Cal Fire has flagged several areas in Goleta for their fire hazard levels, highlighting the need for more fire resources in the city.
On May 20, County Fire Marshal Fred Tan shared with the Goleta City Council the newly released fire hazard severity map from Cal Fire, identifying areas within Goleta that fall into three fire hazard severity categories: very high, high and moderate.
Goleta’s fire hazard severity zones are mainly along the city’s northern borders, the area around the Sandpiper Golf Club, and the Ellwood Bluffs. A significant chunk of the Winchester Canyon neighborhood is in a very high hazard zone.
For the very high hazard zones in western Goleta, the closest fire station is Station 11 on Storke Road, at least until the long-awaited Station 10 gets built.
Tan said he’s been focusing on areas around South Patterson and Glen Annie to make sure those areas are fire safe, but eventually Goleta will need Fire Station 10.
“We’re gonna need Station 10, especially with Glen Annie there. If that development comes in and we’re going to increase population and increase traffic on the 101, it’s going to need to happen,” Tan said.
A proposed housing project at the Glen Annie Golf Club has stirred public safety concerns. The site has been rezoned to accommodate the project, but a farmer has sued Santa Barbara County, alleging that the county did not adequately review the impacts on the environment and wildlife in the area.
Tan said there have been numerous discussions at County Fire about Fire Station 10, but he wasn’t aware of any kind of timeline to get the station built.
In the meantime, Tan said, as crews take away vegetation, there will be more defensible space. He believes that the hazard zones will recede as more defensible space requirements are put in place on developments.
“As Goleta develops, Station 10 will eventually build out and we’ll have the tax base to be able to build the station and also staff it, but you’re also going to start taking away a lot of the vegetation,” Tan said. “There’s going to be more defensible space, and I think you’re going to see these fire hazard severity zones recede.”
Properties in fire hazard zones will be subject to defensible space inspections from local fire departments. New construction in high fire hazard zones will have to comply with fire-resistant building standards. New and existing buildings in a very high severity zone are required to create a 100-foot defensible space perimeter from a structure, according to Tan.
He told the council that because most of Goleta is urbanized with well-kept trees and lawns, most of the areas in the fire hazard zones already pass defensible space requirements.
The hazard zones are based on vegetation, wind conditions, fire history and the landscape of the area. The maps don’t take into account fuel reduction or mitigation efforts.
“It just takes into account at some point within a 30- to 50-year period, with no mitigation, with the fuels that are existing, that a piece of land might see some fire,” Tan said.
Being in a very high fire hazard severity zone means that the Fire Safe Council and Santa Barbara County can apply for grants to clean up vegetation, reducing fire fuels, according to Tan.
The maps haven’t been updated since 2011, which at the time showed that Goleta had no fire hazard severity zones.
The new maps were released March 10, and local jurisdictions were given 120 days to adopt the recommended hazard zones through an ordinance. Local jurisdictions aren’t allowed to reduce the fire hazard severity zones assigned by the state fire marshal.
Check your address on the interactive fire hazard zone map here.
Compare the current maps to the proposed new state maps here.