOSD datasets
were more accurate than the CALVEG dataset at identifying the correct vegetation types, so the
vegetation types identified by the CALVEG dataset were replaced with the MMWD and MCOSD
classifications where valid data were available.
29 http://www.marinmap.org
● ● ● Appendix A: Updated Fuel Map Generation
● ● ● 77
To assign fuel models, aspect, vegetation height, percent vegetation cover, and vegetation type
datasets were used in a crosswalk. A crosswalk assigns a fuel model to each pixel based upon the
information from the datasets. A modified version of a CAL FIRE furnished crosswalk was used and
was modified to address vegetation types assigned to locations within Marin County that were not
addressed by the original crosswalk, based on knowledge of local vegetation and from feedback
from vegetation and fuels managers at Marin County Fire Department.
None of the vegetation datasets provided vegetation type information for Angel Island. A simple fuel
model crosswalk was created for Angel Island based upon the canopy height and canopy cover
values, and by visually examining aerial imagery. The Angel Island fuel model information was
appended to the fuel model dataset covering the rest of the county.
A.5 Fuel Model Adjustments
The fuel model map described above was modified to better account for the location of roads,
structures, and waterbodies. All locations falling within a waterbody were modified to an unburnable
fuel model. In addition, a series of filtering steps were applied to reflect the presence of flammable
vegetation in urban/developed areas. To account for the flammable vegetation that was initially
classified as unburnable, canopy cover and canopy height were used to reassign all urban/developed
fuel model areas with an NDVI greater than 0 to a flammable vegetation class.
Next, the road location information was used to assign pixels to the unburnable urban/developed
fuel model or to a timber litter fuel type model based upon the presence of canopy cover. Large
roads (freeways and highways) were buffered to 10 meters, while small roads (local roads) were
buffered to 5 meters; the percent canopy cover of each pixel falling within the buffered roads was
obtained. Roads with greater than 30% canopy cover were classified as burnable because fuel
overhanging the road may allow fire to spread over that road. Roads with less than 30% cover were
classified as unburnable.
A similar approach was used to address vegetation overhanging buildings. The building footprints
and percent canopy cover data were used to assign a fuel model to all building locations. Buildings
with 20-40% canopy cover were classified as a timber litter fuel type model, and buildings with
greater than 40% canopy cover were assigned a timber-understory fuel type model. Buildings with
less than 20% canopy cover were classified as unburnable.
A.6 Landscape File Creation
A landscape file (.lcp) is required by commonly used fire behavior models such as FlamMap to
simulate fire behavior. A landscape file consists of eight layers of vegetation and geophysical
information. The geophysical layers include elevation, slope, and aspect, while the vegetation layers
● ● ● Appendix A: Updated Fuel Map Generation
● ● ● 78
include fuel model, vegetation height, percent vegetation cover, canopy bulk density, and canopy
base height.
The development of all layers has been described above, with the exception of the canopy bulk
density and canopy base height layers. The canopy base height layer was assigned a universal value
of 3’ for all pixels assigned either a timber-understory or a timber litter fuel type model, based on our
knowledge of local vegetation. In lieu of actual field measurements of canopy fuels in Marin County,
canopy bulk density was estimated for pixels with a timber-understory or a timber litter fuel type
model using plot data collected for ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir and Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer
forest types in the Interior West (Scott and Reinhardt, 2005). For each fuel model and canopy cover
bin, a canopy bulk density value was assigned.
ArcFuels30 was used to compile the 5 m rasters of the eight data layers into a landscape file. In
addition, bilinear interpolation and majority method resampling methods were used to convert the
5 m raster datasets to 30 m resolution, and a 30 m landscape file was created for fire modeling using
the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS).
A.7 References
Scott J.H. and Burgan R.E. (2005) Standard fire behavior fuel models: a comprehensive set for use with
Rothermel’s surface fire spread model. General Technical Report by the USDA Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, RMRS-GTR-153, June. Available at
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr153.pdf.
Scott J.H. and Reinhardt E.D. (2005) Stereo photo guide for estimating canopy fuel characteristics in conifer
stands. General technical report by the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, RMRS-GTR-145, March. Available at
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr145.pdf.
30 http://www.arcfuels.org/
● ● ● Appendix B: Areas of Concern and Marin County Fire Plan Projects
● ● ● 79
Appendix B: Areas of Concern and Marin
County Fire Plan Projects
This appendix provides a complete list of the areas of concern information and hazard mitigation
efforts provided by the stakeholder agencies listed in alphabetical order by agency name (not in
order of priority), and also includes a list of past, current, and/or planned projects from the 2015
Marin Unit Fire Plan. These lists are intended to provide a starting point for identifying and
prioritizing a more complete, countywide list of future fuel reduction and outreach projects.
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyBolinas FPDBolinas Mesa, Little Mesa, Paradise Valley Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on paths and trails; shaded fuel breaks between open space, parklands, and WUI; hazardouse fuel reduction, water system expansion & improvement Corte Madera Endeavor (Town) Hazardous fuel reduction (HFR) (town owned)Corte Madera Madrono‐Pleasant (Town) Hazardous fuel reduction (HFR) (town owned)Corte Madera Tiburon Ridge Hazardous fuel reduction (HFR) (Open Space)Corte MaderaRing Mountain Hazardous fuel reduction (HFR) (Open Space)Corte MaderaMadera del Presidio Phase IIPotential Firewise community, public education, veg mgt plan (VMP)Corte MaderaChapman Park/Meadowsweet Potential Firewise community(ies), public educationCorte MaderaMarin Estates Potential Firewise community, public educationCorte MaderaBlithdale Ridge Hazardous fuel reduction (HFR) (Open Space)Corte MaderaChristmas Tree Hill Potential Firewise community, public educationCorte MaderaMadera del Presidio Phase I Potential Firewise community, public educationCorte MaderaPalm Hill/Blue Rock Potential Firewise community, public educationInvernessWatershed Maintain and improve fuel breaksInvernessWatershed Maintain and improve fire roads in watershedInvernessResidential areasImprove access and egress on private maintained roads and reduce hazard fuels on public & private properties; public education and outreach; upgrade water mains to improve fire flowInvernessResidential areasImprove access and egress on private maintained roads and reduce hazard fuels on public & private properties; public education and outreachKentfieldFrom King Mountain Loop project (Larkspur) to 76 Ridgecrest Rd.Open Space Land. (WUI) with highly valued assets at risk.Continuing and strengthing projects from neighboring agencys. Needs ImplementationExhibit A. List of Fire Roads, Fuel Breaks, Planned Projects, and Other Treatments 80
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyKentfieldFrom 123 Crown Rd, including the area of Harry Allen Trail to area of Goodhill Rd and Crown Rd.MMWD Land. (WUI) with highly valued assets at risk. New project. Needs ImplementationKentfieldFrom 123 Crown Rd, to Phoenix Rd and continuing on the Indian Fire Rd stopping at Blithedale Ridge/Eldridge Grade intersection.MMWD Land. (WUI) with highly valued assets at risk. Past fuel‐break completed. Needs to be maintained and strengthened.KentfieldFrom 351 Evergreen Rd to 414 Crown Rd to 12 Ridgecrest Rd. South and Southeast facing slope.Open Space Land. (WUI) with highly valued assets at risk. Proposed project. Needs ImplementationKentfieldFrom 12 Ridgecrest Rd to 76 Ridgecrest Rd. Including all of BlueRidge Rd. Southwest facing slope.Open Space Land. (WUI) with highly valued assets at risk. Past fuel‐break completed. Needs to be maintained and strengthened.KentfieldEvergreen Fire Trail, Rancheria Rd Connection, Crown Rd ConnectionAccess and Egress roads. Maintenance and clearing of a project that has been completed in the past.LarkspurMarina Vista/SE Baltimore Canyon Hazardous fuel reduction treatmentLarkspurKing Mountain/NW Baltimore Canyon Hazardous fuel reduction treatmentLarkspurNorth Magnolia WUI Potential Firewise communityLarkspurBaltimore Canyon WUI (aka Madrone Canyon) Potential Firewise communityLarkspurMarina Vista Area WUI Potential Firewise communityLarkspurGreenbrae Hills WUI (incorporated LRK) Potential Firewise communityLarkspurPalm Hill WUI Potential Firewise communityMCFDHill Ranch Strategically placed fuel treatmentMCFDDickson Lookout Defensible Space of infrastructureMCFDMt Tam Lookout Defensible Space of infrastructureMCFDMt Tam Middle Peak Infrastructure Defensible Space of infrastructureMCFDSleepy Hollow WUIDefensiable Space, & strategically placed fuel treatment, Firewise Community 81
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyMCFDRancho Santa Margarita WUI Evacuation routes & roads, defensible space, Firewise CommunityMCFDInverness WUI Evacuation routes & roads, defensible spaceMCFDGreen Gulch Defensible SpaceMCFDThrockmorton /Panoramic WUI Evacuation routes & roads, defensible spaceMCFDWoodacre/Lagunitas/Forest Knolls WUI Evacuation routes & roads, defensible spaceMCFDCSA 19 Bay View Defensible SpaceMCFDStinson Beach WUI Evacuation routes & roads, defensible spaceMCFDCSA 19 San Pedro Defensible SpaceMCFDCSA 19 Summit Defensible SpaceMCFDCSA 19 Los Ranchitos Defensible SpaceMCOSDAll areas Maintenance and management of invasive species spreadMCOSDAll boundaries with homes Defensible spaceMCOSDFuels ManagementMCOSDFuels ManagementMCOSDFuels ManagementMill ValleyCity Right of Way 25' buffer along the roadwayMill ValleyCascadeMill ValleyMMWD Property Tall grass and brush fuel reductionMill ValleyOpen Space Property Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reductionMill ValleyOpen Space Property Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reductionMill ValleyMMWD Grass, brush and Acacia fuel reductionMill ValleyOpen Space Property 100' fuel reduction ‐ grass and brushMill ValleyMMWD/Private/City ROW Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reduction on primary access fire roadMill ValleyCity PropertyTall grass, broom, brush fuel reduction on paper roads to continue ring around Mill ValleyMill ValleySummitMill ValleyCity PropertyTall grass, broom, brush fuel reduction on paper roads to continue ring around Mill ValleyMill ValleyOpen Space Property 100' fuel reduction ‐ grass and brush 82
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyMill ValleyPrivate Property Tall grass, thick brush, pine tree fuel reduction below homesMill ValleyPrivate Property Tall grass, thick brush, pine tree fuel reductionMill ValleyOpen Space Property 100' fuel reduction ‐ grass and brushMill ValleyOpen Space Property Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reduction on primary access fire roadMill ValleyCity PropertyGrass, brush and tree fuel reduction along a designated evacuation pathMill ValleyScott Valley Tall grass, broom, brush, tree and fuel reduction Mill ValleyPGE Property Tall grass, broom, brush and pine tree fuel reductionMill ValleyS/B 101 on ramp from EB to No Name exit Tall grass, thick brush, pine tree fuel reductionMill ValleyWarner Canyon/Scott HighlandsMill ValleyCity Right of Way Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reduction along roadwayMill ValleyCity Property Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reductionMill ValleyOpen Space Tall grass, broom, brush fuel reductionMill ValleyOpen Space Property 50'‐100' fuel reduction ‐ grass and brushMMWDSKY OAKS MEADOW VMP BurnMMWDROCK SPRING VMP BurnMMWDPINE MOUNTAIN SOUTH GATE VMP BurnMMWDDEER PARK RD Road MaintMMWDSKY OAKS HEADQUARTERS D SpaceMMWDPETERS DAM AND DEFENSIBLE SPACE D spaceMW LVCSA 13Behind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' inMW LVLucas Valley EstatesBehind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' inMW LVHorse Hill AreaBehind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' inMW LVBerry AreaBehind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' in 83
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyMW LVMiller Creek Rd AreaBehind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' inMW LVLimestone Hill AreaBehind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' inMW LVQueenstone Fire Road Fire Road; fire road clearanceMW LVValleystone ProjectBehind homes fronting open space; Mow grasses, limb trees up 10', remove dead vegetation 100' inNovato Wildhorse Valley Streets & Roads: Vineyard Rd., Wildhorse Valley Rd., West Brooke Ln., Palomino Rd., Pinto Rd., Rebelo Ln., Wali Trail, Woodside Ct., Meadow Ln. Fire Roads Access: Indian Tree Rd., & Wildhorse Valley Fire Rd., Deer Camp & H Ranch Rd.Projects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation 2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel break ‐ 100ft surrounding Wildhorse Valley neighborhood.5. Maintain Fire Road Access‐ Brush out fire road 10' on both sides and provide 14' vertical clearance between Wild Horse Valley and NovatoAtherton Streets & Roads: Atherton Ave., Oak Shade Ln., Saddlewood Dr., Morningstar Ct., Trailview Ct., Dry Creek Ln., Bugeia Ln., H Ln., Bahia Dr., Topaz Dr., Laguna Vista, Cerro Crest, Ashlet Ct., Lindsey Ct., Albatross Dr., Santanna Dr., River Vista Dr. Baruna Ct., Tiki Rd., Andale Ave., Malobar Dr., Crest, School Rd., Sutton Ln., Lockton Ln., Sunset Trail, Hampton, Woodview Ln., Greenpoint Ln., Glen rd. Channel Ln., Bridge Ln. & Harbor Dr. Fire Road Access:Pinheiro Ridge, Rush CreekProjects:1. Firewise Community Designation2. Remove fire‐prone plants in defensible space zones3. Chipper day programs4. Shaded fuel breaks‐100‐200’ between Laguna Vista, Bahia Lane, School Road, Crest Road, Green Point Lane and Bridge Lane.5. Evacuation Routes‐ Brush out emergency evacuation routes and provide signage between Albatross/Laguna Vista and Crest Road and Crest Rd to Williams and Alpine Rd.6. Develop and implement Bahia VMP. 84
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoMarin Valley Streets & Roads: Marin Valley Dr., Marin View, Scenic, Wild Oak Dr., Meadow View, View Ridge Dr., Sunrise Ln., Club View, Fallen Leaf Way., Panama Dr.,Fire Road Access: Muroc Lake Emergency Access RoadProjects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation2. Remove all fire prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Chipper Day Program.4. Evacuation routes‐ brush out 20ft on both sides and remove pine trees along the roadway.5. Fuel breaks ‐ 100‐200ft surrounding the mobile home park 6. Implement VMP.NovatoLittle Mountain Streets & Roads:Stirup Ln., Verissimo Rd., Saddle Ln., Ravine Way, Oak Valley Rd., Sanchez Way., Center Blvd., Daryl Dr., Taurus Dr., Trish Dr., Kathleen Dr., Libra & Aries Dr., Ruben Ct., Mae Ct., Stasia Dr., Stasia Ct., San Joaquin Pl., Michele Circle, Lorraine Ct. Fire Road Access: Stafford Lake & Doe Hill Projects:1. Fire Wise Designation2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Chipper Day program.4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ San Joaquin Place between PV School and Little Mountain OSD; Pleasant Valley HOA.; Kathleen Drive and Michelle Circle 5. VMP's for multi‐family dwellings 6. Maintain Fire Road Access ‐ Brush out fire road 10' on both sides and provide 14' vertical clearance. 85
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoSan Marin Streets & Roads:San Ramon, San Andreas, Hawthorne Ter., La Merida Ct., La Placita Ct., San Domingo Wy., San Blas Ct., Andreas Ct., San Mateo Wy., Coronado Ct., Palmo Wy., Palmo Ct., Verdad Wy., San San Carlos Wy., Jacinto Wy, Sereno Wy., Sotelo Wy., Viejo Wy, Partridge Dr., Partridge Ct., Woodleaf Ct., Adobe Ct., Simmons Ln., Butterfield Dr., Fieldstone Dr., Sundance Wy, West Campus Dr., Woodhollow Dr., Meadowcrest Rd. Fire Road Access: San Andreas, San Marin Salt Lick, San Carlos, Creekside, Quarry BasaltProjects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation 2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel break ‐ 100‐200ft along surrounding homes adjacent to wildlands.5. Maintain Fire Road Access ‐ brush out fire roads 10' on both sidea and 14' vertical clearance.NovatoBlackpoint Streets & Roads: Harbor Rd., Havenwood Ave., Granview Ave., Beattie Ln, Phillip Terrace Ave., Manzanita Ln., Mistletoe, Murphy Leibert Ln., Iolanthus ave., Holly Ave., Oak Ave., Laurel Ave., Hemlock Ave., Norton Ave., San Rafael St., Cedar Ave.Bayview Rd., Day Island Rd. Stonetree Dr., Owl ridge Ct.Projects:1. Firewise Community Designation2. Remove fire‐prone plants in defensible space zones3. Community Chipper day program4. Evacuation Routes ‐ Provide additional egress routes between Black Point and Stone Tree; Mazanita Avenue and Phillip Terrace Ave. 5. Evaluate "area of refuge" at the end of Lolanthus and Norton Ave. 86
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoCherry Hill Streets & Roads: Armstrong Ave., Cherry st., Cherry Ct., Cherry Hill, Chase St., Plum St., Peach St., Olive Ave., Zandra Pl., Sherwood Pl., Summers Ave., Rudnick Ave., Rebecca Wy., Rita Ct., Olive Ct., Robinhood Dr., Knight Dr., Bishop Ct., Castle Ct., Knolltop Ct., Cross Creek Wy., Upland Ln., Westridge Ln., Samrose Dr., Ming Ct., Wendy Ct., Jacob Ct., Vincent Ln., Galloway ln., James ct., Rose Ct., Windwalker Wy., Bay Tree Hollow, Equestrian Ct., Churchill Ln., Kristin Marie Ct.Projects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation 2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ 100ft between neighborhoods and wildlands.5. Maintain Fire Road Access‐ brush out 10ft on both sides and provide 14' vertical clearance. 87
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoIndian Valley Streets & Roads:Indian Valley Rd., Pacheco Rd., Chamberlain Ave., Indian Trail, Old Ranch Rd., Wildwood Ln., Bloom Ln., Gage Ln, Slowdown Ct., Indian Springs, McClay Rd.,., Silva Ct., Syl Dor Ln., Knuttle Ct., Canyon Rd., Ridge Rd., Forrest Rd., Half Moon Rd., Black Oak Ln., Wilson Ave., Mill Rd., Santa Maria Dr., Blanca Dr., Roca Ct., Plata Ct. Tanglewood Ln. Syosett Ln.Fire Road Access:H Ranch and Indian Valley Fire Rd., Ebright Fire Rd., H Ranch, Burnt Ridge. Projects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation 2. Remove fire –prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ 100’ surrounding Half Moon Rd., Canyon Rd., Forest Rd., and Tenaya Lane.5. Evacuation Routes ‐ Evaluate second route from Half Moon Road to Indian Valley Rd.6. Maintain Fire Road Access –brush out 20’ on both sides of the road & 14’ vertical clearance.7. Old Ranch Rd., brush out road 20’ on both sides and 14’ vertical clearance. 88
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoIgnacio Valley Streets & Roads:Carnoustie HTS., Baywood Circle, Bonnie Brae Dr., Obertz Ln., Burning Tree, Caddy Court., Wentworth Ln., Nassue Ct., Thornhill Ct., Thunderbird Dr., Thunderbird Ct., Pensacola Ct., piping Rock Rd., St. Andrews Dr., Capalano Dr., Prestwick Ct., Fairway Dr., Spyglass Dr., Birdie Dr., Country Club Dr., Eagle Dr., Olympia Wy., Marin Oaks Dr., Greg Pl., Germaine Pl., Montura Wy., Ignacio Blvd., Fire Roads: Montura, Eagle, Burnt Ridge & Indian Valley College.Projects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation.2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Chipper Programs.4. Shaded Fuel breaks ‐ 100ft between residences and wildlands surrounding Carnoustie Heights, Eagle Dr., Country Club Dr., & Olympia Dr. & Burning Tree Dr.5. Maintain Fire Road Access by brushing out 10’ on both sides and 14’ vertical clearance. 89
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoPacheco Valley Streets & Roads: Alameda Del Prado, Red Hawk Rd, Pelican Ln, Kingfisher, Elegant Tern, Elf Owl, Sage Grouse, Curlew WY, Pacheco Creek Way, Buckeye Ct., Raccoon Dr., Badger Ct., Acorn Ct., Oak Forest Rd., Eagle Gap Rd., Eagle Gap Ct., Hawk Ridge, Paper Mill Creek Ct., Chaparral Ct., Burdell Ct., Josefa Ct., Charmaine Ct., Duarte Ct., Clay & Grass Ct.Fire Roads: Heatherstone, Ponte, Little Cat, Chicken Stack & Posada Del Sol FireProjects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation2. Remove Fire prone Vegetation in defensible Space Zones3. Chipper Day Program.4. VMP’s for each HOA5. Evacuation Route‐maintain egress by brushing out 10’ on both sides of roadway.6. Maintain Fire Road Access ‐ brush out 10’ on both sides and vertical clearance 14’.7. Evaluate alternative evacuation routes. 90
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoAnderson Rowe Streets & Roads:Silverberry Circle, Merrit Dr., Shannon Ct., Valleyview Terr., Ash Ct.,Laurelwood Dr., Highland Dr., Aaron Dr., Claire Ct., Judith Ct., Karia Ct., Becky Ct., Crystal Ct., Deborah Ct., Woodfern Ct., Palmer Dr., Rowe Ranch Dr., Ranch Ct., Rowe Ranch Wy., White Oak Wy., Oak Wy., Oak Grove Dr., Elmview Wy., Owens Dr., Entrada Dr., Azelea Pl.,Susan Wy, Margaret Ct., Arlene Way, Stone Dr., Arlington Circ., Oak View Ct., Woodland Ct., Fire Roads: Palmer & Anderson Rowe Water Access Rds.Projects:1. Fire Wise Designation2. Remove fire –prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ 100’‐200’ surrounding Highland Dr., Arlington Ct., Woodland Ct., Oak View, Becky, Crystal, Aaron and Pacific Drive, Margaret Ct., Susan Way and Arlene Way.5. Maintain Fire Road Access‐ brush out 10’ on both sides and 14’ vertical clearance.6. VMP’s for HOA’s and multi‐family dwellings.7. Pine Tree Removal Susan Way and Margaret Court.NovatoLoma Verde Streets & Roads:Cielo Ln., Posada Del Sol, Madrid Ln, Calle Arboleda, Calle De La Selva, Via Escondida, Corte Colina, Corte Del Cerol, Corte Sur, Corte Nortel, Calle Paseo, Corte Escuela, Alameda del Loma, Calle Empinado, Pebble Beach, Winged Foot.Fire Roads: Escondida Rd.Projects: 1. Fire Wise Designation2. Remove fire‐prone plants in defensible space zones3. Chipper Day Program.4. Fuel break ‐ 100’‐200’ surrounding Winged Foot Dr., and Pebble Beach Dr.5. VMP’s – multi‐family dwellings (Posada Del Sol & Ceilo Lane)6. Maintain Fire Road Access – brush out fire roads 10’ on both sides and 14’ vertical clearance. 91
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoPresidents/IVC Streets & Roads:Creekwood Ct., Kathy Ct. Sunset PKWY., Turber Dr.,Arrowhead Ln., Indian Hills Ct., Flint Ct., Garner Dr., Truman Dr., Rowland Dr., Shevlin Dr., Balara Dr., Kaden Dr., Drakewood Dr., Pierce Dr., Brown Dr.Projects: 1. Fire Wise Designation2. Remove fire –prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ 100’ surrounding homes. 5. Indian Valley College‐VMP for maintenance and fire road maintenance.NovatoWilson West Streets & Roads:Wilson Ave., Maestro Rd.,Pillsbury Ln, Hatch Rd Carbo Ridge., Vida Ct., Eldorado Ct., La Costa Ct., Oro Ct., Mockingbird Ct., Goldfinch Ct., Meadowwark Ct., Nina Dr.,Bear Creek and Brooke Dr.Fire Roads: Cabro Ridge, Wildhorse Valley connection/Ryan Trail..Projects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation 2. Remove fire –prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Community Chipper Days4. Evacuation routes‐ of 20’ on both sides and 14’ vertical clearance for Wilson Extension and Maestro Rd.5. Cabro Ridge Road ‐ brush out roadsides 20’ and 14’ vertical clearance. 6. Maintain Fire Road Access ‐ Cabro Ridge and Wilson/H Ranch Rd.NovatoNovato North Streets & Roads: Regalia Dr., Olivia dr., Oliva Ct., Amanda Ln., Raposa Vista, Dorothy WY., Valle View WY., Benton Dr., Tara Ln., Marion Ave., Rockrose WY., Santolina, Seventh St., Somerset Dr., Escallon Dr.Projects:1. Fire Wise Community Designation 2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones3. Community Chipper Days4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ 100’‐200’ surrounding neighborhoods adjacent to wildlands.5. VMP’s for multi‐family dwellings. 92
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyNovatoHilltop Streets & Roads: Hayden Ave., Lamont Ave., Reichert Ave., Prospect Place.Projects:1. Fire Wise Designation2. Remove fire prone plants in defensible space zones.3. Chipper Day Program4. Shaded fuel breaks ‐ 100’ surrounding homes and multi‐family dwellings.5. VMP’s for multi‐family dwellings.6. Hilltop Restaurant 200’ fuel‐break.7. Update and implement Hilltop Restaurant VMP .Ross ValleyRoss (east)Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reductiRoss ValleyFairfax Manor (West)Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleyRoss (south)Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleySleepy HollowDefensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction. 93
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyRoss ValleyCascade CanyonDefensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleyFairfax (East)Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleyAlameda, Morningside, Upper San Anselmo AveDefensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleyRoss (central)Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleySan Anselmo (east)Defensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleyHawthorne HillsDefensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction. 94
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyRoss ValleySan Francisco BlvdDefensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleySan Anselmo DowntownDefensible Space improvement and enforcement in the WUI; fire apparatus access on roadways; egress and escape routes on roadways; egress and escape routes on steps and lanes and paths; potential shaded fuel breaks between open space and WUI; fuel reduction.Ross ValleySmith Ranch areas Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelProfessional Center Parkway areas Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelSan Pedro Ridge: Dominican Neighborhood, Glenwood Neighborhood, Peacock Gap areasFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelSan Rafael Hill to Ridgewood Ave (end) Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelGerstle ParkFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelBret HarteFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelCA State Park Fuel reductionSan RafaelSmith Ranch areas Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelGerstle ParkFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelBret HarteFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelSan Rafael Hill to Ridgewood Ave (end) Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelProfessional Center Parkway areas Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelTerra Linda neighborhoods Fuel reduction/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelLos Ranchitos areasFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public education 95
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategySan RafaelWest EndFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSan RafaelSan Pedro Ridge: Dominican Neighborhood, Glenwood Neighborhood, Peacock Gap areasFuel reduction/roadway clearance/Firewise community/public educationSleepy HollowLoma Alta Fuel ModificationSouthern MarinRicardo Open Spc. Goat grazing ‐ post graze masticationSouthern MarinAutumn Ln/Cabin Brush removal/canopy lift/burn piles/shaded fuel breakSouthern MarinRing Mtn. Area 100' off prop lines ‐ def space clearingSouthern MarinRodeo Water Tank Goat grazing ‐ subsequent brush masticationSouthern MarinMeda Project Tree thinning/brush removalSouthern MarinMilland Goat grazing ‐ post brush masticationSouthern MarinSeminary Pine tree removalSouthern MarinHawkhill Goat raze ‐ post brush removalSouthern MarinLaguna/Forest Brush removal ‐ shaded fuel breakSouthern MarinLattie Lane/Hwy. 1 Goat grazing ‐ post graze masticationSouthern MarinHwy 1 ‐ Erica/Friars Eucalyptus removalSouthern MarinSo. Morning Sun/Tennessee Chipper days (2) & roadway clearanceSouthern MarinBlackfield Goat graze ‐ brush removal afterSouthern MarinUS 101/Wolfback Eucalyptus removal/brush cut/shaded fuel breakSouthern MarinEdwards/Marion Brush removal ‐ shaded fuel breakSouthern MarinCabin Drive Eucalyptus removalSouthern MarinAqua Hotel Hill Pompas grass removal & goat grazing ‐ hand cut & stack brushSouthern MarinFairview Road pavingSouthern MarinHomestead Valley L.T. Eucalyptus removal/brush cut/shaded fuel breakTiburon FPDRing Mountain fuel modification, fuel reduction, access, water supply, fire roadsTiburon FPDOld St Hilary's Open Space fuel modification, fuel reduction, access, water supplyTiburon FPDMiddle Ridge Open Space fuel modification, fuel reduction, access, water supplyTiburon FPDAll town of Tiburon properties fuel modification, accessTiburon FPDSouth Knoll Playground/McKegney Green fuel reduction, access maintenance 96
Appendix B Exhibit A. All Area of Concern Data Acquired from Local Stakeholder Agencies Data shown in Figure 9Agency Geograpic Location/Description Fuel Reduction StrategyTiburon FPDSugarloaf Drive to Paradise Drive fuel modification, fuel reduction, access, water supply, fire roadsTiburon FPDOpen Space fuel modification, fuel reduction, access, water supplyTiburon FPDMiddle Ridge Open Space fuel modification, fuel reduction, access, water supplyTiburon FPDGreenwood Beach/Audubon fuel reduction, access maintenanceTiburon FPDBlackies Pasture fuel reduction, access maintenanceTiburon FPDTiburon Marsh seasonal grass maintenance, fuel modificationTiburon FPDRomberg Tiburon Centerfuel reduction, access, water supply, building maintenance, fire roadsTiburon FPDBelvedere Lanes and right of waysvegetation modification, fuel reduction, public right of way clearance, westshore road accessTiburon FPDTom Price Park dead trees, high grasses, fuel modificationTiburon FPDParadise State Parkfuel reduction, access, water supply, building maintenance, fire roads 97
Appendix B Exhibit B. 2015 Pre‐Fire Projects 2015 Unit Fire Plan/CAL MAPPERAgency & Project Name SRA, Threat, LRA Project Type CALMAPPER IDWork Agent StatusYear Complete Net AcresTAM Community Service District MRN D Space 1010‐2015‐FRP‐003 TAM CREW P 2015 2MMWD BILL WILLIAMS FB MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐004 MMWD M 2015 4MMWD DEER PARK RD MRN Road Maint 1010‐2015‐FRP‐005 MMWD M 2015 9MMWD KNOB I MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐006 Contract M 2015 48MMWD KNOB II MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐006 Contract M 2015 28MMWD LAGUNITAS ROCK SPRING BREAK MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐007 MMWD M 2015 12MMWD LOWER RAILROAD GRADE MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐008 Contract P 2015 18MMWD NATALIE COFFIN GREENE DIBBLEE MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐009 Contract M 2015 8MMWD PETERS DAM AND DSPACE MRN D space 1010‐2015‐FRP‐010 MMWD M 2015 10MMWD PHOENIX DAM MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐011 MMWD M 2015 2PHOENIX LAKE ROAD FB MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐012 MMWD M 2015 3MMWD PINE MOUNTAIN FB MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐013 MMWD M 2015 13MMWD PINE MOUNTAIN SOUTH GATE MRN VMP Burn 1010‐2015‐VMP‐002 MMWD p 2015 30MMWD PORTEOUS FB MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐014 Contract P 2015 19MMWD ROCK SPRING MRN VMP Burn 1010‐2015‐VMP‐002 MMWD M 2015 37MMWD ROSS RESERVOIR BREAK MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐015 Contract M 2015 17MMWD SHAVER GRADE BREAK MRN Road Maint 1010‐2015‐FRP‐016 MMWD M 2015 8MMWD SKY OAKS HEADQUARTERS MRN D Space 1010‐2015‐FRP‐017 MMWD M 2015 10MMWD SKY OAKS MEADOW MRN VMP Burn 1010‐2015‐VMP‐003 MMWD M 2015 47MMWD WORN SPRING MIDDLE MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐018 Contract M 2015 16MMWD WORN SPRING NORTH MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐018 Contract M 2015 11MMWD Middle Peak Dspace MRN D space 1010‐2015‐FRP‐019 MCFD P 2016 1MMWD North VMP MRN VMP Burn 1010‐2015‐VMP‐004 MCFD P 2015 481MCP CITY SAN RAF Scettrini 1&2THRT Fuel Break1010‐2014‐VMP‐008TAM CrewO2016 5MCOSD Terra Linda/Sleepy Hollow Preserve MRN Defensible Space MCPA2016 49MCOSD King Mountain Phase 1MRN FB maintenance MCFDP2015 10MCOSD King Mountain Phase 2 MRN Fuel Break Tam CrewC2015 10MCOSD Camino Alto Phase 1‐4MRN Fuel Break MVFDM2015 50MCOSD Camino Alto Phase 5MRN Fuelbreak MVFDP2018 20MCOSD Hillside Fuel BreakMRN Fuelbreak MVFDC2015 5MCSOD Middle Summit Fire Road MRN FB Maint MVFD M 2015 4Exhibit B. Project List from the 2015 Fire Plan 98
Appendix B Exhibit B. 2015 Pre‐Fire Projects 2015 Unit Fire Plan/CAL MAPPERAgency & Project Name SRA, Threat, LRA Project Type CALMAPPER IDWork Agent StatusYear Complete Net AcresMCOSD Crown/Coronet MRN FB maint KNTFD P 2016 4.5MCOSD Terra Linda Ridge MRN fb/ecu removal TAM & Contract P 2015 40MCOSD/KNTFD Baltimore Cyn/Ridgecrest MRN FB maint KNTFD Contract P 2015 31MCOSD/MMWD/KNTFD‐ BWGulch/Indian FR MRN Fuel Break P 2016 TBD MCOSD Cascade Canyon Fuel Break MRN Fuel Break Contract P 2017 41MCOSD/MCFD King Mountain Phase 2 MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2013‐VMP‐009 TAM Crew C 2015 14MCOSD/MVFD Mill Valley Fuel Break MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2014‐VMP‐006 A 2016 61MCOSD Gary Giacomini Preserve MRN Defensible Space 1010‐2014‐VMP‐002 P 2017 10MCOSD Blithedale Ridge FB Area 1,2,3 MRN FB maintenance‐MVFD M 2015 15MCOSD Corte Madera Ridge Fuel Break MRN FB maintenance‐MVFD M 2015 6MVFD/MCOSD Corte Madera Ridge Fuel Break MRN Fuel Break A 2017 32NVFD/MCOFD Sleepy Hollow Community DefensMRN D space TAM & Contract P 2015 0NPS Smith Road Euc Thin MRN Thinning 1010‐2015‐FRP‐030 P 2015 11NPS Marin Drive Euc Thin MRN Thinning 1010‐2015‐FRP‐029 P 2015 32NPS Tam Valley WUI Fuel Reduction MRN Fuel Reduction 1010‐2015‐FRP‐027 P 2015 27NPS Inverness Ridge Mechanical FR MRN Mech fuel red 1010‐2015‐FRP‐020 P 2015‐2018 81NPS Bolinas Ridge Thinning MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2015‐FRP‐024 P 2015‐2018 81NPS Forest Wy WUI Fuel Reduction MRN Fuel Reduction 1010‐2015‐FRP‐028 P 2016 5NPS Lamintour Rx MRN Prescribed Fire 1010‐2015‐FRP‐026 P 2016 128NPS Mc Curdy Rx MRN Prescribed Fire 1010‐2015‐FRP‐021 P 2016 127NPS Strain Hill Rx MRN Prescribed Fire 1010‐2015‐FRP‐022 P 2015 74NPS Dogtown Rx MRN Prescribed Fire 1010‐2015‐FRP‐023 P 2015 44MCFD Shroyer Mtn FB MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2012‐VMP‐003 O 2016 TBDMCFD Triple C Ranch MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2012‐VMP‐007 O 2016 TBDMCFD Iron Spring Road Fuel Break MRN Fuel Break‐A 2018 22MCFD Throckmorton Fire Road MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2011‐FPL‐001 MCFD M 2015 1MCFD/VFD Rancho Santa Margarita MRN Fire Rd/DSpace P 2015 0MCFD 4291 Inspections Inverness MRN D Space 1010‐2015‐PRV‐001 MCFD P 2015 1MCFD Priority Fire Road Maintenance MRN Fire Rd Maint. 4200‐2015‐FRP‐002 MCFD P 2015 TBDMCFD 4291 Inspections Woodacres/Lagunitas/FMRN D space 1010‐2015‐PRV‐002 MCFD P 2015 0MCFD/Novato Burnt Ridge FB, Novato MRN Fuel Break 1010‐2012‐VMP‐004 TAM Crew O 2015‐2020 75MCFD Skywalker Ranch MRN D Space 1010‐2012‐VMP‐006 TAM Crew O MCFD Dickson Lookout MRN Pile Burn 1010‐2015‐FRP‐033 MCFD C 2015 0.1 99
Appendix B Exhibit B. 2015 Pre‐Fire Projects 2015 Unit Fire Plan/CAL MAPPERAgency & Project Name SRA, Threat, LRA Project Type CALMAPPER IDWork Agent StatusYear Complete Net AcresMCFD Green Waste Days – Nicasio MRN Disposal 1010‐2015‐FRP‐031W Marin Compost P 2015 0MCFD Countwide CWPP MRN Plan 1010‐2015‐FRP‐032FIRE SAFE Marin P 2015‐2016 0MCFD Tam Lookout Dspace MRN D space MCFD P 2016 TBDKNTFD 4291 Inspections – Kent Woodland EstateMRN D SpaceFire Inspector P 2015 0Status Guide: Work Agent: A= activeContract, Agency (Fire Dept,crew, engine) P=planningC=completeO=ongoingm= maintenance 100
● ● ● Appendix C: Glossary
● ● ● 101
Appendix C: Glossary
Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) – The organization, office, or individual responsible for
approving equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 4).
Aspect – Compass direction toward which a slope faces (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 4).
Building – Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy (NFPA,
NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 4).
Combustible – Any material that, in the form in which it is used and under the conditions
anticipated, will ignite and burn or will add appreciable heat to an ambient fire (NFPA, NFPA 1144,
2002, p. 5).
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) – Addresses issues such as wildfire response, hazard
mitigation, community preparedness, or structure protection. The process of developing a CWPP can
help communities clarify and refine their priorities for the protection of life, property, and critical
infrastructure in the WUI (Source: Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, March, 2004,
http://www.stateforesters.org/files/cwpphandbook.pdf ).
Condition Class – Describes fire-related risk to ecosystems and relates current expected wildfires to
their historic frequency and effects. Condition class ranks are defined as the relative risk of losing key
components that define an ecosystem. Higher ranked areas present greater risk to ecosystem health.
Condition class is a measure of the expected response of ecosystems to fire given current vegetation
type and structure that often is far different from that historically present.
● ● ● Appendix C: Glossary
● ● ● 102
Class
Departure
from natural
regimes
Vegetation
composition,
structure,
fuels
Fire behavior,
severity, pattern
Disturbance
agents,
native
species,
hydrologic
functions
Increased
smoke
production
Low
Condition
Class 1
None,
minimal Similar Similar
Within
natural range
of variation
Low
Moderate
Condition
Class 2
Moderate Moderately
altered Uncharacteristic
Outside
historical
range of
variation
Moderate
High
Condition
Class 3
High Significantly
different
Highly
uncharacteristic
Substantially
outside
historical
range of
variation
High
(Source: CDF FRAP 2003 Forest and Range Assessment, p. 98)
Defensible Space – An area as defined by the AHJ (typically a width of 30-100 feet or more) between
an improved property and a potential wildland fire where combustible materials and vegetation have
been removed or modified to reduce the potential for fire on improved property spreading to
wildland fuels and to provide a safe working area for fire fighters protecting life and improved
property from wildland fire (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5), or as defined by PRC 4291.
Disaster – Disaster is characterized by the scope of an emergency. An emergency becomes a disaster
when it exceeds the capability of the local resources to manage it. Disasters often result in great
damage, loss, or destruction (Greene, R.W., Confronting Catastrophe, ESRI Press, 2002, p. 110).
Dry Hydrant – An arrangement of pipe permanently connected to a water source other than a
piped, pressurized water supply system that provides a ready means of water supply for fire-fighting
purposes and that uses the drafting (suction) capability of fire department pumpers (NFPA, NFPA
1144, 2002, p. 5).
Dwelling – One or more living units, each providing complete and independent living facilities for
one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and
sanitation (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 4).
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Emergency – A deviation from planned or expected behavior or course of events that endangers or
adversely affects people, property, or the environment (Greene, R.W., Confronting Catastrophe, ESRI
Press, 2002, p. 110).
Evacuation/Escape Route – A route away from dangerous areas on a fire; should be preplanned.
Fire Behavior – The manner in which a fire reacts to the influences of fuel, weather, and topography.
Fire Frequency – A broad measure of the rate of fire occurrence in a particular area. For historical
analyses, fire frequency is often expressed using the fire return interval calculation. For modern-era
analyses, where data on timing and size of fires are recorded, fire frequency is often best expressed
using fire rotation (CDF FRAP 2003 Forest and Range Assessment, p. A-12).
Fire Hazard – A fuel complex, defined by volume, type condition, arrangement, and location that
determine the degree of ease of ignition and of resistance to control.
Fire Lane – A means of access or other passageway designated and identified to provide access for
emergency apparatus where parking is not allowed (NFPA, NFPA 1141, 1998, p. 4).
Fire Protection – All measures taken to reduce the burden of fire on the quality of life. Fire
protection includes measures such as fire prevention, fire suppression, built-in fire protection
systems, and planning and building codes (NFPA, NFPA 1141, 1998, p. 4).
Fire Protection System – Any fire alarm device or system or fire extinguishing device or system, or
combination, that is designed and installed for detecting, controlling, or extinguishing a fire or
otherwise alerting occupants, or the fire department, or both, that a fire has occurred (NFPA, NFPA
1141, 1998, p. 4).
Fire Threat – The combination of two factors: 1) fire frequency, or the likelihood of a given area
burning, and 2) potential fire behavior (hazard). Components include surface fuels, topography, fire
history, and weather conditions.
Fire Regime – A measure of the general pattern of fire frequency and severity typical to a particular
area or type of landscape: The regime can include other metrics of the fire, including seasonality and
typical fire size, as well as a measure of the pattern of variability in characteristics (CDF FRAP 2003
Forest and Range Assessment, p. A-12).
Fire Road - improved or unimproved roads, public or private, that provide access for firefighting
equipment and personnel to undeveloped areas (MCFD Ordinance, Chapter 5 Section 502.1).
Fire Rotation – An area-based average estimate of fire frequency, calculated as the length of time
necessary for an area equal to the total area of interest to burn. Fire rotation is often applied to
regionally stratified land groupings where individual fire-return interval across the variability of the
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strata (i.e., the fine scale pattern of variation in timing of fires) is unknown, but detailed information
on fire size is known. Hence, fire rotation is a common estimate of fire frequency during periods of
recorded fire sizes (CDF FRAP 2003 Forest and Range Assessment, p. A-12).
Fire Weather – Weather conditions that influence fire starts, fire behavior or fire suppression
(FIREWISE Communities, 2009.
Firebreak – A natural or constructed barrier used to stop or check fires that may occur, or to provide
a control line from which to work (FIREWISE Communities, 2009.
Fuelbreak – An area, strategically located for fighting anticipated fires, where the native vegetation
has been permanently modified or replaced so that fires burning into it can be more easily
controlled. Fuel breaks divide fire-prone areas into smaller areas for easier fire control and to provide
access for firefighting.
Fuels – All combustible material within the wildland/urban interface or intermix, including vegetation
and structures.
Fuel Loading – The volume of fuel in a given area generally expressed in tons per acre.
Fuel Models – Description of the types of vegetative combustible material:
• Light Fuels – grasses, forbs
• Medium Fuels – short light brush and small trees
• Heavy Fuels – tall dense brush, timber and hardwoods
• Slash Fuels – logs, chunks, bark, branches, stumps, and broken understory trees and brush.
Fuel Modification – Any manipulation or removal of fuels to reduce the likelihood of ignition or the
resistance to fire control (FIREWISE Communities, 2009).
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – The combination of skilled persons, spatial and
descriptive data, analytic methods, and computer software and hardware – all organized to
automate, manage, and deliver information though geographic presentation (i.e., maps) (Zeiler, M.,
Modeling Our World, ESRI Press, 1999, p. 46).
Ground Fuels – All combustible materials such as grass, duff, loose surface litter, tree or shrub roots,
rotting wood, leaves, peat or sawdust that typically support combustion.
Hazard – Refers generally to physical characteristics that may cause an emergency. Earthquake faults,
flood zones, and highly flammable brush fields are all examples of hazards (Greene, R.W.,
Confronting Catastrophe, ESRI Press, 2002, p. 110). Also see Fire Hazard.
Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA), 2003 – This Act gives incentives for communities to
engage in comprehensive forest planning and prioritization. This legislation includes statutory
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incentives for the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to give
consideration to the priorities of local communities as they develop and implement forest
management and hazardous fuel reduction priorities. The Act emphasizes the need for federal
agencies to work collaboratively with communities in developing hazardous fuel reduction projects,
and places priority on treatment areas identified by communities themselves in a CWPP (Source:
Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. March, 2004).
Improved Property – A piece of land or real estate upon which a structure has been placed, a
marketable crop is growing (including timber), or other property improvement has been made
(NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5).
Intermix – An area where improved property and wildland fuels meet with no clearly defined
boundary (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5).
Ladder Fuels – Fuels that provide vertical continuity allowing fire to carry from surface fuels in the
crowns of trees or shrubs with relative ease (FIREWISE Communities, 2009).
Mitigation – Action that moderates the severity of a fire or risk (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5).
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) – An international nonprofit organization, established
in 1896, to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing
and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education.
NFPA-1144 Standard for Protection of life and Property from Wildfire – Standard developed by
the NFPA to be used to provide minimum planning, construction, maintenance, education, and
management elements for the protection of life, property, and other values that could be threatened
by wildland fire. The standard shall be used to provide minimum requirements to parties responsible
for fire protection, land use planning, property development, property maintenance, and others
responsible for or interested in improving fire and life safety in areas where wildland fire could
threaten lives, property, and other values (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 4).
Noncombustible – Any material that, in the form in which it is used and under the conditions
anticipated will not ignite and burn nor will add appreciable heat to an ambient fire (NFPA, NFPA
1144, 2002, p. 5).
Overstory – That portion of the trees in a forest that forms the upper or uppermost layer.
Risk – The potential or likelihood of an emergency to occur. For example, the risk of damage to a
structure from wildfire is high if it is built upon, or adjacent to, a highly flammable brush field or
other area deemed to have a high Fire Threat (Greene, R.W., Confronting Catastrophe, ESRI Press,
2002, p. 110).
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Safe Zone – An area cleared of flammable materials used for escape in the event the line is
outflanked or in case a spot fire causes fuels outside the control line to render the line unsafe. In
firing operations, crews progress so as to maintain a safety zone close at hand allowing the fuels
inside the control line to be consumed before going ahead. Safety zones may also be constructed as
integral parts of fuelbreaks; they are greatly enlarged areas which can be used with relative safety by
firefighters and their equipment in the event of blowup in the vicinity.
Slope – The variation of terrain from the horizontal; the number of feet rise or fall per 100 feet
measured horizontally, expressed as a percentage. Upward or downward incline or slant (NFPA, NFPA
1144, 2002, p. 5).
Turnaround – A portion of a roadway, unobstructed by parking, that allows for a safe reversal of
direction for emergency equipment (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5).
Turnouts – A widening in a travelway of sufficient length and width to allow vehicles to pass one
another (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5).
Understory – Low-growing vegetation (herbaceous, brush or reproduction) growing under a stand
of trees. Also, that portion of trees in a forest stand below the Overstory.
Water Supply – A source of water for fire-fighting activities (NFPA, NFPA 1144, 2002, p. 5).
Wildfire – Any fire occurring on undeveloped land; the term specifies a fire occurring on a wildland
area that does not meet management objectives and thus requires a suppression response. Wildland
fire protection agencies use this term generally to indicate a vegetation fire. Wildfire often replaces
such terms as forest fire, brush fire, range fire, and grass fire (CDF FRAP 2003 Forest and Range
Assessment, p. A-17).
Wildland – A region with minimal development as evidenced by few structures; transportation
networks may traverse the region. Region typically contains natural vegetation and may be used for
recreational or agricultural purposes (CDF FRAP 2003 Forest and Range Assessment, p. A-17).
Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) – Commonly described as the zone where structures and other
human development meet and intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. In the
absence of a CWPP, Section 101 (16) of the HFRA defines WUI as “ (I) an area extending ½ mile from
the boundary of an at-risk community; (II) an area within 1 ½ miles of the boundary of an at-risk
community, including any land that (1) has a sustained steep slope that creates the potential for
wildfire behavior endangering the at-risk community; (2) has a geographic feature that aids in
creating an effective fire break, such as a road or ridge top; or (3) is in condition class 3, as
documented by the Secretary in the project-specific environmental analysis; (III) an area that is
adjacent to an evacuation route for an at-risk community that the Secretary determines, in
cooperation with the at-risk community, requires hazardous fuels reduction to provide safer
evacuation from the at-risk community.” A CWPP offers the opportunity to establish a localized
definition and boundary for the wildland-urban interface (Source: Preparing a Community Wildfire
Protection Plan. March, 2004).
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Appendix D: CWPP Action Plan
This appendix provides an action plan tracking table for the CWPP goals and recommendations
outlined in Section 8.
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Key Goals and Corresponding Action Items Agency Status
Goal 1. Continue to identify and evaluate wildland fire hazards and recognize life, property, and natural resource assets at risk,
including watershed, wildlife habitat, and other values of functioning ecosystems.
Continue to collect, analyze, and maintain multi-agency hazard and
resource GIS data.
Maintain an accessible online GIS portal to store and share the multi-
agency maps and data developed throughout this CWPP process.
Utilize the GIS information and modeling results presented in Section 5
of this CWPP for pre-fire planning, and to collaboratively develop
priorities for projects throughout the county.
Develop an inventory of structures with shake and shingle roofing
material in each jurisdiction to identify and target education efforts and
the need for roof conversions.
Consider ways to improve the coverage of the fire detection cameras.
Consider ways to use drone technology for fire protection.
Goal 2. Articulate and promote the concept of land use planning related to fire risk and individual landowner objectives and
responsibilities.
Continue to promote the concept of land use planning as it relates to fire
risk and landowner responsibilities; identify the key minimum elements
necessary to achieve a fire safe community and incorporate these
elements into community outreach materials and programs.
Continue to implement the structural ignitability activities outlined in
Section 7.2.
Develop outreach materials outlined in Section 7.1.1.
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Key Goals and Corresponding Action Items Agency Status
Coordinate with county and local government staff to integrate Firewise
approaches into planning documents and ordinances.
Identify approaches to increase the number of WUI properties inspected
each year.
Continue to support community chipper programs to encourage
compliance with defensible space and vegetation management
requirements.
Continue the structure ignitability efforts currently in place (see Section
7.2).
Consider how to make the tree removal process less cumbersome and
less expensive.
Goal 3. Support and continue to participate in the collaborative development and implementation of wildland fire
protection plans and other local, county, and regional plans that address fire protection and landowner objectives.
Work collaboratively with county, local, and regional agencies and
landowners to develop fuel reduction priorities and strategies based on
this CWPP, local CWPPs, and/or other regional plans.
Support the development and implementation of local-scale CWPPs.
Provide a collaboration mechanism between private property owners
(and Home Owners Associations) and large land owners (i.e., MCOSD,
MMWD, NPS)
Consider the creation of transition zones (areas between developed
residential areas and open space areas) where additional defensible
space or additional vegetation clearance is needed.
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Key Goals and Corresponding Action Items Agency Status
Goal 4. Increase awareness, knowledge, and actions implemented by individuals and communities to reduce human loss
and property damage from wildland fires, such as defensible space and fuels reduction activities, and fire prevention through
fire safe building standards.
Continue to implement the defensible space and outreach activities
outlined in Section 7.2.
Develop outreach materials outlined in Section 7.1.1.
Continue inter-agency coordination with Marin’s fire service community
and other partners to maintain a community presence and to develop
and distribute public information regarding fuel reduction efforts
throughout the county.
Educate landowners, residents, and business owners about the risks and
personal responsibilities of living in the wildlands, including applicable
regulations and prevention measures and preplanning activities.
Continue efforts to partner with neighborhoods located in WUI areas to
educate them on becoming fire adapted or Firewise communities.
Continue to educate and prepare communities through an emphasis on
the Ready, Set, Go! and the Firewise community programs, and create
and support venues in which individual community members can be
actively involved in local fire safe councils, community emergency
response teams, and other community-based efforts in order to develop
readiness plans and educate landowners to mitigate the risks and effects
of wildland fire.
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Key Goals and Corresponding Action Items Agency Status
Continue to increase education and awareness about structural
ignitability and defensible space; develop and distribute educational
materials to vendors and contractors who sell or install fire resistant
materials, and make these materials available at local home improvement
stores.
Increase the number of annual defensible space inspections and increase
enforcement.
Consider providing defensible space financial assistance for senior
citizens.
Better enforce defensible space compliance with absentee property
owners.
Develop and distribute more information about fire resistant
landscaping.
Create a fire blog.
Develop an App for evacuation route information.
Goal 5. Integrate fire and fuels management practices with landowner priorities and multiple jurisdictional efforts within local,
state, and federal responsibility areas.
Continue to implement the vegetation management and fuel reduction
activities outlined in Section 7.2.
Continue implementation of the countywide fuel break and fire plan
implementation.
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Key Goals and Corresponding Action Items Agency Status
Continue to implement and maintain vegetation management projects
along highly-traveled roadways and access points into all public lands in
order to minimize ignitions.
Prioritize evacuation routes for fuel reduction programs
Develop traffic congestion controls along evacuation routes
Implement stronger parking enforcement along evacuation routes
Continue to maintain foot trail network in Mill Valley
Implement maintenance program for foot trail network in Fairfax
Encourage community-level drills for evacuation preparedness
Develop a program to address fuel reduction on vacant properties.
Consider grazing as a fuel reduction strategy.
Consider if additional vegetation reduction are required from roadways
that are key evacuation routes into or out of a particular neighborhood
Create extended or enhanced vegetation fuels management along all
identified evacuation routes from developed residential and open space
areas.
Create transition zones to extend shaded fuel breaks between developed
residential areas and open space areas.
Identify and implement vegetation management projects in priority WUI
communities throughout the county.
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Key Goals and Corresponding Action Items Agency Status
Work to reduce regulatory barriers that limit hazardous fuels reduction
activities (e.g., tree removal process).
Use the published science on fire ecology to assess the costs, benefits,
and best implementation tools for different fuels reduction and
vegetation management strategies that are intended to reduce fire risk
to lives and property.
Continue to develop strategic partnerships and funding opportunities
with local industries to support fuel reduction projects.
MARIN COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
33 Castle Rock Rd, PO Box 518
Woodacre, CA 94973
www.marincountyfire.org
in collaboration with
www.firesafemarin.org