While other areas in the state are moving ahead with plans for prescribed burns and fuels modification, Santa Barbara County fire officials are quietly focusing on encouraging practices that focus on the micro level.
That includes working with homeowners in fire-prone areas — which turns out to be a huge chunk of the Santa Barbara frontcountry — to fireproof their homes and establish what fire officials call “Firewise Communities,” or FWCs.
Statistics show that there are more than 30,000 buildings in high fire hazard areas and nearly 70,000 people living in those areas. Doing this is not just a good idea; it is critical to protecting the entire frontcountry area from disastrous wildfires such as the most recent Thomas, Cave and Alisal fires.
It doesn’t help that we are experiencing drought conditions, periodic heat waves that have broken local records, and plenty of windy days.
Working From the Inside Out
The newest focus along the frontcountry and, specifically, woodland urban interface is to do what Montecito Fire wildland fire specialist Nic Elmquist terms “working from the inside out.” That means developing strategies that begin at the homeowner’s doorstep and go out from there.
It is based on what has become the signal reality: Santa Barbara’s coastal mountains will burn, and the best way to prevent homes from doing so is by involving homeowners directly in the process.
While past efforts have focused on fuel reduction programs along the entire frontcountry through the use of goats, neighborhood chipping programs and educational efforts designed to raise awareness among homeowners, the new goal is to make them much more fully involved in the process.
The County’s First Designated FWC
Recently, the San Marcos Trout Club has become the first local community designated as a Firewise USA Community.
To earn the designation, the SMTC had to complete a formal wildfire risk assessment, require that residents serve as volunteers for fire safety activities, and have the HOA direct part of its association dues to vegetation management. Most critically, the community also was required to create a three-year action plan to reduce wildfire risk and unite it annually.
Taking Direct Responsibility
“For the first time,” Elmquist said, “we are asking homeowners to take individual responsibility for preparing their homes from the risk of wildfire.”
Thanks to funding through a variety of federal and state programs, dollars are now being spent to engage with homeowners in a way that will protect them when the next fire burns through their community.
Another reason behind the establishment of programs such as Firewise USA was the recognition that homeowners in the high fire risk areas know best their vulnerabilities.
“If we can key into that knowledge,” Elmquist said, “we can provide a platform for community members to interact with fire authorities and work collaboratively together to come up with solutions.”
Community Benefits
SMTC Firewise committee chair Rocky Siegel sees immediate benefits from the San Marcos Trout Club’s involvement with the program.
A 50-year resident of the area and a longtime wildland fire volunteer, Siegel knows how critical fire-proofing a community can be having been through the Paint Fire that burned a number of homes and having been threatened by a number of other fires the past few years.
“The ability to get grants is critical to help fund things the community cannot afford,” Siegel said.
Currently, the Trout Club budgets $14,000 per year to clear brush from around the community.
Siegel recently applied for a grant from Southern California Edison to replace the main water line, which is totally inadequate, with a 6-inch line.
“Being an FWC will give us a much better chance of getting that approved,” he said.
Siegel also notes that insurance companies appear ready to offer rate reductions for FWCs as well. Two years ago, insurance rates in the high fire risk areas skyrocketed in cost, with many insurance companies pulling out of the area entirely.
“My next-door neighbor had been paying $2,000 per year for bare minimum coverage,” he said. “The cost went to $14,000 last year.”
Creating a Firewise Community
Becoming a Firewise Community is simple: initially, a board or a committee representing at least eight homes and no more than 2,500 must be created. Other requirements that include conducting a wildfire risk assessment for the neighborhood, creating an action plan and investing at least $25 per household in risk reduction actions may seem more challenging.
The Firewise program is part of a larger Regional Wildfire Mitigation Program designed to create a framework for increased wildfire resilience for the wildland urban interface communities located in the South Coast region of Santa Barbara County.
The goal is to develop a fire-adapted region with reduced wildfire risk to the communities, the built environment and natural systems, while allowing wildfire to play a regenerative role across the landscape.
Funding for such programs is being funnelled through the Santa Barbara Firesafe Council and is being overseen by Bren School graduate Anne-Marie Parkinson. Her role is to manage various aspects of the RWMP, including the development of Firewise communities throughout the county.
“Communities can do Firewise on their own,” Parkinson said, “but the benefit of having me is being there to encourage people to do Firewise, get help with the application process, including organizing homeowners and answering questions, and helping in whatever way I can.”
For More Information
» Anne-Marie Parkinson, community wildfire resilience domain lead, community@sbfiresafecouncil.org
» Nic Elmquist, wildland fire specialist, Montecito Fire Protection District, nelmquist@montecitofire.com
— Noozhawk outdoor writer Ray Ford can be reached at rford@noozhawk.com. Click here for his website, SBoutdoors.com. Follow him on Twitter: @riveray. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.