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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFD Grand Jury Response on Wildfire Preparedness____________________________________________________________________________________ FOR CITY CLERK ONLY File No.: 269 Council Meeting: 6/17/2019 Disposition: Resolution 14688 with Amended Response Agenda Item No: 6.a Meeting Date: June 17, 2019 SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Department: Fire Department Prepared by: Christopher Gray, Fire Chief City Manager Approval: _______ TOPIC: GRAND JURY REPORT ON WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS SUBJECT: RESOLUTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL’S RESPONSE TO THE 2018-2019 MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT ENTITLED, “WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS: A NEW APPROACH” RECOMMENDATION: Adopt a resolution approving the City of San Rafael’s response to the Marin County Civil Grand Jury’s report entitled, “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach.” BACKGROUND: On April 25, 2019, the 2018-19 Marin County Civil Grand Jury issued a report entitled Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach relating to their evaluation of the impacts of wildfire to life and property in Marin County, including in San Rafael. The City of San Rafael is required to respond to all Grand Jury reports. Penal Code section 933 states in part: No later than 90 days after the Grand Jury submits a final report…the governing body of the public agency shall comment to the presiding Judge of the Superior Court on the findings and recommendations contained in the report. To comply with this statute, the City’s response to the Grand Jury report must be approved by resolution of the City Council and submitted to the Presiding Judge of the Marin County Superior Court and the Foreperson of the Grand Jury by July 24, 2019. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution approving the City of San Rafael’s response to the Grand Jury’s report (Attachment 1). ANALYSIS: As part of routine City operations, the City of San Rafael proactively addresses wildfire risk in numerous ways. These measures include actions such as: • Providing free vegetation inspections for residents • Supporting and coordinating free community chipper days. • Engaging and supporting communities seeking Firewise certification. SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2 • Regularly patrolling the open space with two Police Department Rangers. • Providing ongoing public outreach and education at community events, homeowners associations meetings, and City events. Prior to the release of the Grand Jury’s report, the City of San Rafael had recently made significant progress towards improving wildfire prevention. In August 2018, staff presented an informational report to the City Council relating to the City’s wildfire prevention efforts. As part of the presentation, the City Council provided direction to staff to draft a bold and comprehensive plan to further address wildfire risk in San Rafael. In response to direction from the City Council, along with public comment, staff developed a draft Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan. Many of the recommendations set forth in the September 11, 2018 Lesson’s Learned report from the Marin County Board of Supervisors sub-committee were incorporated into the Plan. On March 18, 2019, the City Council approved the Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan. The Plan outlines 38 wildfire prevention goals, including updating the City’s vegetation management standards, expanding existing wildfire prevention programs, and implementing new programs and projects. Full details of the Plan, including videos, meeting materials, and feedback forms, are available on the City’s website. City staff are evaluating what findings and recommendations from the Grand Jury’s report should be incorporated into the implementation of the City’s 38-point plan. Staff will continually evaluate both documents for their effects on wildfire preparedness, prevention, and protection. In their report, the Grand Jury reviewed the conditions that make Marin County vulnerable to wildfire, assessed the plans currently in place to correct them, and recommends a new approach to meeting these challenges. According to their analysis, there are four areas of vulnerability relating to wildfire safety: • Vegetation Management: fuel conditions, overgrown vegetation, inadequate policies and procedures intended to manage and reduce vegetation, and too few inspectors available to determine compliance and enforcement • Educating the Public: Lack of knowledge from community members relating to how to prepare and respond to wildfires, how to make their homes fire resistant or how to create defensible space, when to collect emergency supplies, how to plan for evacuations, how to sign up to receive emergency alerts, and where to find information regarding wildfire prevention programs that are not well known or are not offered frequently • Alerts: A flaw exists in Marin County’s two emergency alert systems, Alert Marin and Nixle, by requiring users to opt-in • Evacuations: Marin County’s topography, narrow and overgrown roads, traffic-calming obstacles, lack of emergency traffic flow, neglect of public transportation, and complacency make evacuations difficult To combat these challenges, the Grand Jury recommends that 25 local government agencies in Marin County, including special fire districts, cities and town, Marin County Fire Department, Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) and County of Marin create a joint powers authority to coordinate a comprehensive, consistent approach to pre-ignition planning funded by a ¼ cent sales tax. The Grand Jury believes that this approach will improve wildfire preparedness and demonstrate Marin County’s political will to improve wildfire safety throughout Marin County. The Grand Jury has requested that the governing bodies including Marin County, Transportation Authority of Marin, Marin Transit District, various school districts, and municipalities, including the City of San Rafael, respond to recommendations contained within their report. The Grand Jury’s findings and recommendations are set out on page 22 and 24 of the 37-page report (see SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3 Attachment 1) The City of San Rafael has been specifically asked to respond to Recommendations R1, R3 through R13, and R15. City of San Rafael’s Response to Findings and Recommendations The topic of this report is of tremendous importance to all Marin County residents. As a sign of our commitment to addressing the threat of wildfires in a collaborative, countywide fashion, the executives of Marin’s municipalities and fire agencies have worked together to prepare responses to all the reports’ findings and recommendations. This unified response to the Grand Jury’s report can be found in Attachment 2. In addition, City of San Rafael staff have expanded on some of these unified responses to include additional details specific to the City, which can be found in Attachment A to the Unified Response to Grand Jury Report (and included here as Attachment 3). FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with this item. OPTIONS: The City Council has the following options to consider relating to this item: 1. Adopt the resolution as presented. 2. Adopt the resolution as amended. 3. Direct staff to return with additional information. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt a resolution approving the City of San Rafael’s response to the Marin County Civil Grand Jury’s report entitled, “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach.” ATTACHMENTS: 1. Grand Jury report entitled “Wildfire Prevention: A New Approach” 2. Unified Response to Grand Jury Report 3. City of San Rafael Supplemental Responses 4. Resolution 2018–2019 MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY Wildfire Preparedness A New Approach Report Date: April 18, 2019 Public Release Date: April 25, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach SUMMARY Marin faces unprecedented danger to life and property from wildfire. The Grand Jury reviewed the conditions that make us vulnerable to wildfire, assessed the plans currently in place to correct them, and recommends a new approach to meeting these challenges. Four areas of vulnerability stand out: Vegetation Management: Fuel conditions make Marin extremely vulnerable to wildfires. Through a combination of aggressive fire suppression and environmental policies, overgrown vegetation has created hazardous fuel loads throughout the county. The policies and procedures intended to manage and reduce vegetation are inadequate. Too few inspectors are available to determine compliance, and enforcement is too slow. Educating the Public: The public’s ignorance of how to prepare for and respond to wildfires makes Marin vulnerable. Most people do not know how to make their homes fire resistant or create defensible space by cutting back vegetation. Many have failed to collect emergency supplies or plan for evacuations. Nearly 90% of the county’s residents have not signed up to receive emergency alerts. Programs to educate the public for wildfire are not well known and are offered infrequently. The county’s only organization assigned to educate the public about wildfires is understaffed. Alerts: The two crucial emergency alert systems in the county have a flaw that restricts their reach. Both Alert Marin and Nixle, as opt-in systems, warn only those who have registered. Evacuations: Evacuation planning is also a grave concern. Marin’s topography creates great danger for those who live far from the main evacuation routes. Most connecting roads are narrow and overgrown. Some are constricted by traffic calming obstacles such as concrete medians, and bump outs which impede traffic in emergency evacuations. Plans to ease emergency traffic flow such as traffic-light sequencing and the conversion of two-way roads to one-way flow corridors are years away from implementation. Marin’s roads lack the capacity for a mass evacuation in personal vehicles. Public transit is a neglected piece of evacuation preparedness and is underused. Inertia and complacency have prevented a proactive and nimble response to wildfire dangers. The Grand Jury Proposes: The creation of a joint powers authority to coordinate a comprehensive, consistent approach to pre-ignition planning funded by a ¼ cent sales tax. This new approach will remedy the gaps in our preparedness and demonstrate our political will to improve wildfire safety in Marin. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 2 of 37 INTRODUCTION The conditions that made wildfire a distant and unlikely risk have now changed. Through a combination of new weather patterns, aggressive suppression of natural wildfires, and pro - vegetation environmental policy, Marin has become extremely vulnerable to devastation from wildfires. We are living in a powder keg. Marin’s first responders are highly trained and dedicated specialists who excel in fighting fires. Mutual aid among fire agencies and disaster coordinators operates seamlessly, and countywide agencies meet regularly to discuss pre-ignition (before a fire) and pre-suppression (before a fire is extinguished) preparation. However, there are significant disparities among fire districts in the policies applicable to vegetation management, education of the public, evacuations and use of sirens. Considering Marin’s current state of preparedness, citizens should not assume that first responders will be able to save them from the horrors of a wildfire like those experienced during Butte County’s Camp Fire. The deadly threat of fire creates an urgent need for new policies for wildfire preparedness which must be implemented without delay. These policies and practices must be made a top priority to ensure the public’s safety. Marin County has been warned repeatedly that it stands one spark away from a major conflagration, but many of the county’s governments continue to conduct business as usual. Uncoordinated pre-ignition planning, jurisdictional rivalries, and a glacial pace for implementation of improvements has left the public in grave danger. This report argues for a change in civic culture and suggests a mechanism to address many of the inadequacies in wildfire preparedness. The Grand Jury recommends the creation of a countywide umbrella agency to fund, coordinate and lead pre-ignition and pre-suppression planning. METHODOLOGY To prepare this report, the Grand Jury: ■ Interviewed county officials and fire chiefs. ■ Interviewed individuals in law enforcement, arboriculture, emergency planning, wildfire education, public advocacy, transportation, and public transit. ■ Surveyed current fire preparedness procedures and practices. ■ Reviewed newspaper articles. ■ Examined websites. ■ Studied wildfire and firefighting blogs. ■ Reviewed emergency alert platforms. ■ Researched emergency transportation studies. ■ Considered previous Grand Jury wildfire reports. ■ Visited 2017 and 2018 wildfire sites in Sonoma and Butte Counties. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 3 of 37 DISCUSSION Vegetation Management The danger of a catastrophic wildfire in Marin exists in part due to vegetation management policies. Approximately 60,000 acres fall within the wildland urban interface (WUI), where residences are intermixed with open space and wildland vegetation. The Marin County Fire Department estimates there are upwards of 69,000 living units valued at $59 billion within this area, which borders virtually every city and town in Marin. While vegetation management is critical throughout the county, its importance is elevated in areas where homes and residences are within the WUI.1 Photographs of Marin County in the first half of the 20th Century reveal a landscape of open grassland with a smattering of trees and bushes. When the Golden Gate Bridge opened, many new homes were built, and more vegetation was planted. Marin now consists of homes, businesses, and shopping centers surrounded by densely overgrown vegetation. This overgrowth constitutes an enormous hazard that could fuel a firestorm and devastate our communities. 1 Weber, Jason and Neill, Christie. “2017 Marin County Unit Strategic Fire Plan & Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)”, Section 1.0. Accessed 12 Sept. 2018. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 4 of 37 View from Mt. Tamalpais in days gone by (top) and today 2019. (Bottom photo: Eileen Alexander) Overgrown vegetation also threatens Marin’s roads and evacuation routes. It narrows these escape routes, many of which will be impassable in a wildfire. As happened in Paradise, panicked Marin residents may try to flee only to find the roads impeded by burning vegetation, fallen trees, downed power lines, and stalled cars with melting engine blocks.2 2 St. John, Page, Serna, Joseph, and Lin II, Rong-Gong. “Here’s how Paradise ignored warnings and became a Deathtrap.” LA Times. 30 Dec. 2018. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 5 of 37 Burned Cars and Melted Aluminum from Engine Block Caused by Extreme Heat in Camp Fire, November 2018. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) The Mercury News. Published Nov. 13, 2018. Overhanging trees, thick underbrush, and vegetation that have grown too close to structures also pose serious threats. First responders will bypass evacuated homes that are overgrown by vegetation. Instead, they will move on to homes that have defensible space rather than attempt to save a structure that has none. Facts: 1. The federal government and the State of California own thousands of acres of ungroomed open space in the county. 2. The Marin Municipal Water District owns approximately 21,500 acres of wildland3 and has been clearing only 30 acres per year.4 3. Marin County Open Space District owns approximately 16,000 acres of wildland, but only about 10% are managed to reduce fire hazard annually.5 4. According to the Marin County Assessor’s Office, approximately 4,400 vacant lots are in the county. They are usually not well maintained, or maintained at all, and as a result are dangerously overgrown, often with pyrophytic (fire prone) plants. 5. The vegetation management policies and practices by the county fire departments and districts are not uniform. 3 “About MMWD,” Marin Municipal Water District. Accessed on 14 Mar. 2018. 4 Spotswood, Dick. “Challenge becomes clear in visit to MMWD watershed.” Marin Independent Journal. 25 Sept. 2018. 5 Korton, Max. “2016-17 Annual Report.” Marin County Parks and Open Space. p. 3. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 6 of 37 6. The number of dedicated vegetation inspectors, who are also trained firefighters, varies significantly from one department to another. For example, the largest fire department, the County of Marin, has two chief officers, two captains, two part-time inspectors, and four to six seasonal defensible space inspectors. In contrast, many smaller departments cannot dedicate even a single firefighter to full-time inspection duties. 7. The number and frequency of vegetation/defensible space inspections vary significantly among jurisdictions. 8. Jurisdictions differ regarding the vegetation that is or should be banned. For example, San Rafael requires but fails to enforce the removal of juniper and bamboo as they are considered pyrophytic plants, but most cities and towns have no list of prohibited plants. 9. In residential communities, the lack of vegetation inspectors requires some departments to conduct only “windshield” inspections, where engine crews drive through neighborhoods looking for obvious violations that can be seen from the street, often missing hidden hazardous conditions. 10. Where hazardous conditions are observed and corrective notices are issued, jurisdictions rarely have the resources to follow-up and confirm the violations have been remedied. 11. The formal procedures to take action against code violators vary from one jurisdiction to another and none provide a streamlined process that will accomplish corrective actions in a timely manner. 12. Vegetation management is a repetitive task that needs to be performed at least annually; it requires clearing underbrush, mowing grass, limbing-up trees and disposing of dead matter. Two charts summarizing current vegetation management practices in all of Marin’s fire jurisdictions are attached as Appendix A. Educating the Public Another essential issue is education of the public. To reach everyone in every neighborhood the number of Firewise Communities should be expanded through the efforts of Firewise USA™ and FIRESafe Marin. These two organizations support Marin County neighborhoods to reduce wildfire risks by educating and motivating citizens to mitigate hazards and prepare for a wildfire disaster. Firewise Communities are neighborhood groups certified by Firewise USA, a national organization that teaches people about the risk of wildfire and encourages neighbors to take immediate action to protect their homes and improve their safety through neighborhood-wide collaboration. Communities develop plans that guide their risk reduction activities and develop collaborative efforts for neighbors to work toward building a safer place to live. Marin already has over 30 Firewise Communities. FIRESafe Marin is a local non-profit information organization dedicated to wildfire risk prevention and increasing fire-safety awareness in Marin County. This organization provides education, resources, tools, and on-going support for neighborhoods to form Firewise Communities. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 7 of 37 FIRESafe Marin also provides information and literature to the Fire in Marin! program that is held each wildfire season. Only a single volunteer delivers the Fire in Marin! program thereby limiting the number of sessions and attendees. In addition, there are a number of emergency preparedness programs offered, most of which cover all disasters, not exclusively wildfire. These are delivered by volunteers or fire departments. Most public education sessions have been notable for the predominance of older residents and the paucity of parents of young children. Even if all local fire jurisdictions in Marin were to act together, more personnel would be needed to make sure everyone gets the message and gets prepared. This must be done at a grass roots level. Marin Firewise Communities have shown that they can generate much more neighborhood participation and preparation than public agencies are able to do. In order to involve all neighborhoods, FIRESafe Marin needs to expand its staff and activities from its one current part- time employee. Education of the public is essential to enable Marin residents to reduce damages and destruction, to escape wildfire, and to survive. Educating and informing the public requires complete disclosure. This includes posting all possible evacuation routes and other exits including stairs, paths, fire roads and shortcuts. It also includes making all appropriate geographic information system maps easily understandable so residents can see and evaluate their own individual properties and situations regardless of possible commercial misuse by the insurance industry or others. By providing all information, emergency planners will enable people to make the best decisions for their own safety and survival because people cannot rely on being protected and rescued in a large emergency. Wildfire is Coming: Are We Ready? Ultimately, to be prepared for wildfire, everyone must take responsibility for their own property and join their neighbors to build strong, fire resistant communities. We must shake off apathy, get informed, and act. Citizens have to ask themselves, “Am I ready and do I know what actions to take?” For example, have I... 1. Created defensible space around my home? 2. Hardened my home against ember showers? 3. Discussed evacuation plans with my family? 4. Identified two exit routes from my neighborhood? 5. Stocked emergency supplies to last 72 hours? 6. Signed up for all emergency alerts? 7. Packed a go-bag? If the answer to any of these questions is no, our safety authorities have failed to meet their obligation to educate and convince the public, or our citizens have failed to incorporate their message. Prompt action is needed while there still is time to prepare. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 8 of 37 Facts: 1. Public education on wildfire preparedness is delivered inconsistently via websites, email, and in person in neighborhoods, homes, pop-up meetings, and classes. 2. County wildfire education policies are not consistent across towns/cities nor is the application of those policies. 3. Marin has 30 plus Firewise Communities which encourage neighbors to help neighbors to prepare for emergencies. 4. Only about 10% of Marin residents are signed up for Alert Marin. 5. Only a small percentage of Marin’s citizens have attended a wildfire safety preparation meeting. 6. FIRESafe Marin has only one part-time employee to educate the entire county. 7. Emergency preparedness information is occasionally offered by CERT, Get Ready Novato, Neighborhood Response Groups, Fire in Marin!, FIRESafe Marin, FireWise Communities and fire departments. 8. There are no other countywide government sponsored programs that cover wildfire preparation. 9. Few residents take advantage of home visits provided by fire departments to assess their properties’ vegetation and fire hazards. Two charts summarizing current programs to educate the public in the county are attached as Appendix B. Alerts When a wildfire starts, emergency managers implement a number of alert systems to protect the public. It is critical that those in the path of a deadly wildfire receive accurate and timely information. The effectiveness of these warnings depends on the reliability of all alert system technologies and their rapid implementation through the emergency command structure. Alert Technologies and their Weaknesses Marin County has overlapping alert systems, which can be implemented for emergency events. Such redundancy is important as no single system will reach all residents at all times. Emergency managers use the Emergency Alert System, Wireless Emergency Alerts, Alert Marin, Nixle and, in some fire districts, sirens. In addition, emergency services use television and radio bulletins, and social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor, and Instagram to inform the public. As a last resort, law enforcement personnel and fire fighters may go door to door or use loud speakers to deliver evacuation orders. Emergency Alert System is used for catastrophic events. It is a national warning system, but state and local authorities can use it to deliver local emergency information. It reaches Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 9 of 37 the public via broadcast, cable, satellite, and wired communications pathways. However, if power is lost or the devices are switched off, the alert fails. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) is a system that employs “push notification’’ alerts. It reaches mobile devices by geographically targeting cell towers in a certain area. It sends text-like messages that warn of imminent threats to safety in the area. WEA does not require telephone subscribers to sign-up. The disadvantage of the WEA system is that it is geographically imprecise. The message can “bleed over” to those who drive in and out of a cell tower’s range so it can reach more people than the intended recipients of the warning or evacuation order. Because of this, emergency officials hesitate to use it, as was the case in both the Tubbs Fire in 2017 and, again, in the Camp Fire in 2018. Recent history has shown that early use of WEA might be less dangerous, even if too many people are notified, than the risk of using it too late. Despite its over-reach, it offers at least a chance of escape to those in danger. If WEA is used too early and too many people receive an evacuation notice, at worst, it will provide a real-time, full scale evacuation drill for those involved even though it might strain evacuation routes. Additionally, cell tower locations are proprietary information and therefore emergency officials cannot be sure when sending out a WEA that the information will be transmitted to exactly the right geographic location. Emergency planners discovered that in the East Bay, an emergency alert was issued to a specific location and after the event it was revealed that the alert had not gone through because no cell towers were in the targeted geographic area. Further, alerts only reach WEA compatible cell phones that are turned on, that are within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA. Significantly, in the context of wildfires, WEA are also vulnerable to failure because if cell towers and power lines are destroyed, phone contact will be lost, and alerts will fail. Alert Marin is the most precise way to target those populations that need to be warned of danger. It is considered to be the first-tier emergency notification system for the county. It reaches land lines, and for those who register, cell phones, email, and VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) connections. Alerts are sent to individuals who are registered to specific postal addresses and contain vital, but short, instructions such as shelter in place, prepare to evacuate, or evacuate now. These directives remain in effect until the situation changes. Alert Marin keeps leaving messages until the recipient responds. Alert Marin is designed to provide messages to the public using pre-written templates, so its directives are terse, inflexible, and not explanatory. Consequently, after a recent fire event on Mt. Barnabe in Marin, fire officials were told that some recipients were Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 10 of 37 confused because the information conveyed was so brief or not updated as the situation unfolded. Alert Marin is an opt-in service that only reaches those who have signed up. The fact that it is not opt-out is a significant weakness. The Marin Office of Emergency Services (OES) estimates that only about 10% of Marin residents are registered with Alert Marin. In addition, like WEA, Alert Marin is vulnerable to cell tower damage and therefore its communications may fail to reach people in the path of danger. Nixle sends out a text messages to smartphones. It reaches an entire zip code. Messages are sent from different safety authorities to inform the public of local conditions such as roadwork, accidents, weather, and other events. Emergency officials find Nixle a useful and flexible means of transmitting warnings and updates in dynamic situations. It is hard to track how many people subscribe to Nixle because it is a zip code-based registration system with multiple zip codes easily added by one phone subscriber. Emergency planners believe that a low percentage of Marin’s residents are signed up for Nixle. A disadvantage of the Nixle system is that people might develop “Nixle fatigue.” They may stop reading their texts because Nixle is used by so many different agencies and alerts are sent so frequently, including situations that they don’t consider dangerous or relevant. Another disadvantage is that Nixle, as with Alert Marin, is an opt-in system and that it is vulnerable to failure when communications systems are overwhelmed or when cell towers go down. Sirens do not depend on wireless technology and therefore they are less likely to fail at the same time than other alert systems. Their disadvantages are that sirens cannot be heard everywhere or by all people and they do not convey specific information unless they have a voice communication system attached such as a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Social media are useful but also subject to cell tower failure. Also, social media cannot reach those who are not online. Radio and TV bulletins are reliable because they are independent of cell towers and they operate on different frequencies in the wireless spectrum. Radio and TV, however, require power and access to equipment. To serve as a reliable alert system such devices must be on at all times. Megaphones are used when all else fails. Police and firefighters drive through neighborhoods to warn residents with loud speakers and horns. They also may knock on Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 11 of 37 doors to announce an evacuation. While these methods are highly effective, they are time consuming, dangerous, waste skilled manpower and provide the least amount of advance notice. Woody Baker-Cohn, Emergency Services Coordinator, Marin County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services Having multiple alert systems is essential to reach the greatest number of residents who are in the path of fire danger. No single system is adequate because at some point, each is vulnerable to failure when put to the test. However, designing a warning system that requires the public to sign-up and then failing to advertise adequately its existence, fails to meet even minimum standards of emergency preparedness and common sense. Evacuations Having alerted the public to danger, the next step is to evacuate large groups away from an oncoming wildfire. Evacuations will be difficult; they have not been well planned or practiced. Evacuations in Marin will be chaotic, and could be deadly, during a wildfire. Evacuation Dangers and Concerns The geography of Marin County is varied and most of the county is open space, much of which has become dangerously overgrown. The majority of Marin’s population is concentrated along the Highway 101 corridor. Access from residential neighborhoods to the freeway is usually crowded, through narrow corridors, and often deliberately constricted. Some smaller communities in West Marin are situated along Highway 1, Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, and Novato Boulevard, the county’s main east/west routes. These roads, and Highway 37, would be main evacuation routes to or from Highway 101 to escape a wildfire. None of these arteries is designed to accommodate mass evacuations. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 12 of 37 About 69,000 homes in Marin are in the WUI.6 Due to surrounding vegetation and proximity to wildlands these areas are considered to be at greater risk of wildfires. In the WUI, many residential communities are in steep, box canyons with only one entry or exit road. Houses built on hills are frequently connected to safety only by narrow, winding roads that lack shoulders and have a steep drop to one side. Roads in these areas also snake through hills covered by dense vegetation. The topography and overgrown vegetation of the county makes us vulnerable to catastrophic evacuation failures. Indeed, all areas in Marin are vulnerable to wildfire and evacuation failure no matter whether they are situated inside or outside of the WUI. Those shown on the county’s fire hazard severity zone maps to be located in low fire risk areas are also vulnerable.7 Ember showers and fire tornadoes are frightening characteristics of recent, devastating fires. In wind driven wildfires, embers travel miles ahead of the flame front, igniting new fires. For example, Coffey Park in Santa Rosa is not in the WUI; it abuts Highway 101 and was totally destroyed by the Tubbs Fire. In fact, fire authorities are beginning to consider hazard projection maps misleading because people rely on them mistakenly believing that they are safe.8 No neighborhood can consider itself immune to the ravages of wildfire and difficulties in evacuating. Evacuations in the Camp Fire proved deadly. Poor vegetation management on both sides of the evacuation routes created fuel loads that sent temperatures to over 1500 degrees. This intense heat melted tires and wheel rims, and many newer cars simply ceased to operate when their air intake temperature sensors detected extreme heat. Roads were blocked with abandoned cars, fallen trees and downed power lines, which led to panic -- creating a lethally dangerous situation for those attempting to escape the fire. A number of people died in their cars while attempting to evacuate.9 6 “Updated Wildfire Protection Plan OK’d by Board.” County of Marin. Accessed on 22 Feb. 2019. 7 “Wildland Hazard & Building Codes: Fire Hazard Severity Zones Maps.” Cal Fire. Accessed on 13 Mar. 2019. 8 Pera, Matthew. “Marin firefighters uneasy about state’s risk maps.” Marin Independent Journal. 6 Jan. 2019. 9 Krieger, Lisa and Debolt, David. “Camp Fire: Paradise residents say they received no mass cellphone alerts to evacuate, or to warn of fires - Residents learned late of the danger --then faced gridlock.” The Mercury News. Nov.18, 2018. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 13 of 37 Burned Cars and Downed Power Lines Block Pearson Road in Paradise, California, on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) San Jose Mercury News, November 17, 2018. The Grand Jury visited Paradise in January 2019 to view the disaster. See Appendix F to this report, which compares Paradise’s wildfire preparedness before the Camp Fire with Marin’s current state of preparedness. Marin County has failed to manage its vegetation adequately and its evacuation routes are narrow and overgrown. The public is not sufficiently prepared or drilled in evacuation procedures and first responders cannot handle evacuation events with the speed and scale required by the new, routinely occurring megafires. Even when drills are practiced, they occur on a small scale, using unblocked roads, with clear information and no panic (See Appendix E). The mass movement of populations in an unpredictable, dynamic emergency needs meticulous planning. Fire departments work with law enforcement to manage evacuations and neither may be able to muster sufficient personnel to handle it. The staffing of emergency personnel in Marin is a matter of concern. According to the Grand Jury report in 2011, only 20-30% of first responders live in the county.10 That number is likely to be even lower now. Considering how fast a wildfire travels and how few police and firefighters would be on duty to handle a sudden threat, the county’s reliance on a prompt response from non-resident, reserve and off-duty personnel is unrealistic. They could be delayed for hours because of road damage or congestion, if they even arrive at all. 10 “Disaster Preparedness in Marin: Are You Ready?.” Marin County Civil Grand Jury. 21 June 2011, p.1. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 14 of 37 Marin’s narrow roads cannot all be rebuilt, but existing, wider roads and those that are major evacuation routes should not be narrowed or impeded. Some roads now have obstacles such as concrete medians, sidewalk bump-outs, lane reductions, speed bumps and other “traffic calming” techniques, which will significantly hinder evacuations. The lethal danger these obstacles create outweighs the benefit a community achieves by reducing the “expressway feeling” that busy roads give to a pleasant town. The possibility of a mass evacuation now rises to a significant daily risk in the fire season; constricting already inadequate roads seems reckless. Plans to ease the flow of traffic along existing evacuation routes are far from ready. The use of traffic-light sequencing which could be used to improve the speed and flow of traffic along evacuation routes such as Sir Francis Drake Boulevard are being discussed, but implementation is years away. Other roads that might be suitable for this life-saving innovation have not yet been considered. Additionally, contraflow arrangements, making two-way roads into one-way thoroughfares, is essential to move people more swiftly. Contraflow can increase the directional capacity of a roadway without the time or cost required to construct additional lanes. However, contraflow procedures have not yet been developed or tested for the county’s main evacuation routes. No traffic studies have been performed to determine how long a mass evacuation would take for an entire community. Consequently, comparing the time a mass evacuation on available exit roads would take with the duration of an evacuation on contraflow routes and routes with sequenced traffic lights, has not been considered in evacuation planning. These omissions put the public at grave risk. They will make mass evacuations along Marin’s inadequate roads a predictably terrifying, if not deadly, event. Use of Transit in Evacuations Finding that plans for residents to evacuate in their own vehicles down Marin’s narrow roads has not been adequately addressed, the Grand Jury examined the county’s plans to use public transit to ease congestion along routes that cannot or will not be improved, straightened or enlarged. A vital part of evacuation planning in Marin County should involve the participation of public transit. In the Tubbs fire, a memory care facility was evacuated by bus drivers who, on their own initiative, drove to the facility and rescued the residents.11 Public transit is an underused resource for evacuations. It must be included in emergency planning because buses can carry numerous passengers who otherwise might be trapped. Marin residents who do not have cars cannot simply drive away from a wildfire, yet planners have not identified how many non-drivers would need rescue. 11 McCallum, Kevin. “Santa Rosa bus video shows harrowing Tubbs fire rescue.” Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 5 Jun. 2018. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 15 of 37 A major national report by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies found that transit should be involved in both planning and implementation procedures of an emergency evacuation. It specified that “transit agencies should be part of preparedness plans and represented in the emergency command structure. They can also play a vital role during the response phase, in both helping to evacuate those without access to a private vehicle and bringing emergency responders and equipment to the incident site.”12 Additionally, other emergency transportation preparedness studies reviewed by the Grand Jury make it clear that for an orderly evacuation, large populations cannot be moved without transit being fully represented in the chain of command in an emergency operations center (EOC).13 14 In Marin’s EOC, transit is only represented by Marin Transit. Golden Gate Transit emergency managers, SMART representatives, Whistlestop, Marin Airporter and ferry operators do not have a seat in the room. The current arrangement is that Marin Transit will keep Golden Gate Transit and the other transit agencies informed and on standby. This places most transit agencies too far from the emergency command structure in the operations center and will lead to unnecessary delays as information has to be relayed to and from these other agencies before any assets can be deployed. These emergency transportation studies indicate that an evacuation using public transit requires real-time communication between transit operators and emergency managers prior to and during emergency evacuations. This entails integration of communications within a transit system, among different transit agencies and between transit and other governmental safety partners. Currently, Marin’s transit communications fail to meet these standards. Transit communications are not properly integrated into the Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA), a multi-agency communications system. In 2014, a special parcel tax was passed to fund MERA’s Next Generation radio equipment, a system that was intended to improve its interoperability and integrate emergency communications services into a unified system. Despite this, units in the field of both Golden Gate Transit and Marin Transit still cannot communicate directly with each other, with other transit agencies or with other mutual aid safety partners and first responders to coordinate emergency activities because the new equipment has not yet been installed. It is expected that the new system will be up and running by 2023. This failure impedes the county’s ability to deploy transit services and help evacuate large populations in an emergency. Judged on both criteria of integration with the command structure and fully integrated communications, transit is an underused resource of evacuation preparedness in Marin. 12 The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies Special Report 294. Transportation Research Board 2008. p.3. 13 Schwarz, Michael A. and Litman, Todd A. “Evacuation Station: The use of Public Transportation in Emergency Management Planning.” ITE Journal on the Web. Jan. 2008. 14 Scanlon, J. “Transportation In Emergencies: An Often Neglected Story.” Disaster Prevention and Management. Vol. 12, No. 5 2003. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 16 of 37 Impediments to Progress Much could be done to greatly improve Marin’s wildfire preparedness in all the areas mentioned above were it not for public and private inertia, governmental distrust of the public, and instances of bureaucratic complacency. In the face of wildfires’ unprecedented threat, our political culture must change. We must prioritize public safety now. We need to adopt a new wildfire safety ethic. In the last twenty years, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury has issued five reports on the dangers of wildfire and the importance of being prepared; the most recent was released in 2013. County elected officials overseeing multiple departments and agencies have been required to read and respond to the reports’ recommendations. Although summaries have been published in the Marin Independent Journal and other publications, not enough has been done publicly or privately to improve countywide preparedness. In some cases, local government does not trust the public. It “spins” information to avoid an adverse public response. Government officials and first responders would like the public to believe that all evacuation routes have been cleared of roadside vegetation, all designated access and egress roads are accessible and passable, and that traffic congestion can be handled by police officers who will be in place at critical intersections. The public would be mistaken to believe this. Emergency planners in many jurisdictions do not publicize all possible evacuation routes and other exits including stairs, paths, fire roads and shortcuts because they think that wildfires are too dynamic and unpredictable. They fear that residents will focus on a predetermined route even though changing conditions might make that route unfeasible. Withholding information prevents people from planning ahead for their own evacuation or improvising as circumstances change. It is precisely the unpredictability of wildfire that makes it essential that all possible escape routes be known well in advance. Only if they understand all the options can residents make well- reasoned decisions in unforeseen circumstances. The public needs to be protected from wildfire, not from knowledge. Studies have shown that to build public trust, those in authority positions must be open.15 Trust affects evacuation behavior in emergency situations and is vital to avoid panic. To gain the public’s trust, emergency planners must trust the public, keep them fully informed and explain the limits of their ability to help the public in an emergenc y. Governments must make it clear that alerts might fail and evacuations, if possible at all, will be dangerous, unpredictable and slow. If the public understands that nothing is being hidden, they will make preparations for themselves, trust that the information provided to them is both accurate and as complete as possible and respond to an emergency order without delay or panic. 15 Drury, John and Cocking, Chris “The Mass Psychology of Disasters and Emergency Evacuations: A Research Report and Implications for Practice” Department of Psychology. University of Sussex. March 2007. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 17 of 37 The Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) is an example of bureaucratic complacency and evasion of responsibility. TAM’s job is to oversee the use of its 2004 sales tax money with a “single goal: [i]mprove mobility and reduce local congestion for everyone who lives or works in Marin County by providing a variety of high quality transportation options designed to meet local needs.” Also, improving Marin’s roads and preventing evacuation congestion fits squarely with the provisions of TAM’s new 2018 Expenditure Plan which requires it to spend Measure AA dollars to, among other things, “[m]aintain, improve, and manage Marin County’s local transportation infrastructure, including roads … to create a well-maintained and resilient transportation system” and to “[m]aintain and expand local transit services.”16 Despite this, TAM has not involved itself in planning for mass evacuations, or to improve the county’s roads, evacuation routes, and other emergency infrastructure for large scale emergencies. The Grand Jury was unable to determine why this is so since TAM’s authorizing legislation allows it to perform these functions.17 18 Further, citing concerns about liability, TAM has been resistant to even convening a discussion to address evacuation congestion planning. Although it administers a “Safe Routes to School” program to reduce congestion, TAM claims that making routes safe from fire is not within its power or responsibility. Would not addressing evacuation planning and procedures “improve mobility and reduce congestion” for Marin residents and workers escaping wildfire? Bureaucratic inertia and the shirking of responsibility are dangerous to everyone. Another instance of potentially devastating complacency concerns the fact that both Alert Marin and Nixle are opt-in. Having estimated that only about 10% of Marin residents are registered with Alert Marin, and most likely the same with Nixle, the OES and other county officials should not be content with this dismal number. To date, little effort has gone into increasing registration with a public information campaign: no media blitz, bus advertisements, billboards, mailers or public service announcements. The fact that the vast majority of the county cannot be reached by its two most important warning systems should be of urgent concern. However, the Grand Jury considers that a public information campaign, even if implemented, would still be inadequate for public safety. The OES should facilitate the inclusion of all Marin citizens into Alert Marin and Nixle to make them opt-out systems. Both should have a database containing residents’ contact information. This information can be obtained from a variety of sources. Let those with privacy concerns opt-out. This is a matter of life or death for the ninety percent of Marin residents who are not registered. County and local governments cannot afford to manage vegetation. Property owners must be responsible for doing much of the work. Despite this, county and local officials have made little effort to impress upon property owners that their safety depends on individual action. Few 16 “Transportation Authority of Marin 2018 Final Expenditure Plan.” Accessed on 15 Mar. 2019. 17 “California Public Utilities Code”, Division 19, Chapters.1-6, Sections 180000-180264. 18 Resolution No. 2004-21. Marin County Board of Supervisors. 2 Mar. 2004. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 18 of 37 programs or subsidies are offered. Our local politicians reliance on public participation without adequate public outreach and education is a poor response to mitigating a significant hazard. This slipshod approach to public safety seems to rely more upon the hope for good luck than it does on rigorous planning. Appendix E to this report lists what a former Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator describes as the seven deadly sins of emergency management - each one can be found in Marin’s plans. Why do we have inconsistent vegetation management, inefficient fire code enforcement procedures, and spotty public education? Where are our best thinkers and planners? What is every government agency doing to protect the public from the catastrophic dangers we now confront? Our priorities and attention are elsewhere. Despite the laudable efforts of Marin’s fire chiefs to create a bold new approach to pre-ignition and pre-suppression issues, other entities such as city councils, transportation agencies, environmental groups, regional/urban planners, and land-use activists are not addressing the wildfire risks that climate change has brought to our daily lives. Environmental activists discourage vegetation removal and controlled burns, elected officials allow development in the WUI and choke evacuation routes with obstacles. These policies reflect an old reality and old thinking. The environment, housing, and traffic calming efforts are important, but the consequences of these policies are not being reviewed or modified to address the new hazards created by wildfire. Wildfires ravage the environment; they create massive air quality issues, toxic waste, mass destruction, and most importantly, they cause death. Whether through lethargy, indifference or inflexible thinking, many policy makers, emergency planners, and government agencies do not prioritize wildfire safety, nor do they seem willing or able to act nimbly to forestall an impending disaster. Two charts summarizing current countywide evacuation and alerts issues are attached as Appendix C. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 19 of 37 Air Quality During the Camp Fire. Marin Independent Journal dated November 17, 2018. (Risberg, Eric. Associated Press) CONCLUSION Proposed Umbrella Entity In response to its pre-ignition and pre-suppression planning concerns, the Grand Jury proposes the creation of a countywide entity whose purpose would be to coordinate fire preparedness throughout the county regardless of the political jurisdiction. This proposed umbrella entity (the “Entity”) would not propose to interfere with actual fire-fighting issues nor would it attempt a countywide consolidation of fire departments or districts. Its mission would be to focus on pre- ignition and pre-suppression issues only. Proposed Powers The countywide Entity would have authority to investigate, create, propose, and carry out programs and processes in the following areas: Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 20 of 37 1. Vegetation management: Create a countywide group of at least 30 plus full-time vegetation management inspectors with authority granted by each constituent jurisdiction to inspect property throughout the county regardless of the city/town or county where the property is located. The inspectors would be authorized to issue citations to enforce countywide protocols established by best practices for safe vegetation management. The Entity would create uniform enforcement of vegetation management citations as well as develop an expedited legal process akin to the process currently used in civil courts for evictions. This would ensure prompt compliance with citations. If the creation of this accelerated enforcement procedure requires state legislative action, the Entity should lobby the California legislature for these changes. 2. Fuel Reduction Crews: Create sufficient fire/fuels crews whose sole responsibilities would be to work on reducing the fuel load starting with the highest fire risk areas. 3. Education: Engage in public outreach and education either through dedicated staff or by subcontracting with FIRESafe Marin. 4. Alerts and Evacuations: Develop countywide best practice policies for alert notification systems and evacuation route planning, including the possible use of new technology, such as the LRAD system, as well as working with public transit agencies to develop emergency response protocols, evacuations, drills and alerts. 5. Public Participation: Create programs to encourage fuel reduction work by citizens on their own properties as well as develop funding programs either by the Entity or through grants from other sources to help the elderly, those with access and functional needs, and low-income residents. Suggested Structure The Grand Jury proposes that the Entity be a Joint Powers Authority (JPA). It should include every special fire district, every city and town, Marin County Fire Department, Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) and Parks and Open Space. See Appendix D for a list of those that should be members of the Entity. Although the fire chiefs and city/town managers in the county have come together to formulate a joint community-wide response to all the major wildfire issues, their working group is an informal structure. This group will not be able to fully implement and enforce all of the programs and protocols necessary to make Marin firesafe and prevent individual jurisdictions from adopting their own practices. As fire knows no jurisdictional boundaries, a countywide JPA must be formed to unify wildfire preparation. Funding Funding for pre-ignition and pre-suppression projects is the main obstacle cited by all government agencies and fire districts. Not only do government entities claim that there are no excess funds in their budgets, individual fire departments and special fire districts also claim that they do not have enough money to undertake the types of pre-ignition and pre-suppression proposals cited in this report. It is imperative to solve this critical issue. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 21 of 37 Two practical methods for funding the Entity are (1) a countywide parcel tax or (2) a countywide sales tax: 1. Parcel Tax: According to the Assessor’s office there are approximately 90,000 taxable parcels in Marin County not counting the extensive holdings under control of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, MMWD or Marin County Parks. Thus, any parcel tax paid would have to be high enough to fund projects on these tax-exempt lands. In order to be effective, each jurisdiction would have to pass exactly the same parcel tax measure for the same amount at the same time. Besides the difficulty of having 11 cities and towns as well as the county coordinate such a process, there are a number of special fire districts in the county that would also have to be involved in the drafting and implementation of this process. If just one jurisdiction fails to cooperate with this proposal, the benefit of having a countywide plan to deal with wildfire preparedness would fail. Based on these very real political issues, the Grand Jury does not recommend a parcel tax as the best method to fund the Entity. 2. Sales Tax: The best way to fund the Entity is to authorize a countywide quarter cent sales tax. Under state law, the sales tax is 6% plus an additional mandatory 1.25% for local jurisdictions for a total of 7.25%. State law allows local jurisdictions to assess up to an additional 2% sales tax with voter approval. The 7.25% coupled with the 2% maximum means that the maximum sales tax could be 9.25%. However, the state legislature routinely allows local entities to exceed the 2% cap by simply passing a statute to that effect. For example, all of Los Angeles County, including its 16 cities, plus an additional seven cities in Northern California have requested and been granted the right to exceed the 2% limit. Because of the 2% cap, a number of local officials have resisted putting this final ¼ cent tax before the voters. However, only four jurisdictions currently have actual combined sales tax rates at the 9% level. The remaining eight jurisdictions could easily add this ¼ cent and still not hit the 2% ceiling. Each jurisdiction’s current sales tax is attached as Appendix G. As for the four jurisdictions that would hit the 9.25% maximum, they would be likely to get a state exemption should the need arise in the future. Finally, the most important reason for recommending a ¼ cent sales tax as a funding mechanism is that there need be only one enabling statute which can be placed directly on the ballot by the Marin County Board of Supervisors with the agreement of all the political jurisdictions. Marin voters used this process in November 2018 to continue a ½ cent sales tax for transportation improvements. The time has come to use the final ¼ cent sales tax for our most pressing countywide issue, wildfire. If not now, when? If not for this, then for what? What could be more important than saving lives? If the citizens of Marin are given a chance to make their county as safe as possible from wildfires, passing this sales tax measure should not be a problem. It will provide a steady source of revenue so that the local governments and special fire districts will not have to tap into their budgets. As part of this ballot measure, a citizen oversight committee should be created to make sure that the funds collected are used solely for the mission of the Entity. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 22 of 37 Local Interests Must Be Subsumed Into A Countywide Organization This proposal is revolutionary for Marin. It will require every government entity and every special fire district to become a member. The only way to make Marin safer is for the entire county to work together and not allow local politics to torpedo this innovative proposal. A number of critical issues prevent Marin from being fire safe. Current vegetation management policies, alert systems and evacuation planning, as well as current public education efforts are insufficient to make Marin pre-ignition and pre-suppression fire safe. The most crucial issue is the political will to create this countywide agency with such broad authority. The citizens of Marin must choose between safety and vegetation aesthetics. The creation of this Entity allows for necessary actions to be developed and implemented for all pre-ignition and pre-suppression matters. The Entity will ensure that the tax funds are used solely for wildfire preparedness and not for other environmental priorities. It also does not impinge on local sovereignty except where necessary to create countywide best practices. Without the Entity, local jurisdictions have neither the will nor the money to undertake such sweeping measures. Wildfires do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. Marin is known for providing mutual aid and cooperation among its professional firefighting agencies. What is missing are countywide, coordinated, science-based, pre-ignition and pre-suppression policies and procedures. This recommendation solves that issue. FINDINGS — Vegetation F1. Existing vegetation management codes are both inconsistent and inconsistently enforced. F2. There are not enough trained vegetation inspectors or fuel reduction crews. F3. Current vegetation enforcement procedures are slow, difficult and expensive. F4. Government agencies and safety authorities cannot currently manage vegetation on public lands. F5. All property owners are responsible for vegetation management on their property, yet they are not sufficiently educated about vegetation management and many do not have the physical and financial resources to create defensible space. FINDINGS — Education of the Public F6. Wildfire preparedness education is inconsistent and fails to reach most citizens, especially parents of young children. F7. The most effective method of education is person to person in neighborhoods. F8. Although Marin has 30 plus Firewise neighborhoods, the most in California, they only cover a small percentage of population and land. F9. Sufficient public funds have not been provided to sustain comprehensive wildfire preparedness education. F10. Educating the public requires a different set of skills than firefighters usually have. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 23 of 37 FINDINGS — Alerts F11. Any hesitation to use the WEA system can be deadly even if its alerts might reach people outside of its intended target zone. F12. Alert Marin sends the most accurately targeted warnings to endangered populations, but it reaches too few residents because it is not well publicized. Both Alert Marin and Nixle require opt-in registration, a serious design flaw. F13. Sirens could be a useful and reliable warning system if their numbers and locations were increased to broaden their reach and if they were enhanced with a customized message through LRAD. FINDINGS — Evacuations F14. In the WUI and in many town centers, infrastructure and roads are inadequate for mass evacuations. F15. Evacuation routes are dangerously overgrown with vegetation and many evacuation routes are too narrow to allow safe passage in an emergency. F16. Emergency planners often do not publicize evacuation routes due to their mistrust of the public. F17. Town councils, planners, and public works officials have not addressed traffic choke points and, in some instances, they have created obstacles to traffic flow by the installation of concrete medians, bumpouts, curbs, speed bumps, and lane reductions. F18. No studies have been performed to determine how long it would take to evacuate entire communities via existing evacuation corridors. F19. The implementation of traffic-light sequencing and coordination to allow mass egress, and the conversion of two-way roads into one-way evacuation routes to ease traffic congestion, are dangerously delayed and years away from being implemented. F20. Public transit is a neglected asset of emergency response preparedness: all operators except one transit agency are left out of the command structure and none is integrated into the emergency radio communication system MERA. F21. A bureaucratic culture of complacency and inertia exists in Marin. Government often fails to act quickly to repair known gaps in emergency preparedness, to think flexibly, and to prioritize safety in its planning and policies. FINDINGS — Umbrella F22. No countywide comprehensive, coordinated policies have been made and no funds have been allocated to prepare for wildfires. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 24 of 37 RECOMMENDATIONS — Vegetation R1. Create a comprehensive, countywide vegetation management plan that includes vegetation along evacuation routes, a campaign to mobilize public participation, and low- income subsidies. R2. Hire at least 30 new civilian vegetation inspectors and at least eight fire/fuels crews focused on fuel reduction in the high risk areas of the county, including federal, state and local public lands. R3. Develop and implement a fast, streamlined procedure to enforce vegetation citations. RECOMMENDATIONS — Education R4. Adopt and deliver a comprehensive education program focused on action for all residents of Marin on a regular schedule by a team of expert trainers. R5. Promote the creation of Firewise Communities in every neighborhood b y all local jurisdictions. R6. Employ individuals with skills in public speaking, teaching, curriculum design, graphics, web design, advertising, community organization, community relations, and diplomacy to educate the public. RECOMMENDATIONS — Alerts R7. Collect Marin residents’ information and add it to Alert Marin and Nixle databases to make them opt-out systems. R8. Expand the use of sirens with LRADs. RECOMMENDATIONS — Evacuations R9. Research, develop, and publish plans for the mass movement of populations along designated evacuation routes. R10. Give the highest priority to mitigating known choke points and to maximizing the capacity of existing evacuation routes. R11. Incorporate and prioritize plans for mass evacuations in all pending and future traffic/road projects along major escape routes. R12. Educate, prepare, and drill for evacuations in all communities. R13. Fully integrate public transit into the MERA communications system without further delay. R14. The Transportation Authority of Marin must convene all stakeholders no later than December 31, 2019, to address congestion on escape routes in an evacuation. RECOMMENDATIONS — Umbrella Entity R15. Establish in the form of a Joint Powers Authority an umbrella organization for wildfire planning and preparedness (vegetation management, public education, alerts, and evacuation), funded by a ¼ cent sales tax. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 25 of 37 REQUEST FOR RESPONSES Pursuant to Penal code section 933.05, the Grand Jury requests responses as follows: From the following governing bodies: ■ County of Marin Board of Supervisors (R1-13, R15) ■ Belvedere City Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Corte Madera Town Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Fairfax Town Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Larkspur City Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Mill Valley City Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Novato City Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Ross Town Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ San Anselmo Town Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ San Rafael City Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Sausalito City Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Tiburon Town Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Bolinas Fire Protection District Board of Directors (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Central Marin Fire Authority Council (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Inverness Public Utility District Board (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Kentfield Fire Protection District Board (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Marinwood Community Services District Board (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Novato Fire District Board of Directors (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Ross Valley Fire Department Board of Directors (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District Board of Directors (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Southern Marin Fire Protection District Board of Directors (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Stinson Beach Fire Protection District Board (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Tiburon Fire Protection District Board of Directors (R1, R3-13, R15) ■ Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors (R1, R2, R15) ■ Transportation Authority of Marin Board of Commissioners (R9-11, R14) The governing bodies indicated above should be aware that the comment or response of the governing body must be conducted in accordance with Penal Code section 933 (c) and subject to the notice, agenda and open meeting requirements of the Brown Act. From the following individuals: ■ Marin County Sheriff (R7, R11) The Grand Jury also invites responses from the following individuals: ■ FIRESafe Marin Council Coordinator Note: At the time this report was prepared information was available at the websites listed. Reports issued by the Civil Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Penal Code Section 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Civil Grand Jury. The California State Legislature has stated that it intends the provisions of Penal Code Section 929 prohibiting disclosure of witness identities to encourage full candor in testimony in Grand Jury investigations by protecting the privacy and confidentiality of those who participate in any Civil Grand Jury investigation. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 26 of 37 APPENDIX A: Vegetation Management V E G E T A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T FIRE DEPARTMENTS/ DISTRICTS V/M STAFF TYPE OF INSPECTION ANNUAL PARCEL INSPECTIONS Bolinas Fire Protection District None noted Complaints & requests for inspection; neighborhoods and roads are inspected annually. Goal: individual property inspections every year: currently, every 2-3-years. Central Marin Fire Authority (Larkspur & Corte Madera) None noted Yearly windshield inspections. 30 day Wildfire Hazard Notices issued to those not in compliance No specific goals Inverness Volunteer Fire Department None noted Complaints & requests for inspection Inspect and note problem areas; no specific goals; MCFD has records of inspection frequency Kentfield Fire Protection District Fire Inspector & Community Risk Reduction Specialist Inspectors visit properties located in WUI in May. Violators asked to create defensible space by 6/15. Required by law to inspect every SRA parcel each year. Goal: inspect 200 additional parcels/yr Marin County Fire Department (Marin Open Space; provides fire ser- vices to the GGNRA) 2 chief officers, 2 captains, 2 part-time inspectors, 4-6 seasonal defensible space inspectors Defensible Space Event in June: on duty staff conduct inspections in their response area. Seasonal firefighter inspectors perform 4K+ defensible space inspections/yr. For the county, goal:: inspect 4500K parcels annually. Mill Valley Fire Department None noted Proactive & maturing compliance program requires active agency management Annually Novato Fire District None noted Engine crews drive WUI, leave door hangers where needed. Inspect reported properties, referred for review, or requested for voluntary evaluation. New construction & major remodels in WUI must submit VM plan. Properties for sale require inspection. Assessment in May to determine which properties must provide defensible space Door hangers/windshield inspections in the WUI followed by notices. Homes remain on watch list for 3 yrs. Ross Valley Fire Department (Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, & the Sleepy Hollow FPD) VM program includes on-duty engine company, full-time inspector, and 2 part- time employees 26 hrs/week New construction & major remodels in WUI must submit VM plan. Properties for sale require inspection. Engine companies assess in May to determine which properties must provide defensible space Currently, no goal, but if RVFD Board approves dedicated inspector program, will inspect 3- 4K parcels annually. San Rafael Fire Department and Marinwood 2 dedicated VM fire inspectors Proactive inspections. Assist rangers & remove homeless encampments. Residents notified yearly to keep defensible space. Inspections conducted by request Inspect all of the approx. 8K parcels in the WUI in a 3 year cycle Southern Marin Fire Protect. District (includes Tam-Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, Sausalito, Fort Baker, Marin Headlands, part of Tiburon) None noted None noted Annually inspects all parcels Stinson Beach Fire Protection District None noted Some areas covered under Marin County VM. Citizens perform voluntary compliance None Tiburon Fire Protection District (Tiburon and Belvedere) None noted Some areas covered under Marin County VM. Citizens perform voluntary compliance Goal: to inspect 100% of high fire severity zone parcels annually Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 27 of 37 APPENDIX A: Vegetation Management (cont’d) V E G E T A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T FIRE DEPARTMENTS/ DISTRICTS PROHIBITED PLANTS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE WITH V/M REMOVAL WIDE CLEARANCE ON EVAC ROUTES Bolinas Fire Protection District None noted Matching grant opportunities for vegetation clearance on non-county- maintained roads Collaborate with local utility district to reduce vegetation Central Marin Fire Authority (Larkspur & Corte Madera) 3K+ parcels are in WUI. Major reconstruction plans must be evaluated by Fire Prevention Bureau to ensure pyrophytic plant removed/not replanted Free chipper program Yes Inverness Volunteer Fire Department None noted Part of cost of chipper days underwritten Fire Dept. partners with MCFD & Fire Safe Marin for clearing along the local major evacuation routes Kentfield Fire Protection District None noted Not currently Roadside clearance is Marin DPW responsibility. Standards in place to ensure private driveways are maintained to current standards. Marin County Fire Department (Marin Open Space; provides fire ser- vices to the GGNRA) New construction & substantial remodels in WUI prohibit pyrophytic plants w/in 100’ of structures. Otherwise, prohibition not feasible (unless in close proximity to residential structures) $15K CA Fire Foundation grant matched plus $15K from BOS, North Bay Lessons Learned Committee. Coordinating with HHS Senior Protective Service to identify persons in need No. There is no code that requires extra wide vegetation clearances Mill Valley Fire Department Changing code to prohibit bamboo, juniper, cypress, acacia and bays within 30’ of structures Considering a program similar to Novato Fire’s grant program Yes, clear vegetation but it is not specified to be extra wide Novato Fire District None noted Matching grant to owners, 1x/yr. $500 for chipper/fuel removal. HOAs in WUI offered annual matching grant to $1500 for same Major evacuation routes maintained by CalTrans. Ross Valley Fire Department (Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, & the Sleepy Hollow FPD) New construction & substantial remodels in WUI prohibit pyrophytic plants and require a Veg. Mgrt Plan be submitted. $15K CA Fire Foundation grant matched plus $15K from BOS, North Bay Lessons Learned Committee. Coordinating with HHS Senior Protective Service to identify persons in need No. There is no code that requires extra wide vegetation clearances San Rafael Fire Department and Marinwood Mandatory removal of juniper and bamboo Free chipper service for juniper and bamboo Requires a 10’ clearance from roadway on each side: considering additional distances in WUI Southern Marin Fire Protect. District (incl Tam- Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, Sausalito, Fort Baker, Marin Headlands, part of Tiburon) Code prohibits bamboo, juniper, cypress, acacia and bays within 30’ of structures Regularly partner with Tam Valley Community Services District to manage grants used for chipper days and other vegetation management programs Enforce access/defensible space requirements/ vegetation clearances; Roadways to maintain flammable vegetation clearance from roadway 10 feet onto properties. Inspect roadways annually Stinson Beach Fire Protection District None noted Chipper days Yes Tiburon Fire Protection District (Tiburon and Belvedere) None noted No Yes Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 28 of 37 APPENDIX B: Education E D U C A T I O N FIRE DEPARTMENTS/ DISTRICTS EDUCATION STAFF PROGRAMS/EVENTS Bolinas Fire Protection District No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Annual community forums held with moderate attendance Central Marin Fire Authority (Larkspur & Corte Madera) No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public 32 Neighborhood Response Groups with coordinator; partners with FD to provide fire safety education Inverness Volunteer Fire Department No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Inverness Disaster Council, West Marin Disaster Council Kentfield Fire Protection District No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Kentfield Fire District employees. Fire Inspector and Community Risk Reduction Specialist, educating the community and school children within the community. Marin County Fire Department (Marin Open Space; provides fire ser- vices to the GGNRA) No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Supported by Marin BOS, CALFIRE, FIRESafe Marin, CERTs and disaster councils Mill Valley Fire Department No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Rotary Club organizes and sponsors events; Emergency Preparedness Commission sponsors programs Novato Fire District No staff fully dedicated to education but firefighters implement door hanger program targeting WUI neighborhoods annually Ready, Set, Go: Get Ready Novato; FireWise Communities; Cal Fires, Prevent Wildfire California, Ready for Wildfire, One Less Spark Ross Valley Fire Department (Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, & the Sleepy Hollow FPD) No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Materials provided by FSM, Marin County Fire Chiefs Assoc. San Rafael Fire Department and Marinwood Firefighters assist Prevention and OES staff with presentations, inspections and public outreach San Rafael Fire Commission and San Rafael Fire Foundation fund wildfire education along with FireSafe Marin and Firewise USA Southern Marin Fire Protect. District (includes Tam- Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, Sausalito, Fort Baker, Marin Headlands, part of Tiburon) No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public Partners with Tam Valley Community Services District and Marin County FD to prepare and educate public Stinson Beach Fire Protection District No staff fully dedicated to education. Firefighters are trained to teach preparedness to the public None Tiburon Fire Protection District (Tiburon and Belvedere) Deputy Fire Marshal performs public education for emergency preparation; all firefighters can teach defensible space practices. Belvedere-Tiburon Joint Disaster Council promotes wildfire and Get Ready awareness programs. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 29 of 37 APPENDIX B: Education (cont’d) E D U C A T I O N FIRE DEPARTMENTS/ DISTRICTS EDUCATIONAL READINESS & PREPAREDNESS GOALS SUCCESSES Bolinas Fire Protection District Not ready for next fire season. Property owners not engaged/active in preparedness. Neighbors encouraged to know each other Over 200 residents did evacuation drill and discussion of fire hazard mitigation Central Marin Fire Authority (Larkspur & Corte Madera) Participation in NRGs increases each year. Community forums, presentations Several neighborhoods pursuing FireWise recognition Inverness Volunteer Fire Department Residents are prepared as neighbors helping neighbors Designated local neighborhood disaster groups since 1982; fire safety covered at group meetings Kentfield Fire Protection District Kentfield Fire District conducting inspections to prep for next fire season; secured grant to create a defensible space between District and large landowner partners. Kent Woodlands community is Firewise certified Marin County Fire Department (Marin Open Space; provides fire ser- vices to the GGNRA) Referenced in Marin County Performance Measures and Lessons Learned FireWise participation, evacuation exercises and community meetings Mill Valley Fire Department Working towards entire community becoming FireWise certified 2-minute videos on website; 8 community meetings; numerous FireWise communities Novato Fire District Neighbors helping neighbors: three FireWise communities are ready for next fire season 4 FireWise Communities: Pacheco Valley, MVMCC, Black Point/Green Point, Indian Valley; HOAs - Wildhorse Valley and Bahia Ross Valley Fire Department (Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, & the Sleepy Hollow FPD) Hosting community meetings; and referenced in Marin County Performance Measures and Lessons Learned Cascade Canyon and Sleepy Hollow FireWise Communities San Rafael Fire Department and Marinwood San Rafael Wildfire Protection Plan has 37 recommendations to make SR fire safe. 4 Firewise communities, 20+ HOA wildfire safety/preparedness presentations in 2018, 2 Wildfire Preparedness Symposia at Dominican in 2018 Southern Marin Fire Protect. District (includes Tam- Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, Sausalito, Fort Baker, Marin Headlands, part of Tiburon) No goals set yet; anticipate more with the passage of Measure U 3 Get Ready programs which have low participation Stinson Beach Fire Protection District Work in progress; hiring fire prevention officer Meetings with Marin County FD and GGNRA Tiburon Fire Protection District (Tiburon and Belvedere) 2-3 additional FireWise Communities in 2019 First FireWise Community of Harbor Hill Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 30 of 37 APPENDIX C: Evacuations & Alerts E V A C U A T I O N S & A L E R T S FIRE DEPARTMENTS/ DISTRICTS SPECIAL NEEDS/ ELDERLY LISTS EVACUATION CHOKE POINTS HIGH-RISK COMMUNITIES TRANSIT DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES Bolinas Fire Protection District Disaster council, fire department keep list of at-risk residents Elm Road, Evergreen Rd, Mesa Rd, Olema-Bolinas Rd Yes. All communities on gridded Mesa are high risk No Central Marin Fire Authority (Larkspur & Corte Madera) 32 NRGs maintain lists Madrone & Magnolia Aves. Redwood & Corte Madera Aves. Corte Madera: Christmas Tree Hill, Sausalito Ave. (aka Hidden Valley). Larkspur: Baltimore Canyon, Marina Vista Area Madrone & Magnolia Aves. Redwood & Corte Madera Aves. Corte Madera: Christmas Tree Hill, Sausalito Ave. (aka Hidden Valley). Larkspur: Baltimore Canyon, Marina Vista Area No official accounting Inverness Volunteer Fire Department Yes Sir Francis Drake is the only road in and out Seahaven No Kentfield Fire Protection District No Sir Francis Drake at Hwy 101 Most residential communities at risk None Marin County Fire Department (Marin Open Space; provides fire ser- vices to the GGNRA) Residents with special needs, or elderly must make MCFD aware of their status Yes, most non-county maintained roads in West Marin Yes, refer to 2016 CWPP pages 43-56 Unknown Mill Valley Fire Department Maintain a list of those with additional needs, though this changes often and is unreliable All non-county maintained roads in West Marin are choke points. SFDB, Miller Ave, Blithedale leading to Hwy 101 and on ramps to Hwy 101 75% of MV is in the WUI and therefore at risk The Redwoods Novato Fire District No Atherton on-ramp NB on 101; North of San Rafael SB 101; on HWY 37 (Sonoma County) past raceway, Novato Blvd and Diablo Ave. Wildhorse Valley, Atherton, Marin Valley, Little Mountain, San Marin, Blackpoint, Cherry Hill, Indian Valley, Ignacio Valley, Pacheco Valley, Anderson Rowe, Loma Verde, President’s (IVC), Wilson West Novato North, Hilltop EOC has information on agencies to contact Ross Valley Fire Department (Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, & the Sleepy Hollow FPD) Residents with special needs or elderly must make RVFD aware of their status Most of RVFD’s response area consists of single lane roads leading to single artery roadway Yes, refer to 2016 CWPP pages 43-56 Unknown San Rafael Fire Department and Marinwood Promote neighborhood awareness through GetReady and CERT None identified All neighborhoods in the WUI Residential, assisting living facilities, Kaiser patients Southern Marin Fire Protect. District (includes Tam-Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, Sausalito, Fort Baker, Marin Headlands, part of Tiburon) List of residents of Sausalito only. Every intersection is a choke point. Control of intersections is by PD and DPW Districts near the WUI and areas within canyons Public transit is available in flatter topographic areas Stinson Beach Fire Protection District Yes No No No Tiburon Fire Protection District (Tiburon and Belvedere) PD departments maintain lists Currently creating “Red Zones” Neighborhoods adjacent to open space at ridgeline Neds Way /downtown rely on public transit Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 31 of 37 APPENDIX C: Evacuations & Alerts (cont’d) E V A C U A T I O N S & A L E R T S FIRE DEPARTMENTS/ DISTRICTS EVACUATION ROUTES PUBLICIZED SIRENS COMMUNITY DRILLS CITE & TOW ON EVACUATION ROUTES Bolinas Fire Protection District Policy decision not to publicize routes No sirens currently; researching LRAD 1 drill held in 2017: Planning annual drills No Central Marin Fire Authority (Larkspur & Corte Madera) Evacuation routes are not publicized. Planning is key element of the NRGs 1 siren and 1 diaphon system in Corte Madera not yet operational. Considering LRAD Drill in 2018 had 18% participation. Plan to conduct one exercise/year CMFD has no authority to cite vehicles Inverness Volunteer Fire Department No. Dependent on specifics of the emergency Sirens determined to be ineffective Monthly radio drills with CERT, daily radio checks No parking within 6’ of center of road. Violators cited. Kentfield Fire Protection District Possible evacuation routes are available to the public through marinfire.org. No signage used. Kentfield Fire District has one Siren. Test of LRAD did not meet expectations Evacuation drills held in Kent Woodlands; Full campus drill held at COM 2018. Yearly drills held with all schools Parking enforcement issues are referred to the Sheriff’s office Marin County Fire Department (Marin Open Space; provides fire ser- vices to the GGNRA) No. Dependent on specifics of the emergency One siren on Throckmorton Ridge As needed MCFD has no authority to enforce vehicle code Mill Valley Fire Department Steps, Lanes and Paths are marked evacuation routes 5 sirens located throughout the City. LRAD system on order 1 drill performed each year Yes. Cite and tow Novato Fire District Evacuation points for Blackpoint/ Greenpoint & Marin Valley Mobile Country Club No Coordinates drills, targeting WUI areas every 3-5 years Yes. Cites vehicles. Works with NPD and CHP Ross Valley Fire Department (Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, & the Sleepy Hollow FPD) No. Dependent on specifics of the emergency Sirens in Fairfax, San Anselmo and Ross. Recommend a battery backup weather radio activated by the Emergency Alert System As needed RVFD has no authority to enforce vehicle code San Rafael Fire Department and Marinwood Encourage residents to know an alternate to standard routes No sirens. Rely upon NIXLE, WEA. Evaluating other systems On a small scale in various neighborhoods No parking within 6’ of center of road. Violators cited. Working to designate parking in WUI zones & towing under red flag conditions Southern Marin Fire Protect. District (includes Tam-Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, Sausalito, Fort Baker, Marin Headlands, part of Tiburon) No. There is a potential conflict with actual emergency evacuation needs No fixed sirens. Coordinating with OES. LRAD can be linked to Alert Marin and Everbridge One or two every year Yes. Cite and tow Stinson Beach Fire Protection District No Yes No, but working on plans No Tiburon Fire Protection District (Tiburon and Belvedere) No, but working on plans 6 sirens currently in use. Considering LRAD Not presently All vehicle violations are referred to the PD Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 32 of 37 APPENDIX D: Recommended Structure and Membership for Entity The Grand Jury recommends the following entities be members of the Entity. Listed in alphabetical order, with the fire districts first, the entities are: 1. Bolinas Fire Protection District 2. Central Marin Fire Authority – serves the City of Larkspur and Town of Corte Madera 3. Inverness Volunteer Fire Dept. – run by the Inverness Public Utility 4. Kentfield Fire Protection District 5. Marin County Fire Department – serves unincorporated Marin County not within a Fire District and contracts to provide wildland fire protection with CAL Fire for all State Responsibility areas and with Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNSS) for Federal Responsibility Area FRA within the County. 6. Marin Municipal Water District 7. Marinwood Community Services District – Fire Department 8. Novato Fire Protection District 9. Ross Valley Fire Department – serves the Towns of San Anselmo, Fairfax, Ross and the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District 10. Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District – provides only pre-ignition and pre-suppression services to Sleepy Hollow 11. Southern Marin Fire Protection District – serves the communities of Tamalpais Valley, Almonte, Homestead Valley, Alto, Strawberry, approximately 1/4 of the Town of Tiburon, the City of Sausalito, Fort Baker and the Marin Headlands. 12. Stinson Beach Fire Protection District 13. Tiburon Fire Protection District – serves the Town of Tiburon and City of Belvedere and surrounding areas. 14. County of Marin 15. City of Belvedere 16. Town of Corte Madera 17. City of Fairfax 18. City of Larkspur 19. City of Mill Valley 20. City of Novato 21. Town of Ross 22. Town of San Anselmo 23. City of San Rafael 24. City of Sausalito 25. Town of Tiburon Since having 25 members would make the Entity difficult to manage, the Grand Jury recommends that the Entity hire an executive director. This should be a person with considerable knowledge and experience with the key pre-ignition and pre-suppression issues such as community education, vegetation management, alert notices, and evacuation policies. This person would be employed to create processes and programs, emphasizing “best practices,” for all pre-ignition and pre-suppression matters. To do this, the executive director would be authorized to hire staff necessary to carry out the Entity’s mandate. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 33 of 37 To help guide the executive director and staff with policy development, the Grand Jury recommends that the Entity as a whole, select a group of individuals from its membership to act as a Board of Directors. Finally, the Grand Jury recommends that the County Counsel’s office be authorized to draft the legal documents to create the Entity as well as the ballot measure for the ¼ cent sales tax. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 34 of 37 APPENDIX E: The 7 Deadly Sins of Emergency Management At a conference in Stockholm, Sweden on November 28, 2017, Craig Fugate, former Administrator of FEMA under President Obama, discussed what he considers to be The 7 Deadly Sins of Emergency Management:19 1. We plan for what we are capable of responding to. 2. We plan for our communities by placing our vulnerable populations aside. 3. We do drills and exercises that we know will be successful. 4. We think our emergency response system can scale up from small emergencies to large disasters. 5. We build our emergency management team around government, leaving out volunteer organizations, the private sector and the public. 6. We treat the public as a liability. 7. We price risk too low to change behavior; as a result, risk grows. Marin’s emergency management plans replicate these errors. 19 Fugate, Craig. “ The 7 Deadly Sins of Emergency Management.” YouTube video. Viewed Jan.10, 2019. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 35 of 37 APPENDIX F: A Case in Point: Paradise and Marin The Grand Jury visited Paradise, California in January 2019. Here are some of the major contrasts and comparisons between Paradise’s wildfire preparedness and Marin’s current preparedness: ■ Paradise has three well-paved good roads out of town. ■ Marin has many communities located in canyons with only one exit on narrow, poorly maintained roads. ■ All of Marin’s main east west evacuation routes have choke points where they narrow to one lane in each direction. ■ At the time of the Camp Fire, most of Paradise's fire and police officers lived in town and were on the job quickly. ■ Marin's fire and police officers often live in other counties which will severely delay response time. It may take hours for emergency personnel to get here. ■ Paradise had comprehensive evacuation plans that were tested in previous fires and had conducted practice evacuation drills. Even so, it took around 5 hours to evacuate the town. ■ Marin’s OES has given itself 36 months to update its evacuation plans. ■ Marin has no comprehensive evacuation plans that have been shared with the public, and only a few neighborhoods have had an evacuation drill. ■ Paradise had failed to manage vegetation, particularly along evacuation routes. ■ Marin has failed to manage vegetation adequately in its residential communities, open space and along evacuation routes. ■ The fire in Paradise did not come from the usual direction but came from the opposite direction from what was expected. ■ Fire in Marin could come from any direction depending on the prevailing wind. ■ The Butte County Grand Jury report on Paradise in 2008 criticized the lack of an adequate number of evacuation routes and the deliberate narrowing of the main evacuation routes. ■ Many jurisdictions in Marin deliberately constrict the flow of traffic along already narrow evacuation routes with lane reductions and road impediments.. Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 36 of 37 APPENDIX G: Sales Tax With the local sales cap at 2%, the final quarter cent only applies to jurisdictions that are currently at 9%. The following are the breakdown of Marin jurisdictions and what the local rates are: 20 Jurisdiction Current Sales Tax Local Sales Rate Corte Madera 9.00% 0.75% Fairfax 9.00% 0.75% Larkspur 9.00% 0.75% San Rafael 9.00% 0.75% San Anselmo 8.75% 0.50% Sausalito 8.75% 0.50% Novato 8.50% 0.25% Tiburon 8.25% 0% Belvedere 8.25% 0% County of Marin 8.25% 0.25% Mill Valley 8.25% 0% Ross 8.25% 0% From this, it can be seen that only four out of the 12 taxing authorities in Marin are at the limit. There are 16 cities, all in LA County, that each have their combined sales tax rate over 10% as well as seven cities in the Bay Area that are over the 9.25% cap. 20 “California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.” CA.Gov. Accessed on 25 Mar. 2019 Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach April 18, 2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 37 of 37 APPENDIX H: Prior Marin County Civil Grand Jury Reports on Wildfire (Since 2000) Marin Civil Grand Jury, “Wildfires — Partners in Prevention”, 2002-03 Marin Civil Grand Jury, “The Next Disaster: Are Marin Citizens Prepared?”, 2005-06 Marin Civil Grand Jury, “Marin on Fire! Not if, but when, 2007-08 Marin Civil Grand Jury, “Disaster Preparedness in Marin: Are You Ready?”, 2010-11 Marin Civil Grand Jury, “Marin on Fire Redux”, 2012-13 UNIFIED RESPONSE TO GRAND JURY FINDINGS All the agencies/jurisdictions required to respond to the “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” collaborated to create this response to the findings and recommendations. See the attachments to this response which include agency/jurisdiction specific clarifications as needed to augment this document. F1. Existing vegetation management codes are both inconsistent and inconsistently enforced. Response: Agree. Fire agency policies differ, as do inspection and enforcement procedures. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. F2. There are not enough trained vegetation inspectors or fuel reduction crews. Response: Agree. Although fire agencies are doing their best to reduce vegetation around existing homes, additional resources and dedicated staff are necessary to enhance existing efforts. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. F3. Current vegetation enforcement procedures are slow, difficult and expensive. Response: Agree. Although each municipality has its own code enforcement procedures, a consistent countywide approach would allow for a more efficient and effective enforcement effort. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. F4. Government agencies and safety authorities cannot currently manage vegetation on public lands. Response: Partially Disagree. While municipal governments do not have authority beyond their own jurisdiction, a coordinated countywide effort could help bring focus and consistency, as well as potentially additional resources, to enhance existing efforts on public lands. Government agencies and safety authorities can and do manage vegetation on public lands over which they have jurisdiction to the extent that resources and funding are available. Much more can be done, which is one of the many reasons the Marin cities, towns, fire agencies and County have formed a working group to explore the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program to be funded by a parcel tax on the March 2020 ballot. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 2 of 10 F5. All property owners are responsible for vegetation management on their property, yet they are not sufficiently educated about vegetation management and many do not have the physical and financial resources to create defensible space. Response: Agree. Although education has been provided through individual fire agencies and FIRESafe Marin, we agree that education efforts need to be understood by broader sections of the community. Grant programs should be considered for those that may not have the physical or financial means to complete necessary work. F6. Wildfire preparedness education is inconsistent and fails to reach most citizens, especially parents of young children. Response: Partially Disagree. Education is offered in a consistent fashion countywide by the fire agencies and FIRESafe Marin. The demographics of our hosted meetings/forums and exercises generally lack a younger demographic - especially parents of young children. Agencies need to create new forms of outreach to garner participation from this demographic. F7. The most effective method of education is person to person in neighborhoods. Response: Agree. Defensible space home evaluations with a trained professional are the preferred and best method for educating residents. F8. Although Marin has 30 plus Firewise neighborhoods, the most in California, they only cover a small percentage of population and land. Response: Agree. We agree that Firewise Communities are a great mechanism for bringing communities and neighborhoods together. They provide an organized approach to reducing hazards and risks. F9. Sufficient public funds have not been provided to sustain comprehensive wildfire preparedness education. Response: Agree. Generally, fire agencies are funded for response and mitigation of emergency incidents. Development into the Wildland Urban Interface and climate change, with attendant major fires in recent years, are requiring resources greater than those available by local municipalities and fire agencies. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 3 of 10 F10. Educating the public requires a different set of skills than firefighters usually have. Response: Partially Disagree. Firefighters have experience that adds value to educating the public; however, they also have other, often more pressing responsibilities. Dedicated public education staff and defensible space home evaluators can spend more quality time on task than Firefighters. F11. Any hesitation to use the WEA system can be deadly even if its alerts might reach people outside of its intended target zone. Response: Partially Disagree. All appropriate emergency alert systems should be used to the fullest capacity as soon as possible depending on the conditions and needs to maximize safety. The WEA system is not geographically specific and can bleed over to areas where evacuations are not necessary. This would result in adding unnecessary traffic to already congested roadways impeding evacuation egress of those most affected. We agree it is a useful tool, but it must be well-coordinated between the incident commander and Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services. F12. Alert Marin sends the most accurately targeted warnings to endangered populations, but it reaches too few residents because it is not well publicized. Both Alert Marin and Nixle require opt-in registration, a serious design flaw. Response: Partially Disagree. Nixle and Alert Marin are two very different systems. Nixle, by design, is an “opt-in” solution providing general information to the public. Alert Marin is an emergency notification system. Nixle and Alert Marin information is publicized at almost every community event hosted by Fire Departments and Sheriff-OES, with information also available on social media and agency websites. Listed and unlisted/blocked Marin County landline and VoIP (Voice over Internet protocol) phone numbers are already included in our emergency notification system (Alert Marin), unless the owner specifically requests to have their phone number opted-out. Cell phone numbers are not included in Nixle and do require registration in our Self-Registration Portal. We agree that more of our residents need to “opt-in” with their cell phone numbers. Additionally, we support changes in State law mandating that cellular information be accessible with an “opt-out” provision like landlines and VoIP data. We are also pursuing newly available authority to cooperate with utility companies to obtain customer cell phone numbers for these purposes. We will work with legislators to support bills like SB 46 (Hueso; 2019) which would allow local governments to enter into agreements to access resident cell phone contact information for enrolling county residents in a county-operated public emergency warning system. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 4 of 10 F13. Sirens could be a useful and reliable warning system if their numbers and locations were increased to broaden their reach and if they were enhanced with a customized message through LRAD. Response: Partially Disagree. Long Range Acoustical Device (LRAD) is the name brand of one type of acoustical notification system. This system may have limited reach and limited ability to be heard inside a building. Local testing has provided mixed results based on topography and other outdoor existing noise. This type of system will not be effective in some areas of the County. F14. In the WUI and in many town centers, infrastructure and roads are inadequate for mass evacuations. Response: Agree. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. F15. Evacuation routes are dangerously overgrown with vegetation and many evacuation routes are too narrow to allow safe passage in an emergency. Response: Agree. Marin County has many narrow roads with limited access and overgrown vegetation, often in sloped and difficult terrain. Much of the vegetation encroachment into the road right of way is the responsibility of homeowners. Public works agencies regularly work with fire agencies identifying and working in the most critical areas. F16. Emergency planners often do not publicize evacuation routes due to their mistrust of the public. Response: Disagree. In 2009 the Marin County Fire Agencies developed mutual threat zone maps, pre-identifying primary and secondary evacuation routes as well as evacuation zones. This information is available for first responders to access in conventional paper maps or online. It has also been made available to mutual aid responders outside of Marin County. Fire agencies are in the process of making these maps publicly available. We do caution residents to take personal responsibility and identify and regularly travel different routes away from their home. Wildland fires can be very dynamic and depending on wind and topography can change direction with little to no warning. A pre-identified evacuation route may not be the safest route for residents to take deepening upon the specific type and location of the incident. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 5 of 10 F17. Town councils, planners, and public works officials have not addressed traffic choke points, and, in some instances, they have created obstacles to traffic flow by the installation of concrete medians, bump outs, curbs, speed bumps, and lane reductions. Response: Partially Disagree. Although we agree that more needs to be done, we do not agree that public officials have not attempted to address these issues to date. Additionally, while we agree that traffic flow in an evacuation warrants renewed attention in our circulation planning, many of the elements labeled as “obstacles to traffic flow” by the Grand Jury are intended to increase public safety on a daily basis under regular conditions. Each agency must weigh these daily safety concerns against the use of roads during an evacuation. F18. No studies have been performed to determine how long it would take to evacuate entire communities via existing evacuation corridors. Response: Agree. The fire chiefs are exploring opportunities with technology companies and higher educational institutions studying this type of work. Large scale evacuation planning needs further study and development within Marin. F19. The implementation of traffic-light sequencing and coordination to allow mass egress, and the conversion of two-way roads into one-way evacuation routes to ease traffic congestion, are dangerously delayed and years away from being implemented. Response: Agree. Large scale evacuation planning needs to identify which corridors would benefit greatest from contra-flow traffic-light sequencing. Coordination with public works agencies and identification of funding sources would be needed to make this a reality. F20. Public transit is a neglected asset of emergency response preparedness: all operators except one transit agency are left out of the command structure and none is integrated into the emergency radio communication system MERA. Response: Partially disagree. Use of the term “neglected’ suggests an active decision to exclude transit from emergency response preparedness. The current arrangements reflect an assessment by transit officials of their ability to respond to disasters. Many of these protocols reflect planning for a broad spectrum of disasters that might occur, and it would be appropriate to revisit these protocols for the “new normal” concerning wildfire preparedness and response to an event concentrated in Marin County. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 6 of 10 F21. A bureaucratic culture of complacency and inertia exists in Marin. Government often fails to act quickly to repair known gaps in emergency preparedness, to think flexibly, and to prioritize safety in its planning and policies. Response: Disagree. We agree that more needs to be done to address this critical public safety issue in the face of what now is commonly referred to as the “new-normal.” Accelerating climate change has led to larger, costlier, and more frequent wildfires in the state than ever before, burning almost year- round. Because of this, all fire agencies, the County, cities and towns are working together to explore the creation a countywide wildfire prevention program. F22. No countywide comprehensive, coordinated policies have been made and no funds have been allocated to prepare for wildfires. Response: Disagree. There are several coordinated documents, policies or procedures within Marin County including: Mutual Threat Zone Plan, Community Wildfire Protection Plan, and the 2017 North Bay “Lessons Learned” report. All of Marin’s agencies are evaluating their budgets and making difficult decisions to make more money available for wildfire preparedness. It is our belief that a stream of revenue dedicated to this purpose is the best route to addressing the resource needs identified in these documents. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 7 of 10 RESPONSE TO GRAND JURY RECOMMENDATIONS The Marin County Civil Grand Jury recommends the following: R1. Create a comprehensive, countywide vegetation management plan that includes vegetation along evacuation routes, a campaign to mobilize public participation, and low- income subsidies. This recommendation requires further analysis. The Marin cities, towns, fire agencies and the County are addressing this recommendation with a working group to explore the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program governed by a countywide joints power authority. We agree that more needs to be done to address this critical public safety issue in the face of what now is commonly referred to as the “new-normal.” Accelerating climate change has led to larger, costlier, and more frequent wildfires in the state than ever before, burning almost year-round. Because of this, all fire agencies, the County, and its cities and towns are working together to explore the creation a countywide wildfire prevention program. The program scope for an ongoing, locally-controlled, countywide wildfire prevention program would include the following: • Fire fuel reduction and vegetation management • Defensible-space home evaluations and education • Evacuation planning and neighborhood preparedness • Alert and warning enhancements • Pursuit of grant funds for countywide efforts, as well as grant funding for to assist seniors, financially disadvantaged and those with access and functional needs with preparedness measures. This program would require new ongoing funding. We are currently exploring a potential countywide parcel tax measure in March 2020. R2. Hire at least 30 new civilian vegetation inspectors and at least eight fire/fuels crews focused on fuel reduction in the high risk areas of the county, including federal, state and local public lands. This recommendation requires further analysis. As stated in our response to Recommendation No. 1, a countywide wildfire prevention initiative would include expanded defensible-space home inspections and education. A working group of fire chiefs and city/town managers are exploring options to ensure the most appropriate and cost-effective solutions are considered to improve defensible space countywide. This enhanced program would require new, ongoing resources. The staffing of this effort would be subject to policy decisions of a countywide JPA and/or the governing board of responsible fire agencies. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 8 of 10 R3. Develop and implement a fast, streamlined procedure to enforce vegetation citations. This recommendation requires further analysis. Fire prevention officers throughout the county are working on a countywide, streamlined approach updating codes and processes. It is the intention of the group to implement some items as part of regular code adoption cycle this fall. Larger scale collaboration and a more streamlined approach will be addressed as part of the countywide wildfire prevention program. At the countywide level, our intention is to educate homeowners for cooperative compliance. Addressing non-compliance would be a matter for each jurisdiction to address. R4. Adopt and deliver a comprehensive education program focused on action for all residents of Marin on a regular schedule by a team of expert trainers. This recommendation requires further analysis. A countywide wildfire prevention program would include a comprehensive education program for all residents. Although agencies have made efforts to educate the public, without additional resources to enhance existing efforts, we believe these efforts will continue to be insufficient and not consistent throughout the County. R5. Promote the creation of Firewise Communities in every neighborhood by all local jurisdictions. This recommendation has already been implemented. As the Grand Jury report points out, Marin currently has over 30 Firewise neighborhoods. With the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program, our current efforts can be substantially enhanced and expanded throughout the County. R6. Employ individuals with skills in public speaking, teaching, curriculum design, graphics, web design, advertising, community organization, community relations, and diplomacy to educate the public. This recommendation has already been implemented We currently have very articulate fire professionals and FIRESafe Marin educating the public. However, we recognize more needs to be done and this work may not need to be done by our firefighters, who often have competing response priorities. R7. Collect Marin residents’ information and add it to Alert Marin and Nixle databases to make them opt-out systems. This recommendation requires further analysis. This recommendation would require changes in State law. We will work with legislators to support bills like SB 46 (Hueso; 2019), which would allow local governments to enter into agreements to access resident cell phone contact information for enrolling county residents in a county-operated public emergency warning system. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 9 of 10 We are also pursuing newly available authority to cooperate with utility companies to obtain customer data for these purposes, but state legislation would be needed to obtain cell phone contact information. R8. Expand the use of sirens with LRADs. This recommendation requires further analysis. Sirens and LRAD’s have limited reach and ability to be heard inside a building. Local testing has provided mixed results based on topography and other competing outdoor existing noise. This type of system does have valuable application in some areas within the County. For those communities for which these logistical challenges can be overcome, there is considerable appeal for technology such as LRAD’s, which carry a more specific message than sirens. To be effective, sirens require communitywide understanding of their meaning and what is expected of residents when they are sounded. R9. Research, develop, and publish plans for the mass movement of populations along designated evacuation routes. This recommendation requires further analysis. Large scale evacuation planning needs to identify which corridors would benefit the most from contra-flow and traffic-light sequencing. The use of experts in this field should be engaged. Coordination with public works agencies and additional funding from a countywide wildfire prevention initiative will be a critical component to our success. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. R10. Give the highest priority to mitigating known choke points and to maximizing the capacity of existing evacuation routes. This recommendation requires further analysis. Large scale evacuation planning needs to identify “choke points”. The use of traffic analysis experts in this field should be engaged. Coordination with public works agencies and additional funding from a countywide wildfire prevention initiative will be a critical component to our success. R11. Incorporate and prioritize plans for mass evacuations in all pending and future traffic/road projects along major escape routes. This recommendation requires further analysis. Consideration of mass evacuations is an important element for agencies to add to their assessment of road-related capital projects. However, prioritizing evacuation plans above all other considerations may lead to design decisions that impair other important considerations, such as safe use of roads on a daily basis. A balanced lifestyle of each project is required. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 10 of 10 R12. Educate, prepare, and drill for evacuations in all communities. This recommendation has been implemented. Although all Marin Fire agencies have done this work to some extent, a countywide wildfire prevention program would substantially expand efforts to educate, prepare and drill for evacuations through Marin. City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. R13. Fully integrate public transit into the MERA communications system without further delay. This recommendation requires further analysis. The member agencies of MERA welcome the addition of transit agencies serving Marin. It will be necessary to analyze how to integrate these agencies in a manner that is fair and equitable. R15. Establish in the form of a Joint Powers Authority an umbrella organization for wildfire planning and preparedness (vegetation management, public education, alerts, and evacuation), funded by a ¼ cent sales tax. This recommendation requires further analysis. The Marin cities, towns, fire agencies and County are addressing this recommendation with a working group to explore the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program governed by a countywide joints power authority. The program scope for ongoing, locally-controlled, countywide wildfire prevention program would include the following: • Fire fuel reduction and vegetation management • Defensible-space home evaluations and education • Evacuation planning and neighborhood preparedness • Alert and warning enhancements • Pursuit of grant funds for countywide efforts, as well as grant funding to assist seniors, financially disadvantaged and those with access and functional needs with preparedness measures. This program would require new, ongoing funding. We are currently exploring a potential countywide parcel tax measure in March 2020. Based on our feedback from Marin fire- responsible agencies, we believe that a parcel tax is the appropriate funding mechanism. In addition, we believe the Grand Jury’s recommendation may have been based on their assumption that “each jurisdiction would have to pass exactly the same parcel tax measure for the same amount at the same time.” It is worth noting that, based on the support of agencies that are responsible for fire suppression, it is allowable for the Board of Supervisors to place a single, countywide parcel tax measure on the ballot. A recent example is Measure A on the November 4, 2014 countywide ballot, which implemented a countywide parcel tax for the Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA). Therefore, the results of a countywide measure would require a two-thirds support countywide, but would not require two-thirds support in each jurisdiction. City of San Rafael – Supplemental Responses to Findings F1, F2, F3, F14, F15, F16, and Recommendations R9, R11 and R12 F1. Existing vegetation management codes are both inconsistent and inconsistently enforced. While some polices are inconsistent across the county, the differences are largely related towards moves by jurisdictions to strength codes to address the growing threat of wildfire. The City of San Rafael adopted an aggressive vegetation plan in 2007, and actively works to remove known high fire risk plants in the Wildland Urban Interface through inspections and notices. F2. There are not enough trained vegetation inspectors or fuel reduction crews. In addition, San Rafael works to reduce vegetation in open space, including fuel breaks and creating defensible space around homes bordering public lands. F3. Current vegetation enforcement procedures are slow, difficult and expensive. In addition, San Rafael believes a uniform abatement process, including public hearings, property inspections, and subsequent fuel reduction work would help improve the procedures and progress fuel reduction efforts with incorporative property owners. F14. In the WUI and in many town centers, infrastructure and roads are inadequate for mass evacuations. The City of San Rafael acknowledges many areas throughout the City and County have limited evacuation routes. The City has included an evaluation of existing routes and needs for improvements in the 38-point City Council approved Wildfire Action Plan. The City is also committed to improving the way in which evacuation routes, associated planning, and areas of refuge are shared with the public. The City is also committed to reducing the potential need for mass evacuation through its vegetation management program and working to identify and share community areas of refuge, in which residents can find temporary safety from a wildfire, until a safe evacuation route to an evacuation center or shelter can be identified, coordinated, and shared. F15. Evacuation routes are dangerously overgrown with vegetation and many evacuation routes are too narrow to allow safe passage in an emergency. In addition, San Rafael believes limited funding and avenues for abatement proceedings limit the ways in the City can address some areas of concern. F16. Emergency planners often do not publicize evacuation routes due to their mistrust of the public. In addition, San Rafael does not believe the lack of widely shared evacuation maps has to do with mistrust of the public, but rather the variable nature of a wildfire and potential to cause harm by committing to a singular publicized plan. R9. Research, develop, and publish plans for the mass movement of populations along designated evacuation routes. In addition, the City of San Rafael Public Safety Staff currently has planned general evacuation routes for the neighborhoods of San Rafael. City Public Safety Staff have worked closely with county staff in developing the Mutual Threat Zone (MTZ) maps, including various evacuation routes. Generally speaking evacuation routes are guidelines which must be flexible based on the circumstances at the time of a critical incident. As conditions change in real time during an incident, routes and plans change to keep evacuees out of harm’s way. While evacuation route planning is essential, current information on environmental conditions during an incident will be the ultimate determiner of safe routes and safe locations for staging evacuees. City staff offer numerous community outreach and training events to help residents be better prepared for a disaster. This includes information on evacuation routes and the importance of knowing at least two ways out of their neighborhoods. Residents are encouraged to drive or walk alternate routes on a regular basis. The City also looking to expand outreach relating to areas of refuge and helping residents identify areas that may be safe to wait out a fire until a safer evacuation is possible. The recently adopted San Rafael Wildfire Prevention and Protection Plan also addresses evacuation (item 32), including expanding support of neighborhood evacuation drills and coordination with transportation providers. R11. Incorporate and prioritize plans for mass evacuations in all pending and future traffic/road projects along major escape routes. In addition, as traffic signal improvement projects take place, the City of San Rafael is continually improving signalization throughout the city to give San Rafael the ability to modify traffic patterns during emergencies. The City is installing intersection monitoring equipment, new controllers, new signal heads and mast arms, fiber-optic cabling and other improvements to provide dynamic and controllable signals as it upgrades intersections. These improvements will allow San Rafael to monitor and manage traffic flows in high volume circumstances including during emergencies. R12. Educate, prepare, and drill for evacuations in all communities. In addition, the City of San Rafael has provided information to residents regarding wildfire danger as well as other natural disasters. These information sessions have often come in the form of public safety personnel presentations at neighborhood association gatherings. These presentations have taken place in the recent past and are ongoing. Any trainings or evacuation plans would be strictly scenario-based as wildfires are unpredictable and specific to environmental conditions at the time making specific plans regarding these events problematic. The City is also working on creating a template that can be used by neighborhood groups to facilitate family evacuation drills and neighborhood safety fairs. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 7 of 10 RESPONSE TO GRAND JURY RECOMMENDATIONS The Marin County Civil Grand Jury recommends the following: R1. Create a comprehensive, countywide vegetation management plan that includes vegetation along evacuation routes, a campaign to mobilize public participation, and low- income subsidies. This recommendation requires further analysis. The Marin cities, towns, fire agencies and the County are addressing this recommendation with a working group to explore the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program governed by a countywide joints power authority. We agree that more needs to be done to address this critical public safety issue in the face of what now is commonly referred to as the “new-normal.” Accelerating climate change has led to larger, costlier, and more frequent wildfires in the state than ever before, burning almost year-round. Because of this, all fire agencies, the County, and its cities and towns are working together to explore the creation a countywide wildfire prevention program. The program scope for an ongoing, locally-controlled, countywide wildfire prevention program would include the following: • Fire fuel reduction and vegetation management • Defensible-space home evaluations and education • Evacuation planning and neighborhood preparedness • Alert and warning enhancements • Pursuit of grant funds for countywide efforts, as well as grant funding for to assist seniors, financially disadvantaged and those with access and functional needs with preparedness measures. This program would require new ongoing funding. We are currently exploring a potential countywide parcel tax measure in March 2020. R2. Hire at least 30 new civilian vegetation inspectors and at least eight fire/fuels crews focused on fuel reduction in the high risk areas of the county, including federal, state and local public lands. This recommendation requires further analysis. As stated in our response to Recommendation No. 1, a countywide wildfire prevention initiative would include expanded defensible-space home inspections and education. A working group of fire chiefs and city/town managers are exploring options to ensure the most appropriate and cost-effective solutions are considered to improve defensible space countywide. This enhanced program would require new, ongoing resources. The staffing of this effort would be subject to policy decisions of a countywide JPA and/or the governing board of responsible fire agencies. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 8 of 10 R3. Develop and implement a fast, streamlined procedure to enforce vegetation citations. This recommendation requires further analysis. Fire prevention officers throughout the county are working on a countywide, streamlined approach updating codes and processes. It is the intention of the group to implement some items as part of regular code adoption cycle this fall. Larger scale collaboration and a more streamlined approach will be addressed as part of the countywide wildfire prevention program. At the countywide level, our intention is to educate homeowners for cooperative compliance. Addressing non-compliance would be a matter for each jurisdiction to address. R4. Adopt and deliver a comprehensive education program focused on action for all residents of Marin on a regular schedule by a team of expert trainers. This recommendation requires further analysis. A countywide wildfire prevention program would include a comprehensive education program for all residents. Although agencies have made efforts to educate the public, without additional resources to enhance existing efforts, we believe these efforts will continue to be insufficient and not consistent throughout the County. R5. Promote the creation of Firewise Communities in every neighborhood by all local jurisdictions. This recommendation has already been implemented. As the Grand Jury report points out, Marin currently has over 30 Firewise neighborhoods. With the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program, our current efforts can be substantially enhanced and expanded throughout the County. R6. Employ individuals with skills in public speaking, teaching, curriculum design, graphics, web design, advertising, community organization, community relations, and diplomacy to educate the public. This recommendation has already been implemented We currently have very articulate fire professionals and FIRESafe Marin educating the public. However, we recognize more needs to be done and this work may not need to be done by our firefighters, who often have competing response priorities. R7. Collect Marin residents’ information and add it to Alert Marin and Nixle databases to make them opt-out systems. This recommendation requires further analysis. This recommendation would require changes in State law. We will work with legislators to support bills like SB 46 (Hueso; 2019), which would allow local governments to enter into agreements to access resident cell phone contact information for enrolling county residents in a county-operated public emergency warning system. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 9 of 10 We are also pursuing newly available authority to cooperate with utility companies to obtain customer data for these purposes, but state legislation would be needed to obtain cell phone contact information. R8. Expand the use of sirens with LRADs. This recommendation requires further analysis. Sirens and LRAD’s have limited reach and ability to be heard inside a building. Local testing has provided mixed results based on topography and other competing outdoor existing noise. This type of system does have valuable application in some areas within the County. For those communities for which these logistical challenges can be overcome, there is considerable appeal for technology such as LRAD’s, which carry a more specific message than sirens. To be effective, sirens require communitywide understanding of their meaning and what is expected of residents when they are sounded. R9. Research, develop, and publish plans for the mass movement of populations along designated evacuation routes. This recommendation requires further analysis. Large scale evacuation planning needs to identify which corridors would benefit the most from contra-flow and traffic-light sequencing. The use of experts in this field should be engaged. Coordination with public works agencies and additional funding from a countywide wildfire prevention initiative will be a critical component to our success. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. R10. Give the highest priority to mitigating known choke points and to maximizing the capacity of existing evacuation routes. This recommendation requires further analysis. Large scale evacuation planning needs to identify “choke points”. The use of traffic analysis experts in this field should be engaged. Coordination with public works agencies and additional funding from a countywide wildfire prevention initiative will be a critical component to our success. R11. Incorporate and prioritize plans for mass evacuations in all pending and future traffic/road projects along major escape routes. This recommendation requires further analysis. Consideration of mass evacuations is an important element for agencies to add to their assessment of road-related capital projects. However, prioritizing evacuation plans above all other considerations may lead to design decisions that impair other important considerations, such as safe use of roads on a daily basis. A balanced lifestyle of each project is required. • City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach” April 25, 2019 Unified Response Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations Page 10 of 10 R12. Educate, prepare, and drill for evacuations in all communities. This recommendation has been implemented. Although all Marin Fire agencies have done this work to some extent, a countywide wildfire prevention program would substantially expand efforts to educate, prepare and drill for evacuations through Marin. City of San Rafael – see Attachment A. R13. Fully integrate public transit into the MERA communications system without further delay. This recommendation requires further analysis. The member agencies of MERA welcome the addition of transit agencies serving Marin. It will be necessary to analyze how to integrate these agencies in a manner that is fair and equitable. R15. Establish in the form of a Joint Powers Authority an umbrella organization for wildfire planning and preparedness (vegetation management, public education, alerts, and evacuation), funded by a ¼ cent sales tax. This recommendation requires further analysis. The Marin cities, towns, fire agencies and County are addressing this recommendation with a working group to explore the creation of a countywide wildfire prevention program governed by a countywide joints power authority. The program scope for ongoing, locally-controlled, countywide wildfire prevention program would include the following: • Fire fuel reduction and vegetation management • Defensible-space home evaluations and education • Evacuation planning and neighborhood preparedness • Alert and warning enhancements • Pursuit of grant funds for countywide efforts, as well as grant funding to assist seniors, financially disadvantaged and those with access and functional needs with preparedness measures. This program would require new, ongoing funding. We are currently exploring a potential countywide parcel tax measure in March 2020. Based on our feedback from Marin fire- responsible agencies, we believe that a parcel tax is the appropriate funding mechanism. In addition, we believe the Grand Jury’s recommendation may have been based on their assumption that “each jurisdiction would have to pass exactly the same parcel tax measure for the same amount at the same time.” It is worth noting that, based on the support of agencies that are responsible for fire suppression, it is allowable for the Board of Supervisors to place a single, countywide parcel tax measure on the ballot. A recent example is Measure A on the November 4, 2014 countywide ballot, which implemented a countywide parcel tax for the Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA). Therefore, the results of a countywide measure would require a two-thirds support countywide, but would not require two-thirds support in each jurisdiction. City of San Rafael – Supplemental Responses to Findings F1, F2, F3, F14, F15, F16, and Recommendations R9, R11 and R12 F1. Existing vegetation management codes are both inconsistent and inconsistently enforced. While some polices are inconsistent across the county, the differences are largely related towards moves by jurisdictions to strength codes to address the growing threat of wildfire. The City of San Rafael adopted an aggressive vegetation plan in 2007, and actively works to remove known high fire risk plants in the Wildland Urban Interface through inspections and notices. F2. There are not enough trained vegetation inspectors or fuel reduction crews. In addition, San Rafael works to reduce vegetation in open space, including fuel breaks and creating defensible space around homes bordering public lands. F3. Current vegetation enforcement procedures are slow, difficult and expensive. In addition, San Rafael believes a uniform abatement process, including public hearings, property inspections, and subsequent fuel reduction work would help improve the procedures and progress fuel reduction efforts with incorporative property owners. F14. In the WUI and in many town centers, infrastructure and roads are inadequate for mass evacuations. The City of San Rafael acknowledges many areas throughout the City and County have limited evacuation routes. The City has included an evaluation of existing routes and needs for improvements in the 38-point City Council approved Wildfire Action Plan. The City is also committed to improving the way in which evacuation routes, associated planning, and areas of refuge are shared with the public. The City is also committed to reducing the potential need for mass evacuation through its vegetation management program and working to identify and share community areas of refuge, in which residents can find temporary safety from a wildfire, until a safe evacuation route to an evacuation center or shelter can be identified, coordinated, and shared. F15. Evacuation routes are dangerously overgrown with vegetation and many evacuation routes are too narrow to allow safe passage in an emergency. In addition, San Rafael believes limited funding and avenues for abatement proceedings limit the ways in the City can address some areas of concern. F16. Emergency planners often do not publicize evacuation routes due to their mistrust of the public. In addition, San Rafael does not believe the lack of widely shared evacuation maps has to do with mistrust of the public, but rather the variable nature of a wildfire and potential to cause harm by committing to a singular publicized plan. R9. Research, develop, and publish plans for the mass movement of populations along designated evacuation routes. In addition, the City of San Rafael Public Safety Staff currently has planned general evacuation routes for the neighborhoods of San Rafael. City Public Safety Staff have worked closely with county staff in developing the Mutual Threat Zone (MTZ) maps, including various evacuation routes. Generally speaking evacuation routes are guidelines which must be flexible based on the circumstances at the time of a critical incident. As conditions change in real time during an incident, routes and plans change to keep evacuees out of harm’s way. While evacuation route planning is essential, current information on environmental conditions during an incident will be the ultimate determiner of safe routes and safe locations for staging evacuees. City staff offer numerous community outreach and training events to help residents be better prepared for a disaster. This includes information on evacuation routes and the importance of knowing at least two ways out of their neighborhoods. Residents are encouraged to drive or walk alternate routes on a regular basis. The City also looking to expand outreach relating to areas of refuge and helping residents identify areas that may be safe to wait out a fire until a safer evacuation is possible. The recently adopted San Rafael Wildfire Prevention and Protection Plan also addresses evacuation (item 32), including expanding support of neighborhood evacuation drills and coordination with transportation providers. R11. Incorporate and prioritize plans for mass evacuations in all pending and future traffic/road projects along major escape routes. In addition, as traffic signal improvement projects take place, the City of San Rafael is continually improving signalization throughout the city to give San Rafael the ability to modify traffic patterns during emergencies. The City is installing intersection monitoring equipment, new controllers, new signal heads and mast arms, fiber-optic cabling and other improvements to provide dynamic and controllable signals as it upgrades intersections. These improvements will allow San Rafael to monitor and manage traffic flows in high volume circumstances including during emergencies. R12. Educate, prepare, and drill for evacuations in all communities. In addition, the City of San Rafael has provided information to residents regarding wildfire danger as well as other natural disasters. These information sessions have often come in the form of public safety personnel presentations at neighborhood association gatherings. These presentations have taken place in the recent past and are ongoing. Any trainings or evacuation plans would be strictly scenario-based as wildfires are unpredictable and specific to environmental conditions at the time making specific plans regarding these events problematic. The City is also working on creating a template that can be used by neighborhood groups to facilitate family evacuation drills and neighborhood safety fairs. RESOLUTION NO. 14688 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE CITY’S RESPONSE TO THE APRIL 25, 2019 MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT ENTITLED "WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS: A NEW APPROACH” WHEREAS, pursuant to Penal Code section 933, a public agency which receives a Grand Jury Report addressing aspects of the public agency’s operations must, within ninety (90) days, provide a written response to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, with a copy to the Foreperson of the Grand Jury, responding to the Report’s findings and recommendations; and WHEREAS, Penal Code section 933 specifically requires that the “governing body” of the public agency provide said response and, in order to lawfully comply, the governing body must consider and adopt the response at a noticed public meeting pursuant to the Brown Act; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San Rafael has received and reviewed the Marin County Grand Jury Report, dated April 25, 2019, entitled “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach”, and has added the discussion of this report at the June 17, 2019 City Council agenda to consider the City’s response; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of San Rafael hereby: 1. Approves and authorizes the Mayor to execute the City’s response to the Marin County Grand Jury’s April 25, 2019 report, entitled “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach”, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. 2. Directs the City Clerk to forward the City’s response forthwith to the Presiding Judge of the Marin County Superior Court and to the Foreperson of the Marin County Grand Jury. 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 the 17th day of June 2019, by the following vote to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Bushey, Colin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Gamblin LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk #2 Apply vegetation management standards citywide #3 Adopt Public Resource Code 4290 and 4291 •The threat of wildfire extends beyond the WUI •A firesafe San Rafael requires citywide vegetation standards •PRC 4290 & 4291 establish guidelines for defensible space #1 Eliminate highly flammable vegetation throughout San Rafael •2007 ordinance change prohibited Juniper and Bamboo in WUI •Ordinance will be updated to include Acacia and Italian Cypress •Ordinance will be updated to apply citywide •Mill Valley recently made the same change Ordinance Change Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action PlanWildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan DRAFTED MARCH 2019 1 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 San Rafael Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan Executive Summary: At the direction of the San Rafael City Council, staff have produced the San Rafael Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan. This document is intended as a master planning document to guide continual efforts to reduce the wildfire risk in San Rafael. It does not provide specific program details for every objective. All items that require additional detail will return to the City Council at a subsequent date for consideration either by Resolution or Ordinance, following a community engagement process. This master plan incorporates lessons learned from recent wildfires, ongoing local and County efforts, existing plans, and public input. This document is intended as a guide to overall approach and lays out the City of San Rafael’s plans for Wildfire Prevention and Preparedness. The plan will be executed in partnership with other city, county and community efforts. 2 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Background: In 2007, the City of San Rafael adopted a model ordinance for vegetation management. As we experience continued fire risk and activity associated with climate change, the City of San Rafael has been actively evaluating methods to further reduce our community’s susceptibility to devasting wildfires. Wildfire risks will persist under extreme conditions; however, we can significantly mitigate those risk factors through enhanced regulations, education and enforcement. Public policy and programs provide a framework for a more resilient San Rafael but will require public support, compliance, effective implementation, and individual effort. Currently, the City’s wildfire prevention efforts focus on our Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas, which were established to identify areas thought to be most at risk for being impacted by a wildfire. Specific vegetation standards, including those adopted by San Rafael in 2007, apply only to property in the WUI. However, as climate change and increased fuel build-up contribute to more devasting fires, these boundaries no longer are sufficient or effective. Ember storms, explained in more detail below, can spread fire miles ahead of the flame front, regardless of WUI or jurisdictional boundaries. To adequately protect communities, more universal standards and approaches are necessary. Each structure burned in a fire is a risk to life, a personal and communal loss, and contributes to additional fire spread. The Fire Department has one full-time, fixed-term Vegetation Management Specialist position and one part-time Vegetation Management Inspector. Together, the Department conducted more than 1,200 WUI home inspections in the first half of Fiscal Year 2018/19 and assisted the Department of Public Works with removal of flammable vegetation on approximately 125 acres of City-owned 3 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 public space. Monthly chipper days – providing residents with free juniper and bamboo chipping services – are also overseen by the Fire Department. Altogether, more than 1,500 tons of vegetation has been removed this fiscal year as a result of the Fire Department’s vegetation management efforts. The City also works closely with Marin County Fire, FIRESafe MARIN, and other local and regional agencies on wildfire prevention and fuel reduction strategies. Additionally, the Police Department employs two part-time open-space rangers who patrol City open space for fire hazards and violations of City ordinances during the fire season (generally considered to be May through November). These rangers are empowered to remove dangerous items from encampments if they pose an immediate fire risk, and assist in removing abandoned campsites, garbage and other fire risks from the area. Note, enforcement of anti-camping ordinances is limited by the law and a recent U.S. 9th Circuit court ruling and the City is currently working to update its ordinances to be in compliance with the law. Despite the City’s ongoing efforts, wildfire risk and community concern require more action. Continual and expanded efforts to address wildfire prevention and safety will protect lives, property, businesses, as well as our natural resources, including forests, watersheds, and endangered species habitats. 4 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Fire Science: A basic understanding of fire science and behavior is needed to best understand how the items proposed in this plan will reduce the wildfire risk in San Rafael. Fire requires heat, oxygen, and fuel to burn. Wildfire behavior is impacted by weather, topography, and fuel. Fuel is the consistent feature in fire ignition and behavior that we can do the most to control. Wildfire prevention focuses on reducing ignition sources, such as heat and easily ignitable fuel. Wildfire mitigation focuses on reducing fuel to reduce the ability of a wildfire to spread and impact lives and property. Types of fuel are generally defined by the time it takes to respond to changing weather conditions or dry out. 1 hour, or flash fuels, like tall grass, ignite and burn very quickly. 10, 100, and 1,000-hour fuels take increasingly more heat and time to ignite but burn for longer. Similar to the way one would build a camp fire, fire mitigation work should start with the easily ignitable fuels and progressively remove the others from areas of protection. When referring to fuel structures, or the way the fuels exist in the environment, the three common in San Rafael are surface, ladder, and aerial fuel. Surface fuel includes dead and dying vegetation material on the ground’s surface. Fire that only impacts ground fuels is much easier to contain and extinguish. Ladder fuels connect separate fuel sources and contribute to fire spread. Reducing ladder fuels helps keep fire on the ground and reduces the rate of spread. Ladder fuels allow 5 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 ground fire to spread into canopies and aerial fuels. Aerial fuels exist above the ground, and include the tree canopy, branches and high brush. Fires consuming large amounts of aerial fuels are difficult to contain. The three primary methods of wildfire spread are described below: Embers: According to recent research, embers are the most prolific cause of home ignition at a rate of two out of every three homes destroyed. Embers are glowing or burning pieces of vegetation or construction debris that are lofted during the wildfire. Embers can move up to a mile ahead of a firestorm. These small embers or sparks may fall on the vegetation near your home – on dry leaves, needles or twigs on the roof– and then subsequently ignite and burn down the home. The concentration of embers that land on the roof and roll off makes the removal of all flammable materials close to the house critical. Ember storms place all structures without fire resistant landscaping and construction within miles of the fire at potential risk. Direct flame contact: Direct flame impingement refers to the transfer of heat by direct flame exposure. Direct contact will heat the building materials of the home; if the time and intensity of exposure is severe enough, windows will break, and materials will ignite. Radiant heat: A house can catch on fire from the heat that is transferred to it from nearby burning objects, even in the absence of direct flames or embers. By creating defensible space around homes, we can significantly reduce the risk from radiant heat. A home with 100 feet of clearance from forest or shrubs will usually have minimal impact from radiant heat or direct flame. Establishing strong guidelines for defensible space and fire-resistant building materials helps prevent ignition from radiant heat and embers. Limiting fuel and available vegetation reduces the possibility of direct flame contact igniting structures or other vegetation. Conditions are increasingly making ember storms, created by winds and highly combustible vegetation, the primary method of wildfire spread. NFPA and Firewise USA recognize three zones surrounding a structure:. Immediate Zone (within 5 feet of a structure): This zone is most vulnerable to embers and should be clear of all dead and flammable vegetation. Intermediate Zone (5 to 30 feet from a structure): This area should be carefully landscaped to act as a fire break. Extended Zone (30 to 100 feet – or, in some cases, up to 200 feet – from a structure): This zone should act to interrupt the path of fire and keep embers from becoming airborne. 6 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Methodology: This document lists a series of prescriptions, programs, and ordinance changes needed to make San Rafael more fire and disaster-resistant. These action items reflect the need for a comprehensive approach to reducing wildfire risk. Removing dangerous vegetation, using fire-resistant building materials, and avoiding risky activities all are vital for protecting the community. This plan is written with regards to the City and County of Marin Local Hazard Mitigation Plans (LHMP); Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP); Marin County Lessons Learned 2017 North Bay Fire Siege, September 2018 (2017 Lessons Learned report); San Rafael Climate Change Action Plan, and the San Rafael General Plan. The draft plan was presented to City Council on January 22, 2019. Feedback from the public, elected officials, and City staff has been incorporated into this version. Public input was gathered through public meetings, Homeowners Association and Neighborhood Association meetings, online feedback forms, social media, Nextdoor polls and direct contacts. The final version of the plan has been re-organized and renumbered from the initial draft. A cross walk of the final draft numbers and draft numbering system is included at the end of this plan. 7 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Intent: The San Rafael Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan is designed to serve as a master plan and framework to the ongoing work to reduce wildfire risk in San Rafael. This plan considers and incorporates local, county, regional, and national findings and best practices, including those incorporated into the Marin County Wildfire Prevention and Protection Plan and the 2017 Lesson’s Learned report. The plan is designed to address all the phases of disaster response (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) while engaging the whole community. Creative and innovative solutions are considered to help achieve these goals. As a community member summarized via the feedback form “if ever there was a situation where you should not let ‘the perfect be the enemy of the good’, this is it.” This plan is presented as a framework to move efforts forward, establish benchmarks, and provide opportunities for evaluation and improvement. The following were the guiding principles and intent of this plan: • Public safety and risk reduction • Coordination and collaboration • Environmental protection and sustainability • Equity • Cost effectiveness • Incentivize voluntary compliance before fines and penalties 8 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Structure: The action items are organized into three categories in alignment with the Marin County 2017 Lessons Learned report: 1) Vegetation Management 2) Wildfire Prevention and Protection and 3) Emergency Notifications and Evacuation. Each action item includes the objective, rationale, required actions, concerns, costs, potential stakeholders, a proposed timeline, and anticipated outcomes in the following format: OBJECTIVE Action This section includes a description of the proposed action. What this means This section should explain in more detail what this action would mean to those impacted by it. Rationale This section includes a discussion of why we recommend this, including the scale of impact we believe it will have. Concerns This section includes a discussion of political, legal, or cost feasibility concerns that we’ve identified. It lists any identified trade-offs, such as the dedication of existing staffing resources away from other projects to do this work. Costs This section includes estimated one-time and on-going costs to the City, as well as any costs the community may incur. The standards for evaluation are listed below. When possible, it concludes with the total estimated cost of implementing the item. Stakeholders This section includes a list of stakeholders. Timeline This section says if the action is underway and if not, why. For example, it is noted here if the action requires further or extensive legal review, future City Council action, community outreach, program design work, etc. Outcomes This section outlines the anticipated result of the item implementation. 9 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Impacts on Budget and Staff Time: A full, year-by-year budget estimating the cost to implement the plan is attached at the end of the plan. This includes contract work for open space fuel reduction projects, staff time to implement and maintain the plan, support for residents through cost share programs and chipper days, outreach and education, as well as supplies and funding for specific projects. As possible, the total estimated cost to implement the objective is included in the cost box. The cost ranges are based on current rates and do not account for inflation. Some projects will be ongoing, while others will have peak periods and then reduced costs as vegetation work shifts into maintenance. Some cost recovery may be attainted through enforcement fines which will be in alignment with the City master fee schedule. The City hopes to achieve voluntary compliance before implementing fines or fees for dangerous non-compliance. The funding, required staff time, and proposed timelines for each objective have been individually evaluated. If action is requested on the entire action plan, timelines may need to be extended and additional staff may be required. Financial costs have been evaluated and are identified using the following standard: $ Efforts are supported by current program budget $$ Efforts could be supported with reprogramming of current budget $$$ Efforts require additional funding 10 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Staff time required to achieve each objective has been estimated and identified using the following standard: @ Efforts are supported with currently allocated staff time. No significant impact on other programming is anticipated. @@ Efforts can be accomplished with existing staff reallocating time. Other projects will be deprioritized. @@@ Efforts will require more staff time than is currently available. Requires additional staff or increasing hours of part-time staff. Definitions: For the purposes of this document, the following words are defined: “Fuel” means any combustible vegetation, including grass, leaves, ground litter, plants, shrubs and trees, that can feed a fire. “Prescription” means a set of standards, regulations, or recommendations that consider the unique aspects of a particular issue including vegetation, slope, aspect, nearby construction materials, and surrounding area. “Vegetation Management Plan” means a site-specific written plan for a property to mitigate the risk of wildfire through strategic reduction of combustible vegetation. “Wildfire” means a fire that originates in an area of combustible vegetation, as opposed to a structure fire, which originates in or adjacent to a building. “Wildland-Urban Interface” is an area where human development (e.g., houses) abut or intermingle with undeveloped vegetation and where the risk of wildfire is high. 11 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 A table of acronyms is provided below: Table 1 – Acronyms ACRONYM DESCRIPTION AFN Access and Functional Needs CERT Community Emergency Response Team CSA Community Service Agreement CSD Community Service District CWPP Community Wildfire Protection Plan DPW Department of Public Works EOC Emergency Operations Center GETS Government Emergency Telecommunications Service HEAT Homeless Emergency Action Team LHMP Local Hazard Mitigation Plan MCSO Marin County Sheriff’s Office MMWD Marin Municipal Water District NCCC National Civilian Conservation Corps, An AmeriCorps Program NFPA National Fire Protection Association NRG Neighborhood Response Group OES Office of Emergency Services PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric PRC Public Resource Code RLT Resilient Landscape Template SRA State Responsibility Area SRFD San Rafael Fire Department SRMC San Rafael Municipal Code SRPD San Rafael Police Department VMP Vegetation Management Plan WEA Wireless Emergency Alerts WPS Wireless Priority Services WUI Wildland-Urban Interface 12 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 VEGETATION MANAGEMENT 1. Eliminate highly flammable vegetation near structures and roadways throughout San Rafael ACTION Propose revising the existing provisions that prohibit Juniper and Bamboo to include Acacia and Italian Cypress, and universally apply these regulations to all properties in San Rafael. WHAT THIS MEANS All property owners in San Rafael, both public and private, would be required to remove all Juniper (Juniperus spp.), Bamboo (Bambusa spp.), Acacia (Acacia spp.), and Italian Cypress (Cupressis sempervirens) within a set distance of a structure or roadway by July 1, 2020. Support for property owners to meet this deadline may include an enhanced Chipper Day program and the ability to apply for the City to fund additional green waste carts for a limited time. Outreach to nurseries and landscaping companies would be included to help prevent the sale and planting of highly flammable vegetation. Fire prone, non-native and invasive species would also be removed from public spaces as possible. Consider ordinance banning the sale of prohibited plants or requiring “high fire risk” warning labels within San Rafael. RATIONALE These species are known to propagate fire at a high rate of spread and create unnecessary risks to the property owners, first responders, and community at large. The ordinance update would help reduce fire ignition, the spread of wildfire, and improve responder safety throughout the entire community by eliminating highly combustible vegetation. Establishing and maintaining citywide vegetation standards simplify education and enforcement efforts. To address aesthetics and erosion, outreach and education efforts would include information about fire resistant plants recommended as replacements. CONCERNS Staff time would be required to proactively encourage voluntarily compliance and enforce as necessary. Costs to residents and City to remove and dispose of hazardous fuel loads. Cost to City to meet vegetation standards on City property. Ability to assure equitable wildfire protection with assistance programs. Need and want to replace the removed species for erosion protection, carbon sequestration, habitat, and beautification. COSTS $ Ordinance change can be accomplished with current funding and staffing levels. @@@ Implementation and enforcement of the updated ordinance would require significant staff time. $$$ Program support to help property owners meet the requirements would require additional funding. Implementation would include an increased number of ‘Free Chipper Days’ at a rate of roughly $1,800 per day to support community efforts. The City would consider supporting residents requesting the $2.20-per-month charge per parcel for an additional green waste cart for a set period. Grant applications have been submitted to help cover the cost of the increased ‘Chipper Days’. To encourage 13 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 compliance, an additional 40 chipper days would be offered prior to the July 1, 2020 deadline, for a total cost of $64,000. Property owners not in compliance by the July 1, 2020 deadline would incur costs to remove vegetation to meet updated vegetation standards. Total: Staff time and equipment costs to implement are estimated between $75,000- 125,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS All property owners in San Rafael, both public and private. Fire Department. Public Works. Nurseries and Landscapers. TIMELINE Ordinance changes would be internally drafted, reviewed and presented at public meetings in the future. Staff hopes to have an initial round of proposed draft ordinances ready for public and City Council input within 90 days. Education, outreach, and assistance with vegetation removal for property owners would begin within 30 days of the ordinance adoption. OUTCOMES Voluntary compliance and enforcement would result in less highly flammable fuels in San Rafael resulting in reduced likelihood of ignition and less fire spread within the immediate and intermediate zones. The data reviewed to consider the success of implementation would include tons of vegetative debris removed, results of inspections. 2. Apply vegetation management and defensible space standards citywide ACTION Propose revising the municipal code to apply vegetation standards, building codes and wildfire related ordinances citywide. No boundary would limit where these provisions are applied in the future. WHAT THIS MEANS Requirements that are currently applied only to parcels in the WUI would be applicable to all parcels within the City of San Rafael. Proposed ordinances would outline new citywide vegetation, building, and ground covering standards. A set of revised ordinances would establish citywide vegetation standards. A section unique to WUI ordinances would be maintained for any unique standards. Outreach and education would provide property owners with suggestions for species to plant with consideration to fire resistance, drought tolerance, and carbon sequestration. Application of vegetation standards may include considerations for building material, topography, surrounding fuel and infrastructure, or other impacts to fire behavior. An internal policy would guide the interpretation and enforcement of the ordinances. A permit process allowing homeowners to remove specific vegetation on public land to achieve defensible space for their home would be considered in coordination with City efforts to reduce hazardous fuels in open space. Guidelines would also include standards for planting, maintaining and removing Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) 14 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 trees. RATIONALE Wildfires do not respect WUI boundaries, and can easily spread to urban areas, outside the WUI as painfully demonstrated in the 2017 Wine County fires. This improvement is included in the 2017 Lessons Learned report. Uniform application of all vegetation management and fire prevention related codes and ordinances would improve wildfire resilience throughout the community. Uniform standards would provide clarity and simplify enforcement. The removal of highly flammable and dense vegetation stands would also promote healthy vegetation growth. CONCERNS Public would have varying costs to meet new vegetation management standards. Would require staff training on updated Municipal Code. High cost burden for properties not currently up to the new code. High cost to obtain compliance with new code; could trigger substantial rehab/ or tax reassessment, and possible new insurance costs. Could disincentivize development. The City hillside ordinance would need reviewed and updated to allow new construction to alter landscaping to achieve defensible space. Replacement of removed species for erosion protection and carbon sequestration. Challenges educating property owners not residing in San Rafael of new ordinances. COSTS $$$ Costs to support residents meeting updated standards and assuring City property meets standards would require additional funding. @ Ordinance updates can be updated with existing staff @@@ Outreach, education, and enforcement would require additional staffing. Total cost to City: Initial staff time and equipment costs to implement are estimated between $100,000-150,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Building Department, residents, businesses, landowners, Marin Builders Association. TIMELINE Ordinance changes would be internally drafted, reviewed and presented at public meetings in the future. Staff hopes to have an initial round of ordinance updates ready for public and City Council input within 90 days. Building Code updates would be incorporated into the reoccurring review cycle towards the end of 2019. OUTCOMES Reduces hazardous fuels and wildfire risk throughout the Immediate, Intermediate, and Extended zones. Reducing likelihood of ember storms to create new ignitions in or outside of the WUI boundaries. Community wide resilience. 15 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 3. Reduce ember ignitions within immediate zones to prevent structure ignitions through enhanced standards and support ACTION Propose revising the municipal code Title 4 (“Fire”) to include a series of standards to be selectively applied within the immediate zone, generally to mean five feet, of a structure with consideration to unique construction materials, slope, aspect, surrounding vegetation, and fire risk of each property. A policy would be drafted to define the approach to the enforcement. WHAT THIS MEANS The perimeter around a structure would need to meet a set of standards designed to reduce the likelihood of embers creating spot fires and igniting structures, on or before July 1, 2020. Individual prescriptions may be established considering unique attributes of the property, a VMP or RLT, and requiring approval of the Fire Chief or designee. These standards may include a selection of the proposed components: a) No vegetation in the immediate zone shall make direct contact with the structure. b) Hardwood trees are permitted within the zone provided they are well- irrigated, limbed five feet or one-third of the tree height, and have five feet between other tree canopies. c) Any vegetation within the immediate zone shall not grow under a window, stairs, decks, or combustible structures or encroach within two feet thereof. d) Vines and ivy shall be well-irrigated and maintained to eliminate any dead or dying material build-up. e) No ladder or continuous fuels posing a risk to a structure shall be present. f) Mulch or similar ground covering is only permitted when no contact is made with combustible exterior walls or plants. g) No vegetation except for 3-inch grass, blooming flowers, succulent plants, or established trees shall be present. Exemptions may be considered for erosion control. All properties requesting an exemption from vegetation standards would be subject to a vegetation inspection and asked to complete a VMP or RLT, for approval by the Fire Chief or designee. RATIONALE Through voluntary compliance and proactive enforcement, a series of vegetation and other fuel standards should reduce structure ignitions during an active wildfire by reducing the combustible fuel needed to develop embers into flames. Recent case studies show that urban fire conflagrations are not spreading as a wall of fire, but rather as embers starting hundreds of new fires. Reducing structural ignitability reduces property loss and creates less fuel to continue spreading the fire. This requirement accounts for embers falling from roofs and eaves onto the ground. Focusing on the “house out” concept empowers all property owners, regardless of lot 16 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 size to reduce wildfire risk for themselves and their neighbors. The public’s responsibility to decrease structure ignitability and maintain defensible space was included as an area of improvement in the 2017 Lessons Learned report. CONCERNS Cost to private and public property owners. Ability to enforce. Erosion control. Ability to notify all property owners of updated regulations. COSTS @ Ordinance change can be implemented with current staff. @@@ Increased inspections and enforcement could not be accomplished with current staffing levels. Increased public education and outreach. $$$ Additional funding would be needed to support community vegetation removal, such as free chipper days and assistance to low income property owners. Total cost to City: Initial staff time and equipment costs to support homeowner implementation is estimated between $50,000-100,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS All property owners in San Rafael, both public and private. Fire Department. Code Enforcement. Nurseries, Landscapers. TIMELINE The requirement, modeled in part after Mill Valley ordinance updates, can be incorporated into the new citywide vegetation standards and presented for public and Councilmember comment within 90 days. Staff propose July 1, 2020 as the date of compliance. OUTCOMES Reduced likelihood of structure ignitions. Removal of hazardous fuel near structures. 4. Expand goat grazing for vegetation maintenance ACTION SRFD program update. Increase the use of goat grazing through cooperative relationships with contractors, FIRESafe MARIN, Marin County and other land-owning agencies. WHAT THIS MEANS San Rafael currently leases goats from private industry for specific times throughout the year. The City is working to gain access to the County’s new goat resources for open-space vegetation clearance. In addition, new contractors are being considered to help meet the demand and reduce per acre cost. Coordination would also occur between various public and private landowners. Staff would work with property owners to link project sites to create continuous fuel breaks and reduce transportation costs. RATIONALE Coordinated grazing reduces the costs associated with transporting the goats to new sites and creates more continuous fuel breaks. Goats are an effective way to manage reoccurring fuels, such as grasses and French Broom (genista monspessulanus). Reducing mechanical removal of fuels, such as mowers and weed eaters, also reducing carbon 17 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 emissions. CONCERNS Goats and vegetation management contractors are in high demand. Goats are most cost effective on larger treatment areas. In 2018, over $80,000 was spent on goat grazing. Moving and securing goats can be challenging. Coordinating the timing of grazing with rain, vegetation growth, and high fire danger is challenging. COSTS $$$ Additional funding is needed to expand the goat grazing program and maintain fuel reduction work. Cost saving associated with reduced transport would support increased acreage. @ Goat grazing coordination can be accomplished with current staff. A recent grazing estimate was $900 an acre and $2,500 per transport. At least 61.5 acres need annual treatment, which with transport costs could total close to $80,000 annually in 2019 dollars. Initial Costs to the City are estimated at $80,000 annually and would increase as more fuel reduction work transitions to goat maintenance. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, FIRESafe MARIN, Marin County Fire. TIMELINE In progress. Contract negotiations are underway. Goats would be available in late winter/early spring 2019. The majority of goat grazing is completed before July 1st and peak fire season. Grazing is needed annually. The timing of grazing is impacted by rainfall, plant growth and seeding, and extreme fire conditions. OUTCOMES Goat grazing serves as a low carbon emitting fuel reduction and maintenance tool throughout San Rafael. 5. Establish additional fuel interruption zones ACTION SRFD and DPW program. Remove hazardous fuels on public land within 100 feet of structures. Strategically remove hazardous fuels within 30- 50 feet of private, improved property to create fuel interruption zones. Efforts would focus on shaded fuel breaks and removal of ground and ladder fuels. WHAT THIS MEANS San Rafael would take on the cost and burden of clearing vegetation on San Rafael owned and maintained land that abuts privately owned and developed land. Fuel interruption zones consist of low-cut grasses, removal of dead vegetation and ladder fuels, and shaded fuel breaks. RATIONALE San Rafael must do its part to reduce fuels, particularly in areas bordering other property to assure efforts of one parcel are not negated by another's. This would 18 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 reduce fuels to limit fire ignition and spread in San Rafael Open Spaces and help reduce the potential for a fire to spread from undeveloped to developed land. Aligns with Marin CWPP transition zone strategy. CONCERNS Cooperation and coordination with other public agencies and landowners may be difficult. Costs. COSTS $$$ Efforts require extensive additional funding to achieve necessary results. Fire prevention and mitigation grants may help mitigate the cost. Measure A funding cannot cover all the necessary fuel reduction work. Measure A funding may be used to support maintenance work once the significant fuel reduction is completed. Additional funding is needed to fully fund maintenance and prevent additional fuel build ups. @@@ Substantial staff time is needed to strategically manage projects, contractors and conservation crews while continuing vegetation inspections and educational programming. Based on past costs, the current list of fuel reduction projects for 2019 is over $500,000. The staff time to implement is included in the staffing request costs. STAKEHOLDERS Fire, Public Works, landowners, Marin County, State Parks, MMWD TIMELINE In progress. Fuel reduction work is ongoing but reliant on available funding. A funding request to the Cal Fire, Fire Prevention Grant submitted December 19th, 2018 requests $922,000 to support fuel reduction in 2019 and 2020. Notifications of awards will be in April of 2019. OUTCOMES Reduction in hazardous fuels near structures and more pre-established fuel breaks to slow fire spread. 6. Improve public education regarding fire-safe landscaping and living with wildfire ACTION SRFD program. Outreach and education efforts, including information about areas of refuge, emergency alerts, defensible space, and reducing structure ignitability would be conducted citywide. WHAT THIS MEANS Additional outreach and online resources would be created to support firesafe landscaping and strategies to effectively harden homes. Outreach would target residents, nurseries, and community groups with an emphasis on gardening and landscaping. Current outreach is focused on WUI areas, but this expanded program would target all areas in San Rafael. This item includes an expansion of outreach and improved online resources, in collaboration and support of FIRESafe Marin efforts. In addition, education and outreach materials would be updated to reflect lessons learned from recent wildfires, including helping residents understand wildfire evacuations and 19 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 areas of refuge. Outreach and education would provide property owners with suggested ground coverings and species of plants with consideration to fire resistance, drought tolerance, and carbon sequestration. Efforts would also include point of sale locations such as nurseries and landscapers. Property owners would also be better informed on the best ways to dispose of different vegetative debris. RATIONALE Education and outreach efforts need to be expanded to adequately reach the entire community. Residents want to maintain a beautiful community while increasing fire safety. Additional education and outreach are needed to assure residents are landscaping with wildfire risks in mind. Residents are concerned about wildfire evacuations and need to be better informed to make quick decisions. San Rafael needs to incorporate lessons learned from other devasting fires in our wildfire prevention and preparedness efforts. CONCERNS Multiple outreach strategies are needed to reach various demographics. Volunteer coordination can be time consuming and unreliable. Mailers and outreach materials may not reach property owners, but rather occupants. Need additional strategies to make property owners aware of wildfire safety, new requirements, and actions they can take or empower their renters to take. COSTS @@ Updating online materials, developing new outreach materials, and contacts with residents can be completed with current staff reallocating time and the support of volunteers. $$$ Additional funding is needed to expand outreach, including printing additional materials, citywide. Total Costs to the City include the request for additional staffing and outreach materials for an annual cost estimate between $50,000 to $100,000. Annual outreach material costs alone are estimated as being between $20,000 and $40,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Community organizations, property owners, Open Government and Digital Services, nurseries and landscapers, FIRESafe Marin, Marin County TIMELINE Outreach and education regarding updated ordinances would begin immediately following adoption. Updates and lessons learned from recent wildfires would be incorporated into future community presentations. Extensive outreach campaign would occur in the Spring of 2019 to align with fire season and vegetation inspections pending available staff and resources. OUTCOMES Property owners, residents, and businesses would have a better understanding of how to achieve and maintain defensible landscaping, resulting in more voluntary compliance. Better community preparedness and resiliency. 20 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 7. Establish more Firewise communities in San Rafael ACTION SRFD program. Conduct outreach to identify communities interested in becoming “Firewise” and support them throughout the process. Coordinate efforts with FIRESafe MARIN and NFPA. WHAT THIS MEANS SRFD would dedicate time and effort to help additional communities meet “Firewise” standards, earn and maintain Firewise recognition. This would include increased education, disaster preparedness, and fuel reduction. There are currently three Firewise communities within the SRFD response area. City staff would also communicate the benefits of Firewise communities with insurance companies and support FIRESafe MARIN’s efforts. Currently, only one insurance company offers discounts for policy holders in Firewise communities. RATIONALE Firewise is a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) program that “teaches people how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together and take action now to prevent losses.” The program provides valuable educational information and a roadmap to help make San Rafael neighborhoods more resilient. Reducing fire risk takes neighborhood coordination as hazardous fuels on nearby property can negatively impact a well mitigated property. Firewise provided a mechanism for a few motivated neighbors to help their neighborhood become more fire resistant. Increasing the number of Firewise communities is a priority of the 2017 Lessons Learned report. CONCERNS Staff time. Currently, only one insurance company offers discounts for policy holders in Firewise communities. Increasing insurance company support of the program would help encourage more neighborhoods to work together to achieve Firewise recognition. COSTS $ There is minimal additional cost associated with the Firewise program. Programs of cost, such as community chipper days, are aligned with the overall City fuel reduction initiative, therefore do not represent new costs. @@ Firewise communities can be supported with current staff reallocating time. Total Costs would include staff time and sponsored chipper days, costing about $2,000-$7,000 for each community becoming Firewise. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Homeowners Associations and Neighborhood groups, property owners, FIRESafe Marin TIMELINE In progress. Two new Firewise communities were recognized for the first time in 2018 and more are expected in 2019. OUTCOMES San Rafael would have more Firewise, and therefore more resilient neighborhoods. 21 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 8. Reduce hazardous fuels through an abatement process on privately owned unimproved lots and within 200 feet of a structure or 20 feet of roadway ACTION City Program. Develop program and policy to reduce hazardous fuels through increased vegetation removal mandates and abatement on property with noncompliant and unresponsive owners. City and County ordinance and policy changes may be required. WHAT THIS MEANS After establishing a vacant parcel list, parcels would be inspected and noticed if they do not comply with the updated vegetation management standards. The abatement process would also be used to enforce vegetation standards on improved lots with unresponsive owners. A public hearing would be conducted giving any property owner the opportunity to commit to compliance within a set period. If property owners do not mitigate the issue themselves, they would be fined and/or have the cost of the City clearing the hazardous fuels charged to the them. A policy would be developed to guide the abatement process. RATIONALE Many privately owned parcels do not comply with vegetation management standards and create safety risks for the entire community. Establishing a consistent notification process, timeline for compliance, and cost recovery process would help address these risks. CONCERNS Potential challenges with recouping costs of abatement. Fines would need to be substantial to encourage compliance. COSTS $$$ The City would have to cover the additional costs of clearing unimproved hazardous property. Until costs are recouped this would require additional funding. @@ Staff would need to establish a vacant parcel and noncompliant list, inspect, notice and re-inspect. Coordinating contractor work as necessary would require additional staff time. TOTAL: Temporary costs, to be repaid by property owners, are estimated between $50,000-$150,000 per year. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Code Enforcement, Marin County, landowners TIMELINE Program can be developed and brought to the City Council for approval within 90 days. Coordination with the County may delay this process. OUTCOMES Reduce hazardous fuels and recover associated costs from absentee and noncompliant property owners. 22 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 9. Effectively coordinate the removal of vegetative debris from public and private property ACTION City program. Work with Marin Sanitary Service to develop a plan to support removal of increased vegetative debris. Consider identifying a City drop off site for removed hazardous fuels. Consider utilizing a scheduled bulk pick up day for vegetation. WHAT THIS MEANS Research and stakeholder input are needed to determine if a vegetation debris removal site is necessary or beneficial to helping reduce hazardous fuels. Additional discussions would help determine if a drop-off site should be always public, public on select days, or for City staff and contractors only. Other considerations include increasing green waste carts, chipper days, bulk removal days, large containers (BioBox) or a combination thereof. Responsible disposal would also take into consideration proper disposal and composting to reduce additional greenhouse gas releases. Encourage homeowners to fully utilize their green carts on a weekly basis, reducing the need for bulk removal. RATIONALE Stronger vegetation regulations would result in an increased amount of woody biomass and vegetative debris. A coordinated, multi-faceted approach would be needed to effectively and responsibly remove biomass from San Rafael. Goals would include reducing the costs associated with City sponsored chipper days, diverting woody biomass from landfills to biomass markets, and supporting property owners’ fuel reduction efforts. CONCERNS Cost. Security. Assuring appropriate use of space. Large piles of vegetative debris could pose additional fire risk if not properly protected. Fuel reduction in areas around drop-off sites would be required. COSTS $$$ Unless an existing, unused site is identified, costs for implementation and maintenance would be extensive. Additional funding is also needed to support increased green waste carts and/or community chipper days. @@ Coordination can be accomplished with current staff reallocating time. @@@ If a full-time drop-off site is established, additional staff may be necessary. Total annual Costs to the City are estimated as between $15,000 and $30,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Dept, Public Works, Sustainability Program, Residents, Marin Sanitary Service. TIMELINE Short and long-term recommendations would be drafted within 120 days. The timeline considers the vegetation removal requirement deadlines placed on residents. Implementation would be impacted by funding. OUTCOMES Hazardous fuel debris is removed from public and private property and diverted from landfills. 23 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 10. Engage Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, Neighborhood Response Groups (NRGs) and other volunteers in fire prevention ACTION SRFD program. Develop program and training to enable San Rafael CERT, NRGs and other disaster volunteer groups to support fuel reduction efforts through education, outreach, data gathering, and direct service. WHAT THIS MEANS Utilize existing volunteers and recruit additional volunteers to supplement the outreach, education, and hazard identification work of SRFD. RATIONALE San Rafael has almost 500 trained CERT members, many anxious for ways to be more involved in disaster preparedness. Training and engaging CERT and NRG volunteers would help increase public outreach and education and help inform SRFD’s vegetation inspection priorities. CERT and NRG members would utilize local knowledge and willpower while building more resiliency through education and relationship building. Volunteer hours dedicated to fuel reduction may be used as match dollars for fire grants. CONCERNS Volunteer safety and assuring the accurate distribution of information and data collection. COSTS $ The program can be implemented with minimal cost and existing funds. @@ The program can be implemented with existing staff. Initially, some time would need to be reallocated, but once active, CERT members would help save inspectors time. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, CERT members, NRGs, Marin County CERT TIMELINE In progress. San Rafael CERT steering committee is re-engaged and looking for ways to stay involved in disaster preparedness and response during ‘blue skies. Training needs to be developed and presented by fire prevention staff. A pilot program in a limited geographic area can be rolled out within three months. OUTCOMES Increase capacity of volunteers to support mitigation efforts. Expanded reach and impact with minimal cost implications. 24 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 11. Reengage volunteer “Broom Pull Days” ACTION City program. Work with the volunteer program to reestablish an ongoing volunteer program to pull invasive Scotch and French broom (cytisus scoparius and genista monspessulanus) from public open space and high fire risk areas. WHAT THIS MEANS A previous program saw a great deal of success removing and eliminating French Broom in parts of San Rafael. Education and best practice materials exist and can be re- used to support a reinvigoration of this effort. City staff would be needed to support the effort and City staff may be required at the start of projects to assure work areas are clear of -debris and threats. With approval, work may include areas in the hundred- foot easement onto state owned lands to establish an effective fuel break. RATIONALE The focus of this project would be to engage community will and volunteer labor to work on eliminating French and Scotch broom from high fire risk areas of San Rafael. Volunteer programs provide a path for residents to directly reduce wildfire risks. Volunteers would help reduce the need for contractors and support maintenance in previously cleared areas. CONCERNS Safety of volunteers. Time and effort needed to coordinate project sites, registration, and volunteer safety and technique training. Potential community conflicts over project areas. COSTS $$ Reallocated or new funding is needed to purchase tools and safety equipment. Woody Biomass left on site would need to be removed. @@ The program can be implemented with current staff reallocating time. Additional staff time would help expand the project areas. Total Cost to the City includes equipment and staff time and is estimated at $5,000- $15,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Police Department, Sustainability and Volunteer Program Coordinator, MMWD, State Parks, Marin County TIMELINE A volunteer project could be scheduled within 60 days of having the necessary approvals, tools, safety equipment, and strategy in place. OUTCOMES Increase of 20% in citywide volunteer hours dedicated to fuel reduction and wildfire mitigation. Decrease in hazardous fuels in public/private land borders. 25 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 12. Review and update WUI map ACTION SRFD project and resolution. Review and update the San Rafael WUI map for more practical application and consistency with County and other land management agencies’ maps. WHAT THIS MEANS SRFD would review and update the WUI map for consistency between maps and application of WUI code. The map would be simplified and updated to apply current fire behavior expectations to WUI boundaries. The initial review of the map suggests updates may remove about 500 homes from the WUI and add 2,000. RATIONALE The current San Rafael WUI map has multiple variations used by different jurisdictions and does not accurately reflect the threat posed to many areas in or near the currently defined WUI. Updating the map would improve education, vegetation management, and fire prevention efforts. Maintaining a designated WUI can help with resource prioritization, grant funding, and State code application. CONCERNS Potential insurance and code compliance changes for property owners being added or removed from the WUI. COSTS $ Review and updates can be completed with existing funds. @@ Review, coordination, and map development would require existing staff to reallocate time. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, property owners, land management agencies with current San Rafael WUI maps. TIMELINE 160 days would be needed for internal review and coordination with partners. The updated map would be presented to the City Council within 60 days of completion to be adopted through a resolution. OUTCOMES San Rafael would have a consistent and logical Wildland Urban Interface map. 26 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 13. Consider adoption of Public Resource Code 4290 and 4291 ACTION Consider adoption of Public Resources Code (PRC) sections 4290 and 4291, which serve as guidelines for defensible space and fuel management regulations. What this means At a minimum, San Rafael vegetation standards would meet the state minimum outlined in PRC sections 4290 and 4291. Proposed amendments to the language would apply the standards citywide. Rationale Adopting PRC sections 4290 and 4291 assures San Rafael complies with State vegetation management standards and simplifies the existing San Rafael vegetation management standards. PRC sections 4290 and 4291 do not relax our existing codes. Adopting PRC sections 4290 and 4291 would also allow for immediate enforcement of PRC changes. Adopting PRCs 4290 and 4291 would support uniform application of wildfire mitigation standards. Concerns If PRC sections 4290 or 4291 are revised in the future in ways that are deemed detrimental to the City, additional municipal code amendments would be necessary to clarify their application in San Rafael. Costs $ An ordinance change can be accomplished with current funding and staffing levels. $$$ Providing support to homeowners meeting the updated vegetation standards, through chipper days and increased inspections, would require additional funding. @@@ Implementation and enforcement of an updated ordinance would require more staff time than currently available. Total Cost: Costs to the City are included in staff time and other vegetation management objectives, including property owner support. Stakeholders Fire Department, property owners Timeline Ordinance changes proposing to adopt PRC 4290 and 4291 would be internally drafted, reviewed and presented at public meetings in the future. Staff hopes to have an initial round of draft ordinance updates ready for public and City Council input within 90 days. Enforcement would begin July 1, 2020. Outcomes Reduction in dead and dying vegetation within 100 feet of all San Rafael structures. Clear fuel standards within the immediate, intermediate, and extended ignition zones. 27 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 14. Develop new efforts, solutions, and resources dedicated to wildfire prevention and protection ACTION City project. To support hazardous fuel removal, abatement, education and outreach, inspections, and other wildfire risk reduction efforts additional efforts, resources, and solutions are needed. This item seeks to establish new partnerships, funding avenues, and revenue opportunities, including but not limited to adjustments in existing City budget, grants, taxes, fees, donations, and use of conservation corps, inmate crews, volunteers, and on-duty engine crews. Efforts would work to reduce the financial impact on individual property owners, businesses, and the City’s general fund. Available funding would support work on public property and be considered for homeowner assistance programs. WHAT THIS MEANS San Rafael is applying to numerous grant programs for funding to help reduce the fire risk. Grant funding may provide one-time funding sources to help reduce heavy fuel loading. However, grants do not provide a reoccurring funding source to address the ongoing needs associated with vegetation management. To accomplish this objective San Rafael would also seek and review project bids from non-traditional labor pools such as the Conservation Corps of the North Bay, AmeriCorps NCCC, Cal Fire Delta crews, and County fire crews. The City is also exploring an expanded partnership with Downtown Streets Team to help with fuel reduction work that would provide community members with income and job training. Collaboration with County efforts would be considered for cost efficiency and timeliness of outcomes. Staff would continue to seek mutual beneficial partnerships to support implementation of the plan. RATIONALE Heavy fuel loads create dangerous situations throughout the area. Aggressive strategies are needed to mitigate the current risk while implementing a long-term fuel maintenance program. Current funding and resources are not adequate to quickly reduce decades of fuel buildup. Finding additional funding sources and utilizing new crews would be necessary to address the wildfire risk in a timely manner. AmeriCorps NCCC members would be able to assist low-income, disabled, and elderly residents achieve defensible space. A program partnership with Downtown Streets Team may offer an opportunity for cost- effective fuel reduction, job training, and a reduction in individuals experiencing homelessness. Use of on-duty engine crews for inspection would be considered permitting effective emergency response times and staff health. CONCERNS Grant applications and management of projects require substantial staff time and effort. Some grant funds may not be available within the desired timeline. Effective use of various crews would require strategic management. Grants are one-time applications and do not provide an ongoing, predictable funding source for long term strategic fuel management. Some grants require match funds, which may limit other projects. Fuel maintenance would require additional funding to prevent new fuel buildups. 28 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 COSTS $$ - Grant applications can be submitted with the current program budget. Some grants have matching fund requirements that may require reprioritizing of programming. @@ Grant applications can be submitted with existing staff reallocating time. Grant management and tracking would require additional time reallocations. Crew management would require reallocation or additional staff time. Total Cost to the City, including staff time and support resources, is estimated between $20,000 and $100,000 STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Finance, property owners, businesses, Marin County, Downtown Streets Team, AmeriCorps NCCC TIMELINE In progress. Various projects, grants, and labor options are currently being explored. CAL FIRE prevention grants award notices would be issued in April with funding available in September of 2019. Hazard Mitigation Grant applications are due in April of 2019. An application and onsite visit have been completed for the City to host a National Civilian Conservation Corps (NCCC) team this Spring and Summer. A final decision is expected in mid-March. If approved, crews would be available between April and July of 2019 for six to twelve weeks. OUTCOMES The City will dedicate staff time to finding, applying, and managing resources to support wildfire mitigation and education in San Rafael, ideally increasing the available resources with a minimal burden to residents. 29 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Wildfire Prevention and Protection 15. Immediately seize ignition sources at encampments and remove encampments in open space as quickly as possible. ACTION City program. Evaluate City ordinances for revision and compliance with Martin v. Boise regarding camping limitations and continue collaborative Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT) efforts to limit fire risk associated with encampment fire risk. WHAT THIS MEANS Continue immediate removal of flammable items and ignition sources posing a fire threat. Continue collaborative effort and improve coordination between Police Rangers, Public Works, Fire, and vegetation contractors to remove abandoned encampments in open spaces. Evaluate City ordinances for appropriate time, place, and manner restrictions on camping in certain areas due to health and safety risks. Consider redirecting individuals experiencing homelessness to identified fire safe areas. Consider efforts to remove abandoned encampments in shorter time intervals. RATIONALE Reduce health and safety threat by eliminating flammable items and potential ignition sources in open space. CONCERNS Legal constraints related to limitations on camping enforcement and notice prior to removal of encampments. Resources required to remove and dispose of fire risks, including refuse and other abandoned items in open space areas. Encampments removed from open space may relocate to other areas. COSTS $$$ The additional removal and storing of items would require additional funding. @@@ Additional staff time is needed to effectively monitor open spaces year-round. Storage, cleanup, and debris removal costs are estimated between $25,000 and $100,000 annually. Additional costs to the City are included in the staffing requests in Objective #27, estimated at $250,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire, Police, Public Works, Homeless Planning and Outreach TIMELINE Ongoing. Continually update strategies based on new case law and best practices. OUTCOMES Reduced fire ignitions originating in open space encampments. 30 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 16. Reduce likelihood of ignition in undeveloped land ACTION Propose revision to the municipal code to remove any specific time period of fire season. Resulting in smoking being prohibited in City open space all year. Assure parking areas are clear of flash fuels (highly combustible, fine fuels such as grasses, leaves, pine needles, etc.). Work with other land-owning partners to limit smoking and ignition sources in open space. WHAT THIS MEANS Updates would deconflict existing code and remove any dates associated with fire season, expanding the ability of the Fire Chief to enforce fire safety regulations to prevent a wildfire in open spaces. Smoking would explicitly be prohibited year-round within City open spaces. Currently, SRMC has some conflicting information and dates associated with smoking prohibition and fire season. In addition to updating SRMC ordinances, staff would work with other public land-owning agencies to limit smoking in public open space with wildfire risk. RATIONALE Updates would provide increased safety, clarity, and consistency within municipal code. Reducing ignition sources helps protect the community and natural resources from a wildfire ignited in the open space. CONCERNS Enforcement is challenging; signage is not very effective. Additional staff is needed to enforce. COSTS $ Ordinance change can be accomplished with currently allocated funding. @ Ordinance change can be accomplished with current staff. @@@ Strong enforcement of open-space regulations requires additional staff. Total Cost: Cost of enforcement is included in the additional police ranger staffing requests, totally about $250,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Police Rangers, Public, Park and Open Space Commission, State Parks TIMELINE An update to SRMC 19.10.060(13) would be prepared and presented for community and Councilmember input within 90 days. Enforcement would begin immediately after adoption. OUTCOMES No smoking allowed in open space. Reduced ignition potential. 31 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 17. Explore opportunities in Fire and Building Code updates to increase use of fire-resistant materials and application of CA Fire Code Chapter 7A ACTION Ordinance change. Review and propose updates to SRMC to apply CA Fire Code Chapter 7A (fire resistant building material requirements) outside the WUI and to additional structures. WHAT THIS MEANS Chapter 7A outlines the materials and construction methods to reduce potential structure ignition during a wildfire for new construction and substantial remodels (50%) within the WUI. Proposed updates to the SRMC would suggest applying Chapter 7A to a broader list of improvement and all new construction, regardless of WUI proximity. Ordinance changes would require any new material used in remodels, updates, or new construction be fire rated. For example, a property owner replacing windows would be required to install windows complying with Chapter 7A. RATIONALE Increase compliance with known fire prevention methods, including fire resistant building materials. Include all structures to reduce likelihood of an urban fire conflagration. To reduce the impact of a wildfire, consideration for the toxicity of building materials when burned should be considered. The 2017 Lessons Learned report calls on property owners to harden homes, including fire resistant materials. CONCERNS Potential to discourage otherwise positive improvements because of additional costs associated with Chapter 7A compliance. Potential to discourage compliance with permits and inspections for fear of additional costs to meet Chapter 7A requirements. COSTS $ Reviewing and updating the SRMC can be completed with available funds. Additional permits may increase revenue for the City. $$$ Construction costs may increase for property owners. Additional permits may be required. @@ Research, review and drafting of proposed SRMC updates can be completed with current staff reallocating time. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Community Development, Marin Builders Association, property owners, Marin Association of Realtors TIMELINE Additional research, review, and stakeholder input can be completed within 120 days. Fire and Building Code adoptions would occur in concert with other agencies late in 2019. OUTCOMES San Rafael would have more hardened homes, with a reduced risk for wildfire ignition, property damage, and loss of life. 32 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 18. Eliminate fire hazard associated with shake and wooden roofs ACTION Ordinance change. Update building code to require all shake roofs be replaced by January 1, 2029 or at time of resale, whichever is first. Require no shake roof structures be eligible for resale. WHAT THIS MEANS Property owners and owners of commercial property with shake roofs would have 10 years to replace their roofs with a safer material and shake roofs would no longer be allowed in new construction. Based on area surveys, staff believe less than 200 shake roofs are in San Rafael. This would effectively result in the near-complete elimination of shake roofs from San Rafael by 2029. RATIONALE This ordinance would eliminate a known threat to structures and the public, decreasing potential ignition and the rate and intensity of the spread of fire. Roof material is a critical component to a wildfire-hardened home. Removing wood roofing materials would increase safety for firefighters and first responders, as well as the neighboring community. Per the 2016 Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), “homes with a non-combustible roof and defensible space at least 30 to 60 feet around the structure have an 85-95% chance of survival”. Reducing the likelihood of ember ignition on a shake roof also protects neighboring homes from ignition. CONCERNS Roof replacement could be prohibitively expensive for some homeowners and businesses. An exemption for historical structures should be considered. Applicable fines for having a shake roof after the deadline would need to be substantial to encourage compliance. Implementing at time of sale may slow down process and create -increased burden on sellers and buyers. COSTS $$$ Property owners would incur large cost to replace roof. Assistance programs should be considered to encourage compliance. The City would also need to replace any wooden roofs on City-owned buildings. Property owners may see reduced insurance costs after roof replacement. @ Ordinance change, education, and enforcement can be supported with current staffing levels. Total Costs: This item is expected to cost the City between $500,000-$750,000, which includes the replacement of the wood roof on Falkirk and potential assistance to homeowners through mitigation grants and staff time. Please note, the Falkirk roof replacement would have substantial costs to the City regardless of this item. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Community Development, Property owners, Businesses, Marin Association of Realtors TIMELINE The updated building code can be prepared and presented for community and City Council input within 90 days. The re-sale requirement would become effective within 30 days, with an allowance for homes in escrow at time of adoption. There would be a 33 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 ten-year period of compliance to minimize financial hardships. Assistance programs, including hazard mitigation grants, should be considered over the implementation period. OUTCOMES Shake and wooden roofs and the associated fire hazard are eliminated in San Rafael by 2029. 19. Develop comprehensive San Rafael hazardous vegetation study and mitigation measures ACTION City project. Consider contracting with a vendor for parcel-level vegetation mapping. Identify areas of with high risk vegetation, including unmaintained Eucalyptus groves. Incorporate findings into mitigation and vegetation maintenance plans. WHAT THIS MEANS Studies would need to be conducted to gain a better understanding of high fuel density and risk areas. Specific attention would be paid to Eucalyptus grove locations, density and nearness to structures. This data and imagery would help inform strategic vegetation management and forest health moving forward. For example, an identified high-risk Eucalyptus grove may be scheduled for pruning or thinning over the course of a few years, with ground fuel maintenance (removing leaves, dead limbs, etc.) every three to five years thereafter. RATIONALE Baseline information and imagery would help establish a comprehensive fuel management strategy. Identifying high risk areas would prioritize projects and available funding. Reoccurring studies and aerial imagery would also help show trends in regrowth, successful management strategies and before and after comparisons. Break out mapping by fire agency is included in the 2017 Lessons Learned report. CONCERNS No available funds to cover the cost. Balancing fire mitigation, erosion control, habitats, and forest health. COSTS $$$ Imagery and plan development would require additional funding. @@ Efforts can be supported with current staff reallocating time. Studies would help reduce staff drive and inspection time. In depth mapping would cost the city $30,000 with an annual reoccurring cost of about $1,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Marin County Fire TIMELINE Funding for parcel level mapping was included in the Cal Fire Prevention Grant. If approved, work could begin in September of 2019 and incorporated into the fuel 34 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 management plan for 2020. OUTCOMES Shift in fuel mitigation strategy from citizen-reported to data-driven and aerial imagery. 20. Complete an analysis of fire roads and strategic fuel breaks ACTION SRFD and DPW project. Develop a plan for a survey of all San Rafael fire roads to identify areas in need of strategic surface improvements, to be used as shaded fuel breaks, and that need vegetation clearance for safe access. WHAT THIS MEANS Identify high risk areas and assure the fire road surface and clearance would remain accessible. Increase fuel clearance along strategic fire roads (such as ridge lines) to create significant fuel breaks to stop or slow fire spread. These fuel breaks would include forest thinning and understory clearing to create shaded fuel breaks. Shaded fuel breaks reduce fire risk while supporting erosion control, carbon sequestration, and natural beauty. Coordination between other landowners, including private, MMWD, County, and State Parks would help assure continuity and effectiveness of efforts. RATIONALE Fire roads provide critical access for fire personnel to access and contain existing fires. Fire roads also serve as fuel breaks, means of access for fuel reduction work and enforcement in open space. Increasing fuel clearance along fire roads helps protect responders using the roads and creates existing fuel breaks to limit a fire’s spread. Fire roads also serve as trails and provide recreational opportunities in open spaces. CONCERNS High costs and potential environmental impact to implement. COSTS $$$ Additional funding, possibly via grants, is required to retain contracted labor to establish initial fuel breaks and fire road improvements. $$$ Reoccurring costs would include maintenance of fuel breaks and road surfaces. It is possible to support some maintenance with reprogramming of existing budget and renewal of Measure A funds; however, comprehensive efforts would require an additional funding source. @@ Analysis of roads and potential fuel breaks can be completed by existing staff reallocating time. @@@ Maintenance would require current staff to reduce time spent on inspections and other projects. Developing and implementing a comprehensive and strategic maintenance plan would require additional staffing. The Total estimated cost to repair and clear vegetation along the 12 miles of San Rafael Fire roads is $750,000-$1,000,000 and should be completed every five years. 35 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, public using fire roads, agencies with connecting fire roads TIMELINE In progress. Road and fuel break analysis is underway. Fire road surface maintenance is an ongoing effort. Additional focus and funds are needed to develop and implement a more strategic and effective approach. The timeline for repairing fire roads and implementing strategic fuel breaks would be dependent on funding. OUTCOMES San Rafael fire roads would be well maintained for emergency access and serve as fuel breaks and recreational trails. 21. Increase the number of hardened homes in San Rafael ACTION Outreach and education to help property owners understand the various steps they can take to harden their homes. Consider support for property owners unable to implement on their own. Suggestions range from simple vent covers to building material recommendations and be aligned with FIRESafe MARIN and Marin County Fire suggestions. WHAT THIS MEANS In coordination with NFPA recommendations and FIRESafe Marin, the City would work to better inform and support property owners attempting to harden their homes and reduce the likelihood of ignition. Methods to harden homes would range from simple vent covers to building material recommendations. Outreach and education would be aligned with FIRESafe MARIN and Marin County Fire recommendations. RATIONALE Hardening homes is as necessary a step to protect homes from wildfires as vegetation management. Hardened homes with defensible space are most likely to survive a wildfire. Hardening homes includes fire resistant building materials, and design considerations, and limiting the possibility of an ember entering the home. Per FIRESafe Marin, two out of every three homes destroyed are ignited by wind-blown embers (Maranghides and Mell 2009). Encouraging residents to take steps to harden their homes is aligned with the 2017 Lessons Learned report. CONCERNS Efforts would target residents, but almost 50% of San Rafael residents are renters. Additional efforts to encourage landlords to protect their investments would be needed. COSTS Costs include staff time and educational materials. Property owners’ costs may vary from $100’s-$10,000’s depending on the steps they decide to take. Total cost to the City for educational materials is estimated to be $20,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Property Owners, Fire Safe Marin, Marin County Fire, Code Enforcement 36 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 TIMELINE Existing outreach and education materials would continue to be used. Increased public outreach, expos, and support for homeowners would depend on staff and funding levels. OUTCOMES Fewer structures in San Rafael would be susceptible to wildfire ignition 22. Improve development and implementation of Vegetation Management Plans (VMPs) and create new Resilient Landscape Templates (RLT)s. ACTION City program. Create Resilient Landscape Templates that offer suggestions for homeowners to achieve beautiful, fire resistant, drought tolerant, and carbon sequestering landscaping. Align VMP process with plan objectives and County VMP updates. Information will include information on fire resistant, drought resistant and carbon sequestering native plants. WHAT THIS MEANS SRFD will take the lead to streamline and automate the current Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) forms and review process. The VMPs will be reviewed for areas of improvement and consistency with County and other jurisdictions plans. The City will establish new Resilient Landscape Templates (RLT) designed for property owners rather than landscape architects. The RLTs will help property owners understand what species to remove and avoid and which to maintain and plant. VMPs and RLTs will serve as a resource for reoccurring seasonal work and enforcement with minimal maintenance effort. RATIONALE RLTs will serve as a resource to help residents achieve beautiful and fire resistant landscaping. An improved and more accessible VMP process will focus on new construction, remodels, and commercial space. Fire-resistant landscaping would help keep the whole community safe by reducing the chances of ignition and fire spread. An improved system would be necessary to support the additional VMPs submitted because of ordinance changes. CONCERNS Developing a comprehensive, but simple system would be a challenge and require input from multiple stakeholders and staff. COSTS $$ Any costs associated with improvements can be funded by reallocating existing funds @@ Updates and improvements can be completed with existing fire staff reallocating time, and support from other departments. Total Costs to the City are incorporated into staff requests and may include an 37 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 additional $20,000 to $50,000 for technology or consulting work. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Code Enforcement, Property Owners, Digital Services and Open Government, Marin County, FIRESafe Marin TIMELINE Updates to streamline and coordinate the VMP template with the County can begin with additional staffing. The creation of San Rafael RLTs would build off templates from other jurisdictions but require additional staff time and resources to complete. OUTCOMES Property owners have resources to more easily comply with updated wildfire mitigation efforts while maintaining beauty and environmental consciousness. 23. Increase the number of completed Vegetation Management Plans (VMP)s and Resilient Landscape Templates (RLTs). ACTION Ordinance change. Expand the permits, rebates, cost shares, and exemptions that require submission of a Vegetation Management Plan (VMPs) or Resilient Landscape Template (RLT). Consider retroactive requirement for VMP or RLTs for community owned space, such as HOAs, or for commercial space. WHAT THIS MEANS Additional opportunities to have residents, landscapers and property owners complete a VMP or RLT would be explored. The City would develop a new RLT process to help property owners achieve beautiful, sustainable, and fire defensible space. A VMP or RLT would be required for any property requesting an exemption from vegetation standards. VMPs would still be required under existing ordinances. Property owners completing the work outlined in the VMPs or RLTs may receive City support for vegetation removal, such as participation in ‘free chipper’ days. RATIONALE Increasing VMPs and establishing RLTs would help reduce and remove fuels. RLTs help property owners understand how landscaping choices impact the threat of wildfire. Expanded submission requirements would help the City educate and support more property owners. VMPs outline a landscape contractors’ plan, including irrigation. Increasing the number of VMPs or RLTs required would increase public education and provide property owners with a path towards more beautiful, fire resistant, drought resistant, and carbon sequestering landscaping. CONCERNS The current VMP template and process would need to be streamlined to accommodate an increase in number of VMPs while minimizing impact to property owners. Staff effort would be required to create new RLTs to help property owners adjust their landscape. Staff time to review and approve VMPs or RLTs. COSTS A streamlined VMP process would reduce staff costs. The VMPs and RLTs would be a 38 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 resource for inspectors, property owners, and landscapers and should require minimal maintenance. Having VMPs to reference would support staff enforcement efforts and reduce reinspection's. Some costs may be recovered via a VMP fee schedule. Total cost to the City is included in the staffing estimates in Objective 26. STAKEHOLDERS SRFD, Community Development, Homeowners and Property Management companies TIMELINE VMP related ordinance changes would be incorporated into fire and building code updates late in 2019. Development of RLT’s can begin with availability or staff and resources. Update to vegetation standards would be reflected on the updated templates. OUTCOMES Additional VMPs and new RLTs would be submitted from contractors, residents, and property owners. Additional opportunities for outreach, education, and vegetation inspections. 24. Improve the public’s fire risk awareness with sign improvements and installation ACTION SRFD and DPW program. Install new and improve existing signage at all open space access areas and along roads in high fire-risk areas. WHAT THIS MEANS Signs would be installed across City open space explaining fire danger and risks associated with being in the open space. New signage would be installed in areas of high fire risk to help keep public alert and avoid risky fire behavior. Staff would need to survey all open space access points, and high fire risk areas to determine sign needs. RATIONALE Educate public and visitors. Support increased enforcement. Provide consistent messaging. Improve aesthetics and readability of signs. CONCERNS Aesthetic concerns of signs in natural areas. Potential to create culture of fear. COSTS $$$ Additional funding would be needed to develop, produce, and install improved signage. @@ Current staff can complete the project with time reallocation or support of contractors. Total Cost for the City to implement is estimated between $15,000-$30,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Police Rangers, residents 39 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 TIMELINE Survey work can be completed within 90 days. With funding, message and signs can be developed within 90 days, with installation to occur shortly thereafter. If funding is available, the project could be completed before the peak 2019 fire season. If utilizing grant funding, the project may be delayed, but would be completed before May of 2020. OUTCOMES Reduction in fire risky behavior by public due to increased awareness of wildfire risk. 25. Reduce fire risk and keep visitors using short-term rentals safe ACTION Ordinance change and City project. Develop guidance for short-term rental units to reduce the risk posed by and to visitors. Require all short- term rental units to post emergency procedures, information on signing up for emergency alerts, and fire safety information. All short-term rentals would be required to have a VMP or RLT on file. WHAT THIS MEANS Efforts to better inform visitors of wildfire risk would be incorporated into interactions with short-term rental units. Visitors, potentially unfamiliar with the area or wildfire risk, would be informed about the emergency procedures and can register for emergency alerts during their stay. Outreach should be conducted with all short-term rentals, to improve property owner and renter wildfire awareness and general safety. Direct outreach to VRBO, AirBnB and similar companies would be considered. RATIONALE Short-term rentals represent a unique fire risk for a variety of reasons. Those using short-term rentals may be from out of the area and unfamiliar with wildfire risk and safety procedures. The information helps assure the safety of visitors and provide important fire prevention information to visitors unfamiliar with wildfire risks and necessary ignition precautions. Having a VMP or RLT would help assure the property is safe, unlikely to ignite from a careless visitor, and support enforcement of vegetation standards for property owners. CONCERNS Increased cost of compliance could reduce the number of short-term rentals. Potential for increased cost of permit processing and code enforcement. COSTS $ Ordinance change can be accomplished with current funding and staffing levels. Potential revenue to City from fees and fines. @@ Outreach, monitoring, and enforcement can be accomplished with current staff reallocating time. Total Costs to the City are included in the requests for additional staff outlined in Objective 26. 40 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Code Enforcement, property owners renting space, visitors TIMELINE In Progress. General guidelines are in development for short-term rental units and include safety information requirements. Additional research is needed to determine the best method for developing VMPs or RLTs for short-term rental properties. OUTCOMES Incorporate fire safety, disaster preparedness, and emergency notification information into any regulations or guidance provided to short-term rentals 26. Hire additional staff dedicated to vegetation management and disaster mitigation ACTION City staffing. Convert the existing part-time employee to full-time, fixed-term. Hire three additional seasonal employees to support inspections, project management, and public education in the spring and summer of 2019 and 2020. WHAT THIS MEANS Increased staff levels would allow for a more strategic approach to vegetation management and fire mitigation while staff continues to offer inspections. There are currently 1.5 Vegetation management specialists. RATIONALE Additional staff is needed to meet the demand for strategic fuel removal, fire road improvements, increased outreach/education, increased number of VMPs and RLTs, and vegetation inspections. Ongoing maintenance would require less staffing to assure parcels and public space remain free of hazardous fuel loads. Additional staff can also help support volunteer efforts in open space, following Marin County model. CONCERNS Funding the position may require voters to approve additional revenue stream(s), which likely would mean FY 2020 at earliest. Fixed-term and seasonal positions result in higher rates of turnover. COSTS $$$ The fully burdened position would cost an additional $76,000 annually. @ Recruitment, onboarding, and training can be managed by current staff. Total estimated vegetation management staffing costs would range between $250,000 to-$300,000 annually and decrease when fuel reduction work requires less staff. Part-time DPW staff to support fuel reduction work is estimated between $100,000-150,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, residents, businesses, public, DPW TIMELINE Research needed into best funding approach for position as well as timeline. Increasing staff hours can begin immediately with funding. Recruitment would be necessary to 41 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 hire and train a seasonal vegetation inspector. OUTCOMES Increased inspections, enforcement, fuel reduction project coordination, and customized vegetation plans. Additional staff support for communities working on Firewise designation and chipper days. 27. Increase Police Ranger staffing ACTION City staffing. Provide for one full-time fixed-term police Ranger in addition to the two part-time police rangers currently employed to patrol open spaces. WHAT THIS MEANS Increased ranger capability would allow for year-round open-space patrolling for fire hazards and code violations in open spaces. Law Enforcement would continue coordination with City- and County-wide efforts. Additional funding should be allocated to SRPD to support additional evacuation drills, which was identified as an important area of improvement in the 2017 Lessons Learned report. RATIONALE A full-time ranger would allow for increased patrols, more active enforcement of code violations, a more dynamic reduction in potential ignition sources in open spaces, and the ability to support evacuation planning. CONCERNS Funding the position may require voters to approve additional revenue stream(s), which likely would mean FY 2020 at earliest. Legal constraints may impact code enforcement and policy development. COSTS $$$ The cost of one fully-burdened Professional Temporary Ranger position is approximately $250,000 per year. Measure A funding currently supports two-part time positions. Additional funding is needed to support increased staffing for open space enforcement. @ Recruitment and training of the additional position is supported with current staffing. Total additional annual cost to the City is estimated between $250,000-$350,000 and includes the addition of one full-time police ranger to the current staffing model of two-part time Ranger positions. Additional staff time dedicated to evacuation planning and community drills is also included. An additional one-time cost for an additional 4-wheel drive vehicle may be necessary. STAKEHOLDERS Police Department, Public Works TIMELINE Additional funding is necessary before recruitment can begin. OUTCOMES Increased law enforcement presence and enforcement of open space regulations. Additional staff time available to support evacuation drills. 42 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Notifications and Evacuation 28. Reduce fuels along roadways ACTION City program and policy. Develop a policy to clearly direct the enforcement of current State regulations and SRMC relating to vegetation clearance along public roadways. Updates to SRMC may also be needed to update, clarify and uniformly apply standards. WHAT THIS MEANS Stronger and more consistent enforcement and abatement of vegetation along roadways with a focus on pre-identified primary and secondary evacuation routes. Consideration would be given to shade and maintaining San Rafael as a “Tree City USA”. Fuel removal would target continuous fuels between the ground and canopy. Hardwoods and native trees would generally be excluded from these efforts. Highly flammable shrubs near roadways would require removal. RATIONALE Reduces the risk of fire ignition along roadways. Improves potential evacuation routes by limiting the fire fuel along roadways. Creates additional fuel breaks to stop and slow the spread of wildfire. Increased responder safety through improved visibility and decreased roadside fuel. Removing continuous fuels from along roadways would reduce potential fire tunnels and fire spreading from the ground into the canopy. CONCERNS Residents may be resistant to removing vegetation along roadways serving as a privacy fence for their property. Disposal of large amounts of woody biomass. COSTS $$$ Additional funding is needed to support community chipper days and support for property owners removing vegetation. @@ Policy can be developed with current staff reallocating time @@@ Additional staff time is needed to effectively enforce policy and support community chipper days. Total cost to the City would include support for homeowners and chipper support which may cost $50,000-$75,000 for the first few years, decreasingly significantly after maintenance is reached. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, property owners TIMELINE A policy clarifying implementation of existing standards can be drafted within 60 days. Enforcement can begin immediately. Fall and Winter are slower times for vegetation inspections, allowing for a concentrated effort relating to clearance along roadways. Community support, including chipper days, cannot begin until additional funding is secured. Additional evaluation is needed to determine what, if any, SRMC changes may be needed. OUTCOMES San Rafael would have safe evacuation routes and less changes of roadside ignitions. 43 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 29. Establish a residential hillside “parking box” program ACTION Ordinance change and City project. Establish a residential hillside “parking box” program on narrow roadways in hillside areas. Parking would only be permitted in “boxed” areas which are established in areas that allow emergency vehicles safe access and public safe egress. WHAT THIS MEANS An ordinance change would establish the parking box program and require that in designated areas, street parking would only be permitted in designated parking boxes. A fire engine would drive through high problem areas to determine where street parking can safely be designated. DPW then would mark the parking boxes, and enforcement would occur via parking tickets and/or towing. Parking would only be permitted on roadways with a clear space of 10’ for access and a parking area that is a minimum of 8’ wide by 15’ in length. In designated areas, the parking box ordinance would replace the six feet from center parking ordinance. Ways to support property owners attempting to build off-street parking pads in the impacted areas would be considered, such as waived permit fees or exemptions. Parking for open space would also be reviewed to assure parking areas are adequately defined to assure emergency access and egress. RATIONALE SRMC section 5.40.080 currently prohibits parking on narrow streets unless six (6) feet from center is maintained unobstructed. This standard is confusing, hard to enforce, and does not guarantee fire engines and other large vehicles can safely access all areas of San Rafael. The “parking box” concept is easy to observe and understand for both residents and visitors. The program would assure emergency traffic can respond to daily calls for assistance and in a large-scale emergency. The easy to understand system would also make enforcement, particularly on red flag days, easier. CONCERNS Loss of parking spaces in impacted areas. Traffic congestion during implementation. COSTS $$$ Implementing and program maintenance would require additional funding. Simplified regulations would support strong enforcement may result in increased ticketing revenue. @@ The ordinance and program can be implemented with existing staff reallocating time. Contractors may need to be considered based on other concurrent priorities. Total cost to the City is estimated to be $10,000-$25,000 initially, and $1,500 to repaint every three years. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Parking Enforcement, Residents TIMELINE Within 180 days, a draft ordinance and proposed pilot project would be developed. Implementation would be dependent on funds, staff, and project prioritization. A full implementation could be completed in FY 2020. 44 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 OUTCOMES Narrow roads in San Rafael would have clearly defined safe parking areas, allowing for emergency vehicle access and public evacuation. 30. Improve public emergency alerting capabilities and policies ACTION City project and County policy. In coordination with Marin County, develop a proactive policy for the use of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) during emerging situations. Establish templates that clearly communicate risk, requested action, and sources for follow-up information. Enhance internal capabilities. WHAT THIS MEANS Currently, the City of San Rafael relies on Marin County for non-opt-in messaging. The City’s internal ability to message is limited to SRPD’s Nixle subscription, which only reaches those who opt-in for messaging. This item has two interacting parts; 1) a clear policy for when and how San Rafael can request the County to issue emergency alerts on its behalf and; 2) Staff’s recommendation to upgrade the internal ability to send messages that do not require users to opt-in. In both situations, policies, templates, and coordination would be needed. Considerations would also be given to other alerting methods including NOAA weather radios, sirens, or coordinated community efforts. Sirens may be considered to alert residents in open space of an active threat. Sirens are not designed to be heard indoors and therefore would not be considered for citywide implementation as a primary alerting tool. Plans and policies would be developed to better inform the public of red flag and high fire risk days and any associated access changes, such as closures of open space. Plans would also improve coordination between alerting authorities and all news providers, including TV, Radio, and print. Expansion of Neighborhood Response Groups would strengthen connections and peer-to-peer communication. RATIONALE Assure policy and templates in place empower WEA message to be sent if threat exists. Reduce the likelihood that a message would be delayed or won’t be sent. Reduce risk of loss of life. WEA messaging was NOT issued during the North Bay fires of 2017 or the Butte County Camp Fire in 2018. Internally the City needs to improve its messaging capabilities, including access, training, and policies, to assure communication with residents in time of crisis. While broad-based alerting tools, such as sirens or coordinated church bell rings can be considered, it is imperative that each individual register for alerts and have a local alerting redundancy, such as a weather radio. Improvements to emergency notifications and Red Flag warnings is a consistent theme in the 2017 Lessons Learned report. Senate Bill 833 and Assembly Bill 1877 established new alert, warning, and planning requirements for State, county, and local officials. CONCERNS Over-messaging can reduce the impact of an essential message. Incomplete or inaccurate messaging may cause panic or undue traffic congestion during evacuation. Messaging may overreach to nonimpacted areas. Coordination between County and 45 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 City alerting authorities is necessary. Develop plan and strategies to meet the needs of those with Access and Functional Needs (AFN) to include mobility limitations and communication or language barriers. COSTS $$$ To allow San Rafael the direct ability to message, without requiring a user opt-in, an annual $6,000 increase in SRPD’s Nixle subscription is expected. Cost share program between the City and residents to obtain NOAA weather radios should be considered. @@ Efforts can be accomplished with existing staff reallocating time. The objective would require coordination between San Rafael PD, San Rafael Fire, and Marin County. Total Cost to the City is expected to be about $6,000 annually for the advanced Nixle technology and a $2,000 one-time cost help low-income residents obtain weather radios. STAKEHOLDERS County OES, MCSO, SROES, SRPD, SRFD, Residents TIMELINE In progress. A streamlined policy would rely on agreement from Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Updating the Nixle subscription can be done within days of an identified funding source. OUTCOMES San Rafael has ability to message all residents in the event of an emergency. 31. Increase capability for early fire warnings and detection ACTION City program and policy. Increase San Rafael’s access and control to partner technology, including cameras with heat detection and micro- weather stations. Install two additional cameras to cover the highest fire risk areas in San Rafael. Assure detected wildfires are promptly reported to the National Weather Service to promote weather radio announcements. WHAT THIS MEANS PG&E has and continues to install cameras and micro-weather stations to monitor fire and fire weather conditions. Only a limited number of County Fire employees can currently control the view on the cameras. The live stream of the existing cameras is publicly available at http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/. To increase the camera coverage of San Rafael, new cameras could be installed on San Rafael Hill and San Pedro Ridge. San Rafael Fire staff could have direct control of the view and zoom of these additional cameras. RATIONALE Cameras would allow for increased ability to monitor open space, which in turn could mean early wildfire identification and response, increased knowledge of weather conditions impacting fire spread, and increased firefighter safety. The ability to directly control cameras monitoring San Rafael increases internal capabilities and reduces the 46 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 delay and reliance on third parties. CONCERNS Access to monitoring technology is determined through partnerships. Ownership and space on existing towers impact possible installation locations. COSTS @ Efforts are supported with currently allocated staff time. No significant impact on other programming is anticipated. $$ Expanding the existing camera network with a greater focus on San Rafael would have additional costs. The camera’s costs about $5,000 each. PG&E grants may be available to help cover the costs of the cameras. One-time costs to the City may total between $12,000-$20,000 and annual maintenance costs around $1,000. STAKEHOLDERS PG&E, Fire Department, Marin County Fire TIMELINE Discussions to install new cameras and/or gain further access to existing camera are ongoing. Installation of new cameras would require funding and an agreement with the site owners in the desired locations. Improved coordination with wildfire monitoring partners and new technology would be in place in the Summer of 2019. OUTCOMES San Rafael has direct access to early warning technology and improved response times. 32. Review and expand evacuation plans, incorporating areas of refuge, and support neighborhood evacuation drills. ACTION City project. Review Countywide evacuation plans and expand existing plans to address San Rafael’s unique needs, neighborhoods and resources, including possible water evacuations. WHAT THIS MEANS Additional evacuation planning would establish additional redundancies and potentially reduce the burden on a single egress artery during an emergency. These efforts would consider evacuating to areas of refuge during a fast-moving wildfire. Maps of evacuation routes and potential safe areas would be shared with residents. Expanded plans would better address the unique needs of the AFN community, to include limited mobility, communication and language limitations, and transportation independence. Coordination with Waze, Google Maps, and other GPS providers would be considered. City resources, including the Fire Department, Police Department, and OES would help neighborhoods develop individuated evacuation plans and support community organized evacuation drills. RATIONALE San Rafael has multiple areas with limited egress options, due to water, open space and narrow roads. San Rafael should review alternate options for evacuation, including establishing agreements with Golden Gate Transit and Dutra to support a water 47 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 evacuation. Providing residents with more detailed information about existing and expanded evacuation plans would allow residents to be better informed and prepared. CONCERNS Evacuations are dynamic and situation dependent, making comprehensive planning ineffective. Efforts may create false sense of security or avoidance of individual planning. COSTS $$$ Creating an evacuation annex to the City Emergency Response Plan would require a contractor or additional staff. Support of evacuation drills would require addition Police Department staff time. @@@ Efforts would require additional staff time. Total Cost to the City is estimated to be $50,000 one-time costs, and reoccurring costs of $10,000 annually. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Police Department, Golden Gate Transit, Dutra, Marin County, Residents TIMELINE Planning efforts are ongoing. Water evacuation planning can be established throughout 2019 with collaboration from partners. Updated evacuation plans would be incorporated in the City Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). OUTCOMES Improved public awareness of evacuation routes and areas of refuge. 33. Assure safe and resilient critical infrastructure ACTION In partnership with utility providers, determine best method(s) to reduce fuels around critical infrastructure such as power poles, power lines, and other combustible infrastructure. Work to remove fuels from roadways and primary escape routes. Work with all utility providers to assure they are protecting their infrastructure from wildfires and have redundancies in place to reduce gaps in service delivery. WHAT THIS MEANS The City would initiate an effort to identify the best approaches to vegetation management activities around critical infrastructure. This would include coordination with PG&E and Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD). Potential ordinance changes would be evaluated. Efforts would focus on reducing likelihood of damage to infrastructure, assuring access to infrastructure, and reducing likelihood of infrastructure contributing to a wildfire. RATIONALE Reduce the risk of fire ignition and protect critical infrastructure from fire. Share burden of protecting infrastructure with property owners and utility providers. Reduce the likelihood and impacts of utility outages and road closures during a disaster. 48 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 CONCERNS Property owner confusion regarding the responsibility of maintaining clearance around the service lines from the pole to the structure. Esthetics of vegetation and tree trimming and removal. Difficult to determine which homeowner is responsible for the cost of tree trimming. Jurisdictional issues may create challenges. COSTS $$$ Funding needs would depend on partnerships with PG&E and other agencies responsible for maintaining infrastructure. Support for residents removing fuel around infrastructure on their property would require additional funding. @@ A policy can be developed with current staff reprioritizing projects. Total cost to City is included in vegetation work and additional staffing requests in Objective 26. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Public Works, Community Development, property owners, PG&E TIMELINE In Progress. Guidelines for fuel reduction around critical infrastructure are being established and coordinated with utilities. Outreach and education can begin within 30 days of policy being finalized, dependent on staff time. Programs to support residents would be dependent on securing additional funding. OUTCOMES San Rafael critical infrastructure would be better protected and less likely to contribute to a wildfire. 34. Assure that appropriate staff can send and receive emergency alerts ACTION City program. Establish schedule to assure that all appropriate San Rafael staff members routinely issue Everbridge test messages. Maintain current database of all staff contact information to assure communication with staff during an emergency. WHAT THIS MEANS Staff with Everbridge/alerting capability would be required to send test messages at least quarterly to assure access and proficiency. Staff would have templates and training materials to help develop proficiency. Citywide effort is needed to assure correct cell phone numbers are on file and can be used to reach City staff in an emergency. Routine message tests would help maintain an accurate database. Tools include Everbridge (managed by Marin County OES) and upgraded Nixle. RATIONALE All staff with the authority to issue alerts must be able to log in and navigate the system to send time-sensitive information. A centralized system to communicate with staff in an emergency is necessary to confirm staff safety and communicate closures and requested actions. 49 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 CONCERNS Potential to issue test messages broadly. Lack of participation. Ongoing database management is time consuming. COSTS $ Program can be implemented with current funding. @@ Program would require multiple staff members reallocate time for testing and database management. STAKEHOLDERS San Rafael Staff with emergency alert capabilities (about 10 people), Department Directors, Human Resources, All City staff TIMELINE A ‘how to” guide is already created. Once City management agrees to the value of the tests, a routine test schedule can be developed and implemented. Maintaining an accurate alerting database is an ongoing process that would require an established process. Tests in Nixle are dependent on system update. OUTCOMES Designated City staff would be confident in their ability to internally message during an emergency. All staff would be able to receive messages in an emergency. 35. Assure that City staff can communicate during an emergency ACTION City program. Determine and implement the best method to assure City staff with assigned emergency response duties can use cell phones and landlines. This would require a combination of Wireless Priority Service (WPS), First Net, and Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS). WHAT THIS MEANS Complete a cost-benefit analysis of using WPS, Verizon First Responder, and GETS options. Register all Fire, PD, DPW field staff, building inspectors, and EOC staff with WPS and/or Verizon priority accounts. A policy for personal cell phones registered on the system would need to be established. RATIONALE The ability to communicate via cell phone after a disaster is negatively impacted by infrastructure damage and peak usage. There are tools available to help cell phone providers prioritize responder traffic. Acting now would limit the impact on communications during an emergency. CONCERNS Staff time to implement. Data management and maintenance of multiple tools. COSTS $ There is no cost directly associated with these programs. @@ Staff time would be needed to initially enroll all designated phones, estimated to be about 200. Routine maintenance would be required. 50 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 STAKEHOLDERS Impacted agency staff, Digital Services and Open Government TIMELINE WPS access can be requested immediately with cell phone account information. More research is needed to understand the new Verizon responder accounts and potential costs. GETS access can be requested immediately after determining additional needs. Usage policy can be developed within 120 days. OUTCOMES City staff would have redundant and prioritized methods for communication in an emergency 36. Assure that residents can evacuate through garage doors if power is out ACTION City program. Develop program to encourage the implementation of garage door battery backup systems. Consider cost share programs with low- income individuals. WHAT THIS MEANS San Rafael Code Enforcement would need to start enforcing updated safety requirements for automatic garage doors. San Rafael Fire would immediately begin incorporating garage door functionality into evacuation and wildfire preparedness material. San Rafael could consider applying this standard to rental properties and/or encouraging battery back-up installation on legacy garage doors. The City should consider a retroactive requirement or other method to increase back-up battery systems. RATIONALE Power failures, impacting the functionality of automatic garage doors, can make evacuation by car impossible during an emergency. Effective, July 1, 2019, Senate Bill 969 requires all new and replacement automatic garage doors to have a backup battery or other means that assures the garage door can open in the event of a power failure. The new law does not have a retroactive requirement. Public education is necessary to alert people of the risk and relatively low-cost solutions available, as not everyone has the physical ability to open a garage door manually. Garage door failure was noted in the 2017 Lessons Learned report. CONCERNS The update to Health & Safety Code Section 19891 and addition to Section 19892 do not retroactively apply or protect people with existing garages. Outreach can help inform, but not require adherence to stronger safety requirements. Assure outreach addresses the needs of those with Access and Functional needs, including limited mobility. COSTS @@ Staff time to develop and coordinate information would require some time 51 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 reallocation $$ Educational materials and outreach would require some reprogramming but can largely be incorporated into other wildfire prevention and protection outreach. Total costs to the City are included in outreach materials, but could include a cost share program with low income residents totaling $2,000-$10,000. STAKEHOLDERS Fire Department, Code Enforcement, Property owners. TIMELINE The Senate Bill requires that garage door installations and replacements on or after July 1, 2019 meet the new requirements. Education and outreach about this new requirement should begin immediately. OUTCOMES Increased community awareness and implementation of garage door backup batteries or other means assuring evacuation is possible in a power outage. 37. Prevent potential entrapments by requiring 2 gates in any fence in designated areas ACTION Ordinance change. Update building code to require new and replacement fences have two gates. Existing fences within designated single-lane access parcels must install 2 gates. What this means Designated parcels would be required to have more than one means and direction of egress in the event of a wildfire or other emergency. Fences over a designated height would be required to have two gates installed, accessing different cardinal directions. This would include new fences and replaced fences. Staff would consider programs to help low-income residents install an additional gate in areas with limited egress. Rationale This would help assure that multiple escape routes exist in the most vulnerable areas and provide ease of access for firefighters. Concerns Cost burden for property owners not currently up to the new code. Enforcement. Costs $ Ordinance change can be accomplished with current funding. @@ Public education and ordinance enforcement would require reprioritization of staff time. Stakeholders Fire Department, Code Enforcement, property owners Timeline An updated ordinance, incorporating stakeholder input, can be brought to City Council within 160 days. Updates may be incorporated into the 2019 planned code updates. 52 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Outcomes Fenced properties would have additional means of egress, benefiting them, and potential neighbors during an evacuation. 53 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 38. Maintain and expand coordination of wildfire prevention and response planning with Marin County, other Marin jurisdictions, Marin County Fire, FIRESafe MARIN, and neighboring landowning partners. ACTION Continue and expand the collaborative work throughout Marin County to address the risk of wildfire. Review and consider any wildfire mitigation plan proposed by Marin County and other land-managing neighbors. Assure prevention efforts address needs of unincorporated areas. WHAT THIS MEANS Coordinate mitigation work, and fire road repairs in bordering areas. Explore opportunities for collaboration that provide benefits of scale and efficiency. Any future guidance or regulations brought forth by the County would be reviewed and considered for local adoption. Coordinate 2019 countywide fire and building code updates with County and other cities and towns. RATIONALE Wildfire and disaster do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. A fire starting in one jurisdiction can spread and impact many others. Continuing and expanding current collaboration would help assure efforts are as effective as possible. Similar fire and building ordinances would help simplify outreach and education while allowing for unique local adjustments. When practical, sharing resources may reduce costs through economies of scale. CONCERNS Challenges of consensus building. Speed of implementation. Impact on direct local control, responsibility and accountability. COSTS @ Minimal costs associated with staff time dedicated to coordination. $ Potential cost savings related to use of shared resources for fuel reduction and education and outreach. STAKEHOLDERS San Rafael Fire Department, Marin County, Marin County Fire, FIRESafe MARIN, SRAs and CSAs TIMELINE Ongoing. Updates to fire and building codes would be adopted late in 2019. OUTCOMES Provide effective wildfire mitigation to San Rafael. Benefit from economy of scale and collaboration. 54 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Table 2 - Objective and Impact Summary Objective Exists, Plan expands $ $$ $$$ Additional Staff Needed 1. Eliminate highly flammable vegetation near structures and roadways throughout San Rafael X X X 2. Apply vegetation management and defensible space standards citywide X X 3. Reduce ember ignitions within immediate zones to prevent structure ignitions through enhanced standards and support X X 4. Expand goat grazing for vegetation maintenance X X 5. Establish additional fuel interruption zones X X X 6. Improve public education regarding fire-safe landscaping and living with wildfire X X X 7. Establish more Firewise communities in San Rafael X X 8. Reduce hazardous fuels through an abatement process on privately owned unimproved lots and within 200 feet of a structure or 20 feet roadway X 9. Effectively coordinate the removal of vegetative debris X X 10. Engage Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, Neighborhood Response Groups (NRGs) and other volunteers in fire prevention X 11. Reengage volunteer “Broom Pull Days” X X 12. Review and update WUI map X 13. Adopt Public Resource Code 4290 and 4291 X X X 14. Develop new efforts, solutions, and resources dedicated to wildfire prevention and protection X X 15. Immediately seize ignition sources at encampments and remove encampments in open space as quickly as possible X X 16. Reduce likelihood of ignition in undeveloped land X X 55 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Objective Exists, Plan expands $ $$ $$$ Additional Staff Needed 17. Explore opportunities in Fire and Building Code updates to increase use of fire-resistant materials and application of CA Fire Code 7A X X 18. Eliminate fire hazard associated with shake and wooden roofs X 19. Develop comprehensive San Rafael hazardous vegetation study and mitigation measures X 20. Complete an analysis of fire roads and strategic fuel breaks X X 21. Increase the number of hardened homes in San Rafael X 22. Improve development and implementation of Vegetation Management Plans (VMPs) and create new Resilient Landscape Templates (RLTs) and. X X 23. Increase the number of completed Vegetation Management Plans (VMP)s and Resilient Landscape Templates (RLTs). X X 24. Improve the public’s fire risk awareness with sign improvements and installation X X 25. Reduce fire risk and keep visitors using short- term rentals safe X 26. Hire additional staff dedicated to vegetation management and disaster mitigation X X 27. Increase Police Ranger staffing X X 28. Reduce fuels along roadways X X X 29. Establish a residential hillside “parking box” program X X 30. Improve public emergency alerting capabilities and policies X X 31. Increase capability for early fire warnings and detection X X 32. Review and expand evacuation plans, X X X 56 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 Objective Exists, Plan expands $ $$ $$$ Additional Staff Needed incorporating areas of refuge, and support neighborhood evacuation drills. 33. Assure safe and resilient critical infrastructure X 34. Assure that appropriate staff can send and receive emergency alerts X 35. Assure that City staff can communicate during an emergency X X 36. Assure that residents can evacuate through garage doors if power is out X 37. Prevent potential entrapments by requiring 2 gates in any fence in designated areas X 38. Maintain and expand coordination of wildfire prevention and response planning with Marin County, other Marin jurisdictions, Marin County Fire, FIRESafe MARIN, and neighboring landowning partners. X X Table 3 - New and Draft plan Objective number Cross Walk # Objective Draft # 1 Eliminate highly flammable vegetation near structures and roadways throughout San Rafael 1 2 Apply vegetation management and defensible space standards citywide 2 3 Reduce ember ignitions within immediate zones to prevent structure ignitions through enhanced standards and support 4 4 Expand goat grazing for vegetation maintenance 15 5 Establish additional fuel interruption zones 32 6 Improve public education regarding fire-safe landscaping and living with wildfire 11 57 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 # Objective Draft # 7 Establish more Firewise communities in San Rafael 22 8 Reduce hazardous fuels through an abatement process on privately owned unimproved lots and within 200 feet of a structure or 20 feet roadway 34 9 Effectively coordinate the removal of vegetative debris from public and private property 37 10 Engage Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, Neighborhood Response Groups (NRGs) and other volunteers in fire prevention 33 11 Reengage volunteer “Broom Pull Days” 35 12 Review and update WUI map 23 13 Adopt Public Resource Code 4290 and 4291 3 14 Develop new efforts, solutions, and resources dedicated to wildfire prevention and protection 7 15 Immediately seize ignition sources at encampments and remove encampments in open space as quickly as possible. 8 16 Reduce likelihood of ignition in undeveloped land 5 17 Explore opportunities in Fire and Building Code updates to increase use of fire-resistant materials and application of CA Fire Code 7A 24 18 Eliminate fire hazard associated with shake and wooden roofs 6 19 Develop comprehensive San Rafael hazardous vegetation study and mitigation measures 31 20 Complete an analysis of fire roads and strategic fuel breaks 14 21 Increase the number of hardened homes in San Rafael 22 Improve development and implementation of Vegetation Management Plans (VMPs) and create new Resilient Landscape Templates (RLTs). 17 23 Increase the number of completed Vegetation Management Plans (VMP)s and Resilient Landscape Templates (RLTs). 26 24 Improve the public’s fire risk awareness with sign improvements and installation 36 58 Wildfire Prevention and Protection Action Plan - March 2019 # Objective Draft # 25 Reduce fire risk and keep visitors using short-term rentals safe 29 26 Hire additional staff dedicated to vegetation management and disaster mitigation 9 27 Increase Police Ranger staffing 10 28 Reduce fuels along roadways 19 29 Establish a residential hillside “parking box” program 25 30 Improve public emergency alerting capabilities and policies 13 31 Increase capability for early fire warnings and detection 12 32 Review and expand evacuation plans, incorporating areas of refuge, and support neighborhood evacuation drills. 30 33 Assure safe and resilient critical infrastructure 20 34 Assure that appropriate staff can send and receive emergency alerts 18 35 Assure that City staff can communicate during an emergency 21 36 Assure that residents can evacuate through garage doors if power is out 16 37 Prevent potential entrapments by requiring 2 gates in any fence in designated areas 28 38 Maintain and expand coordination of wildfire prevention and response planning with Marin County, other Marin jurisdictions, Marin County Fire, FIRESafe MARIN, and neighboring landowning partners.