Map: See Where Wildfires Are Burning in California
Breathe Easy: Check Real-Time Bay Area Air Quality Before You Head Out
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Wildfire NewsWildfire News
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Stonecutters Who Can't Work Struggle Through Workers' Compensation Process
California Must Move Faster on Wildfire Risk, Experts Warn
Teaching First Responders About Human Remains Recovery After Wildfires
California Insurance Commissioner Candidates Debate Solutions to Wildfire-Driven Crisis
‘Yikes’: Bay Area Heat Lingers, Sierra Nevada Snowpack Melting Fast
The Eaton Fire Destroyed Altadena’s Lush Greenery. These Volunteers Are Growing It Back
Maidu Tribe Returns to Its Roots of Ancestral Fire
A Year After the LA Fires, a Journalist Looks Back on the Stories From His Neighborhood
Sierra Foothills Community Could Provide Blueprint For Building Homes In Era Of Megafires
Living With WildfireLiving With Wildfire
One Potential Solution to Deadly Fires in the Wilderness: Don't Build There
'Increasingly Unavailable and Unaffordable': Home Insurance Threatened Amid Wildfire Crisis
Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One
We Can Make California Wildfires Less Horrific. Will We?
In the Age of Fast-Moving Fires, What's the Best Way to Get People Out?
Town Unites Against Federal Mismanagement to Save Forest
This California Neighborhood Was Built to Survive a Wildfire. And It Worked
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Californians can learn to survive wildfire in a warming world. KQED’s reporting includes \u003ca href=\"/news/11880307/kqeds-wildfire-resources-prepare-protect-cope\">vital resources\u003c/a>, such as live maps on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834132/see-where-wildfires-are-burning-in-california\">where fires are burning\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1930023/map-heres-your-daily-air-quality-report-for-the-bay-area\">current air quality\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1950931/map-pge-power-outages\">current PG&E power outages\u003c/a> – as well as guides on \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/11833686/what-to-pack-in-your-emergency-bag-with-covid-19-in-mind\">what to pack for evacuation\u003c/a> and how to \u003ca href=\"/science/1965575/and-now-fire-season-heres-how-to-prepare\">protect your home\u003c/a>. Our in-depth coverage examines fire from all angles, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985778/more-california-towns-will-burn-we-should-plan-for-that\">highlights solutions\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985440/draft-living-in-californias-sierra-foothills-residents-confront-climate-change\">clearly explains\u003c/a> the connection between a warming climate and severe fire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/olderandoverlooked/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"343\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-800x343.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16166\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-800x343.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-1020x438.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-768x330.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-1536x659.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-2048x879.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/See-How-Wildfires-Web@2x-1-1920x824.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834530/vea-donde-estan-sucediendo-los-incendios-en-california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Leer en español \u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following map shows current wildfires that are more than 100 acres in size. Click on each incident to find up-to-date information, including containment percentage. Zoom in to see perimeters of larger incidents. Note that location and perimeter data are from different government sources, so burn acreage estimates for those two layers may differ based on disparate reporting methods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click on the layers tab in the top left corner to view hot spots and any current fire weather warnings from the National Weather Service, including red flag warnings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>If the map does not display below, \u003ca href=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=4d8ff3a854854531a22958572b4259a8\">view it here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%;\" align=\"center\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=4d8ff3a854854531a22958572b4259a8\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 94%;\" align=\"left\">\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 94%;\" align=\"left\">\u003cstrong>Sources\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Wildfire locations are sourced from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/\">Cal Fire\u003c/a> and perimeters from the \u003ca href=\"https://data-nifc.opendata.arcgis.com/\">National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)\u003c/a>\u003c/i>.\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834530/vea-donde-estan-sucediendo-los-incendios-en-california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Leer en español \u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following map shows current wildfires that are more than 100 acres in size. Click on each incident to find up-to-date information, including containment percentage. Zoom in to see perimeters of larger incidents. Note that location and perimeter data are from different government sources, so burn acreage estimates for those two layers may differ based on disparate reporting methods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click on the layers tab in the top left corner to view hot spots and any current fire weather warnings from the National Weather Service, including red flag warnings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>If the map does not display below, \u003ca href=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=4d8ff3a854854531a22958572b4259a8\">view it here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%;\" align=\"center\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=4d8ff3a854854531a22958572b4259a8\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 94%;\" align=\"left\">\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 94%;\" align=\"left\">\u003cstrong>Sources\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Wildfire locations are sourced from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/\">Cal Fire\u003c/a> and perimeters from the \u003ca href=\"https://data-nifc.opendata.arcgis.com/\">National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)\u003c/a>\u003c/i>.\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Breathe Easy: Check Real-Time Bay Area Air Quality Before You Head Out",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968622/mapa-reporte-actual-de-la-calidad-del-aire-en-el-area-de-la-bahia\">Leer en español\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Large circles on the map show Air Quality Index (AQI) values — for ozone and AQI2.5 — as measured at official, outdoor permanent monitoring sites managed in the Bay Area by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-air-quality/current-air-quality\">Air Quality Management District\u003c/a> and submitted to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/\">U.S. EPA’s AirNow database\u003c/a>. Data from these sensors is updated hourly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smaller squares show real-time PM2.5 readings at low-cost, individually owned \u003ca href=\"https://map.purpleair.com/air-quality-standards-us-epa-aqi?opt=%2F1%2Flp%2Fa10%2Fp604800%2FcC0#7.72/37.63/-121.556\">PurpleAir sensors\u003c/a> that may be located indoors or outdoors. Data is updated every four hours. Outliers may be a result of localized activities, such as small fires or exposure to vehicle exhaust. Alternatively, healthy air quality in an otherwise unhealthy location could be the result of a sensor placed in a well-ventilated indoor area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Use the layer selector in the top left corner to toggle between layer views, including current wind and weather patterns, based on hourly weather station data provided by NOAA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>If the map does not display below, \u003ca href=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=a5534be2dbad4a168130942a641ab643\">view it here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%;\" align=\"center\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=a5534be2dbad4a168130942a641ab643\" width=\"100%\" height=\"700\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Map produced by Matthew Green and \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-soule-6a085819/\">Brendan Soulé\u003c/a>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>What does AQI Mean?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a scale used to measure and report air pollution levels. It tells you how clean or polluted the air is and what health effects might be a concern. Generally, AQI values above 100 are considered unhealthy. Specifically, values between 101-150 are unhealthy for sensitive groups (like children, older adults, and people with heart or lung disease), 151-200 are unhealthy, 201-300 are very unhealthy, and anything over 300 is considered hazardous. When the air quality is poor (AQI above 100), it’s best to limit prolonged or strenuous outdoor activities. Sensitive groups should be especially cautious and may need to stay indoors. Checking the air quality forecast can help you plan your activities accordingly.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want more information about air quality and wildfire smoke?\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1926793/protecting-your-health-from-toxic-wildfire-smoke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969271/making-sense-of-purple-air-vs-airnow-and-a-new-map-to-rule-them-all\">How to read air quality maps properly, from Purple Air to AirNow\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834305/masks-for-smoke-and-covid-19-what-kind-is-best\">Masks for smoke \u003cem>and\u003c/em> COVID: Which are best?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Here is an expanded list of other air quality measurement resources:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://tools.airfire.org/monitoring/v4/#!/?category=PM2.5_nowcast¢erlat=42¢erlon=-95&zoom=4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Forest Service Air Monitoring Program\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://mobile.arb.ca.gov/breathewell/CityList.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Air Resource Board Breathewell for Mobile\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://aqicn.org/city/california/san-francisco/san-francisco-arkansas-street/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Air Quality Index\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=37.7576497&lng=-122.4353884&zoom=10\">AirNow is also running a project\u003c/a> that adds data from low-cost sensors to a fire and smoke map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968622/mapa-reporte-actual-de-la-calidad-del-aire-en-el-area-de-la-bahia\">Leer en español\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Large circles on the map show Air Quality Index (AQI) values — for ozone and AQI2.5 — as measured at official, outdoor permanent monitoring sites managed in the Bay Area by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-air-quality/current-air-quality\">Air Quality Management District\u003c/a> and submitted to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/\">U.S. EPA’s AirNow database\u003c/a>. Data from these sensors is updated hourly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smaller squares show real-time PM2.5 readings at low-cost, individually owned \u003ca href=\"https://map.purpleair.com/air-quality-standards-us-epa-aqi?opt=%2F1%2Flp%2Fa10%2Fp604800%2FcC0#7.72/37.63/-121.556\">PurpleAir sensors\u003c/a> that may be located indoors or outdoors. Data is updated every four hours. Outliers may be a result of localized activities, such as small fires or exposure to vehicle exhaust. Alternatively, healthy air quality in an otherwise unhealthy location could be the result of a sensor placed in a well-ventilated indoor area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Use the layer selector in the top left corner to toggle between layer views, including current wind and weather patterns, based on hourly weather station data provided by NOAA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>If the map does not display below, \u003ca href=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=a5534be2dbad4a168130942a641ab643\">view it here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%;\" align=\"center\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqedsf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=a5534be2dbad4a168130942a641ab643\" width=\"100%\" height=\"700\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Map produced by Matthew Green and \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-soule-6a085819/\">Brendan Soulé\u003c/a>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>What does AQI Mean?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a scale used to measure and report air pollution levels. It tells you how clean or polluted the air is and what health effects might be a concern. Generally, AQI values above 100 are considered unhealthy. Specifically, values between 101-150 are unhealthy for sensitive groups (like children, older adults, and people with heart or lung disease), 151-200 are unhealthy, 201-300 are very unhealthy, and anything over 300 is considered hazardous. When the air quality is poor (AQI above 100), it’s best to limit prolonged or strenuous outdoor activities. Sensitive groups should be especially cautious and may need to stay indoors. Checking the air quality forecast can help you plan your activities accordingly.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want more information about air quality and wildfire smoke?\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1926793/protecting-your-health-from-toxic-wildfire-smoke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969271/making-sense-of-purple-air-vs-airnow-and-a-new-map-to-rule-them-all\">How to read air quality maps properly, from Purple Air to AirNow\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834305/masks-for-smoke-and-covid-19-what-kind-is-best\">Masks for smoke \u003cem>and\u003c/em> COVID: Which are best?\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Here is an expanded list of other air quality measurement resources:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://tools.airfire.org/monitoring/v4/#!/?category=PM2.5_nowcast¢erlat=42¢erlon=-95&zoom=4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Forest Service Air Monitoring Program\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://mobile.arb.ca.gov/breathewell/CityList.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Air Resource Board Breathewell for Mobile\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://aqicn.org/city/california/san-francisco/san-francisco-arkansas-street/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Air Quality Index\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=37.7576497&lng=-122.4353884&zoom=10\">AirNow is also running a project\u003c/a> that adds data from low-cost sensors to a fire and smoke map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Wildfire Season Just Got Worse. Here's How to Prepare Your Home",
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"content": "\u003cp>After two relatively mild fire seasons, 2024 looks poised to reverse that trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of early July, Cal Fire has responded to more than 3,500 wildland fires that have burned more than 207,000 acres. That’s a similar number of fires but 197,000 more acres than at this time in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Punishingly hot and dry conditions around the state have dried out grasses and brush, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993386/california-heat-turned-brush-into-prime-fuel-for-fires-forests-will-be-next\">laying the conditions for fast-moving intense wildfires\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are fully fuel loaded at this point,” said Brian Garcia, the National Weather Service’s warning coordination meteorologist, on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906134/hot-summer-promises-more-blazes-this-wildfire-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a> recently. He’s most concerned about the fall, when the Bay Area typically has its largest fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when “[the weather] turns into the low humidity offshore wind, the gusty offshore wind regime that brought us fires like the Nuns, the Tubbs, the Kincade, the Camp,” said Garcia, citing some of the most destructive fires in California history, and in the history of the nation. “We need to be prepared now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11993386]Cal Fire Battalion Chief of Communications Issac Sanchez said Californians shouldn’t wait. “Preparation steps need to be done now. That way, when a fire breaks out — not \u003cem>if\u003c/em> a fire breaks out in your community, but \u003cem>when\u003c/em> a fire breaks out in your community — you’re ready to react at a moment’s notice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public needs to maintain a constant state of readiness,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has launched some new tools to help residents get organized. Its \u003ca href=\"https://plan.readyforwildfire.org/en\">fire\u003cem>PLANNER\u003c/em>\u003c/a> application hosts to-do checklists tailored to the user’s circumstances to prioritize safety steps. It also offers text alerts and information to track wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKuwfnOXHO4&t=30s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any disaster, there aren’t enough emergency personnel to help everyone. So first responders depend on the majority of people being ready and able to take care of themselves and help their neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the top things to do, said Sanchez, is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/DSpace\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">self-assessment\u003c/a> of the trees, brush and other vegetation on and around your property. Learn the steps to protect your home from wildfire and start clearing brush and doing other key tasks now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ready for Wildfire\u003c/a> website and app breaks down steps everyone can take to get prepared. Sanchez also advised people to \u003ca href=\"http://calalerts.org/signup.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">register for emergency alerts\u003c/a> and evacuation warnings from their county’s emergency services agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preparing for a wildfire or other disaster can feel daunting. So the\u003ca href=\"https://www.listoscalifornia.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Listos California \u003c/a>Emergency Preparedness Campaign provides a five-step readiness plan that sends you reminders \u003ca href=\"https://listos.arist.co/courses/5f0898b34456264206dbc956\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via text\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some guidelines to help get you ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Prepare the outside of your home\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you live in a fire-prone area, sometimes called the “wildland-urban interface,” clearing brush and tree limbs close to your home is an important way to slow the spread of fires, increasing the chance of your home’s survival. This area of cleared and low vegetation is called “defensible space,” and you can think of it as a buffer zone, free of anything likely to catch fire.\u003cbr>\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uawt5fTLU6Q&feature=youtu.be\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire asks homeowners to think about two zones of defensible space. The first extends 30 feet from homes, outbuildings and decks:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Remove overhanging and dead branches. All branches should be a minimum of 10 feet away from your chimney and other trees.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>All dead vegetation should be removed.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Clear dry leaves and pine needles from the yard, roof and rain gutters.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Move wood piles to Zone 2.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Zone 2 extends from the end of Zone 1 to 100 feet out from your home, structures and deck:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli class=\"p1\">Here, mow annual grasses down to 4 inches or less, and create horizontal and vertical spaces between vegetation.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p1\">Don’t let fallen leaves, needles, twigs, bark, cones and small branches accumulate more than 3 inches high.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Find detailed instructions at \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-ready/defensible-space/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Readyforwildfire.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1965579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-800x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-800x555.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-160x111.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-768x533.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones.png 820w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing people don’t think about a lot is to make sure their home address is clearly visible. You should make sure it is. That way, if you call for emergency help, responders can find you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Harden’ your home against wildfire\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many homes that burn in a wildfire are never in the path of flames, but ignite from flying embers and firebrands that can accumulate in eaves or drift into vents. Hardening homes against fire can be as inexpensive as installing screens over vents and as pricey as installing new windows, roofing or siding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Find detailed information \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-ready/hardening-your-home/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>, including a low-cost \u003ca href=\"https://readyforwildfire.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Low-Cost-Retrofit-List-Updated-5_1_2024.pdf\">retrofit list (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Have a go bag ready\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11833686]There are three reasons people tend to put off preparing for a disaster, says Karen Baker, co-chair of Listos California. “They either find it scary, expensive, and/or time-consuming,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listos tries to overcome those qualms with a simple readiness guide, available in \u003ca href=\"https://www.elsolnec.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ENG-Disaster-Ready-Guide.pdf\">English (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.listoscalifornia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/508_LIS_DRG_19pp_1_03_ES_50520.pdf\">Spanish (PDF)\u003c/a>. Sign up for readiness text prompts \u003ca href=\"https://www.listoscalifornia.org/online-course/en/\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization recommends packing up some items in advance so you can get out of the house quickly if you need to. If cost is a concern, you can assemble the kits over time. Recommended items to pack beforehand:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Documents: copies of insurance, identification, and other important papers and photos.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cash: $1 and $5 bills are best.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Map: with different routes out of your neighborhood marked.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Medications list: Include all prescriptions and other important medical information.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Portable radio.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Flashlight.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>To grab on your way out the door:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Wallet, purse, keys.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Phone and charger.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Medicine.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Portable computer.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>First-aid supplies, N95 masks, hand sanitizer, wipes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Change of clothes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Anything else needed by people or animals in your household.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Create a plan for your household in the event of a wildfire emergency. (See Cal Fire’s wildfire \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-set/wildfire-action-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">action plan checklist\u003c/a>.) And be sure you’re signed up to receive emergency alerts for your area. You can \u003ca href=\"http://calalerts.org/signup.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign up here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire also recommends mapping out your household’s fire escape route and running your own \u003ca href=\"https://readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/prepare-your-family/\">fire drills (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Expect Smoky Days\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1926793']With wildfire comes smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can get smoke advisories, forecasts and current fire conditions through the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/\">AirNow website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Keep windows and doors closed.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Use fans, air conditioners, ice packs or a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11836824/how-to-cope-with-the-california-heat-wave#tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">frozen bandana\u003c/a> to stay cool.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Know how the ventilation system in your home works and close the outdoor air damper, if there is one.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Avoid making indoor air pollution any worse by smoking cigarettes, spraying aerosols, frying food or burning candles or incense.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Buy an air cleaner (also called an air purifier) that doesn’t produce ozone and has a HEPA filter. Designate a “clean-air room” in your home for smoky days. (The Environmental Protection Agency has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/guide_to_air_cleaners_in_the_home_2nd_edition.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide (PDF)\u003c/a> for air cleaners in the home).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If air purifiers are too costly, here’s a less expensive \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968863/helping-kids-protect-themselves-from-dirty-air-one-diy-filter-at-a-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DIY option\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Air purifiers can range from $100 on up and can be hard to obtain during bad fires, so think about buying one in advance of fire season. In California, few resources exist to help people with low income afford these devices; one asthma intervention program in Fresno does provide enrollees with air cleaners for a year. In years past, some counties have set up “clean air shelters” during smoky days.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>People power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One theme running through the advice of fire and emergency officials: Your social network is one of your most important safety tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Really, when it comes down to a ‘no-notice’ event, like a fast-running wildland fire through your neighborhood, it really is neighbor helping neighbor,“ said Santa Rosa Fire Chief Gossner.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>Emergency Resource Websites\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://211CA.org\">211CA.org\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nDial 211 for evacuation routes, shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://CalAlerts.org\">CalAlerts.org\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nSign up to get your county’s alerts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://Earthquake.ca.gov\">Earthquake.ca.gov\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nGet MyShake earthquake warning app.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://Response.ca.gov\">Response.ca.gov\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nReal-time wildfire and shelter news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://Ready.gov\">Ready.gov\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nResources to prepare for any disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>That means it’s time to think about who in your neighborhood might need help getting ready for fire season. Maybe they’re elderly and could use some help trimming vegetation. During an evacuation order, who will you check on and who will check on you? Write down their names and contact information, pack the list in your go bag, and share it with others for backup. At least one person on your list should live outside your area to ensure you’re not relying on someone who also might be affected by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if this feels overwhelming or scary, the time to do it is \u003cem>now\u003c/em>. Every step you can take toward preparedness makes you, your family, and your community a little bit safer.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story originally published on June 8, 2020.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After two relatively mild fire seasons, 2024 looks poised to reverse that trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of early July, Cal Fire has responded to more than 3,500 wildland fires that have burned more than 207,000 acres. That’s a similar number of fires but 197,000 more acres than at this time in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Punishingly hot and dry conditions around the state have dried out grasses and brush, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993386/california-heat-turned-brush-into-prime-fuel-for-fires-forests-will-be-next\">laying the conditions for fast-moving intense wildfires\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are fully fuel loaded at this point,” said Brian Garcia, the National Weather Service’s warning coordination meteorologist, on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906134/hot-summer-promises-more-blazes-this-wildfire-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a> recently. He’s most concerned about the fall, when the Bay Area typically has its largest fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when “[the weather] turns into the low humidity offshore wind, the gusty offshore wind regime that brought us fires like the Nuns, the Tubbs, the Kincade, the Camp,” said Garcia, citing some of the most destructive fires in California history, and in the history of the nation. “We need to be prepared now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cal Fire Battalion Chief of Communications Issac Sanchez said Californians shouldn’t wait. “Preparation steps need to be done now. That way, when a fire breaks out — not \u003cem>if\u003c/em> a fire breaks out in your community, but \u003cem>when\u003c/em> a fire breaks out in your community — you’re ready to react at a moment’s notice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public needs to maintain a constant state of readiness,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has launched some new tools to help residents get organized. Its \u003ca href=\"https://plan.readyforwildfire.org/en\">fire\u003cem>PLANNER\u003c/em>\u003c/a> application hosts to-do checklists tailored to the user’s circumstances to prioritize safety steps. It also offers text alerts and information to track wildfires.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/kKuwfnOXHO4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/kKuwfnOXHO4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In any disaster, there aren’t enough emergency personnel to help everyone. So first responders depend on the majority of people being ready and able to take care of themselves and help their neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the top things to do, said Sanchez, is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/DSpace\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">self-assessment\u003c/a> of the trees, brush and other vegetation on and around your property. Learn the steps to protect your home from wildfire and start clearing brush and doing other key tasks now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ready for Wildfire\u003c/a> website and app breaks down steps everyone can take to get prepared. Sanchez also advised people to \u003ca href=\"http://calalerts.org/signup.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">register for emergency alerts\u003c/a> and evacuation warnings from their county’s emergency services agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preparing for a wildfire or other disaster can feel daunting. So the\u003ca href=\"https://www.listoscalifornia.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Listos California \u003c/a>Emergency Preparedness Campaign provides a five-step readiness plan that sends you reminders \u003ca href=\"https://listos.arist.co/courses/5f0898b34456264206dbc956\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via text\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some guidelines to help get you ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Prepare the outside of your home\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you live in a fire-prone area, sometimes called the “wildland-urban interface,” clearing brush and tree limbs close to your home is an important way to slow the spread of fires, increasing the chance of your home’s survival. This area of cleared and low vegetation is called “defensible space,” and you can think of it as a buffer zone, free of anything likely to catch fire.\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/uawt5fTLU6Q'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/uawt5fTLU6Q'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Cal Fire asks homeowners to think about two zones of defensible space. The first extends 30 feet from homes, outbuildings and decks:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Remove overhanging and dead branches. All branches should be a minimum of 10 feet away from your chimney and other trees.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>All dead vegetation should be removed.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Clear dry leaves and pine needles from the yard, roof and rain gutters.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Move wood piles to Zone 2.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Zone 2 extends from the end of Zone 1 to 100 feet out from your home, structures and deck:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli class=\"p1\">Here, mow annual grasses down to 4 inches or less, and create horizontal and vertical spaces between vegetation.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p1\">Don’t let fallen leaves, needles, twigs, bark, cones and small branches accumulate more than 3 inches high.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Find detailed instructions at \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-ready/defensible-space/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Readyforwildfire.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1965579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-800x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-800x555.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-160x111.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones-768x533.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/06/def_space_zones.png 820w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing people don’t think about a lot is to make sure their home address is clearly visible. You should make sure it is. That way, if you call for emergency help, responders can find you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Harden’ your home against wildfire\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many homes that burn in a wildfire are never in the path of flames, but ignite from flying embers and firebrands that can accumulate in eaves or drift into vents. Hardening homes against fire can be as inexpensive as installing screens over vents and as pricey as installing new windows, roofing or siding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Find detailed information \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-ready/hardening-your-home/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>, including a low-cost \u003ca href=\"https://readyforwildfire.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Low-Cost-Retrofit-List-Updated-5_1_2024.pdf\">retrofit list (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Have a go bag ready\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There are three reasons people tend to put off preparing for a disaster, says Karen Baker, co-chair of Listos California. “They either find it scary, expensive, and/or time-consuming,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listos tries to overcome those qualms with a simple readiness guide, available in \u003ca href=\"https://www.elsolnec.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ENG-Disaster-Ready-Guide.pdf\">English (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.listoscalifornia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/508_LIS_DRG_19pp_1_03_ES_50520.pdf\">Spanish (PDF)\u003c/a>. Sign up for readiness text prompts \u003ca href=\"https://www.listoscalifornia.org/online-course/en/\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization recommends packing up some items in advance so you can get out of the house quickly if you need to. If cost is a concern, you can assemble the kits over time. Recommended items to pack beforehand:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Documents: copies of insurance, identification, and other important papers and photos.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cash: $1 and $5 bills are best.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Map: with different routes out of your neighborhood marked.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Medications list: Include all prescriptions and other important medical information.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Portable radio.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Flashlight.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>To grab on your way out the door:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Wallet, purse, keys.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Phone and charger.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Medicine.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Portable computer.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>First-aid supplies, N95 masks, hand sanitizer, wipes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Change of clothes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Anything else needed by people or animals in your household.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Create a plan for your household in the event of a wildfire emergency. (See Cal Fire’s wildfire \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-set/wildfire-action-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">action plan checklist\u003c/a>.) And be sure you’re signed up to receive emergency alerts for your area. You can \u003ca href=\"http://calalerts.org/signup.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign up here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire also recommends mapping out your household’s fire escape route and running your own \u003ca href=\"https://readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/prepare-your-family/\">fire drills (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Expect Smoky Days\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>With wildfire comes smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can get smoke advisories, forecasts and current fire conditions through the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/\">AirNow website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Keep windows and doors closed.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Use fans, air conditioners, ice packs or a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11836824/how-to-cope-with-the-california-heat-wave#tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">frozen bandana\u003c/a> to stay cool.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Know how the ventilation system in your home works and close the outdoor air damper, if there is one.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Avoid making indoor air pollution any worse by smoking cigarettes, spraying aerosols, frying food or burning candles or incense.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli class=\"p3\">Buy an air cleaner (also called an air purifier) that doesn’t produce ozone and has a HEPA filter. Designate a “clean-air room” in your home for smoky days. (The Environmental Protection Agency has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/guide_to_air_cleaners_in_the_home_2nd_edition.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide (PDF)\u003c/a> for air cleaners in the home).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If air purifiers are too costly, here’s a less expensive \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968863/helping-kids-protect-themselves-from-dirty-air-one-diy-filter-at-a-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DIY option\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Air purifiers can range from $100 on up and can be hard to obtain during bad fires, so think about buying one in advance of fire season. In California, few resources exist to help people with low income afford these devices; one asthma intervention program in Fresno does provide enrollees with air cleaners for a year. In years past, some counties have set up “clean air shelters” during smoky days.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>People power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One theme running through the advice of fire and emergency officials: Your social network is one of your most important safety tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Really, when it comes down to a ‘no-notice’ event, like a fast-running wildland fire through your neighborhood, it really is neighbor helping neighbor,“ said Santa Rosa Fire Chief Gossner.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>Emergency Resource Websites\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://211CA.org\">211CA.org\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nDial 211 for evacuation routes, shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://CalAlerts.org\">CalAlerts.org\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nSign up to get your county’s alerts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://Earthquake.ca.gov\">Earthquake.ca.gov\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nGet MyShake earthquake warning app.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://Response.ca.gov\">Response.ca.gov\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nReal-time wildfire and shelter news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://Ready.gov\">Ready.gov\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nResources to prepare for any disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>That means it’s time to think about who in your neighborhood might need help getting ready for fire season. Maybe they’re elderly and could use some help trimming vegetation. During an evacuation order, who will you check on and who will check on you? Write down their names and contact information, pack the list in your go bag, and share it with others for backup. At least one person on your list should live outside your area to ensure you’re not relying on someone who also might be affected by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if this feels overwhelming or scary, the time to do it is \u003cem>now\u003c/em>. Every step you can take toward preparedness makes you, your family, and your community a little bit safer.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story originally published on June 8, 2020.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>More than 34,000 PG&E customers in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> remained without power on Monday, as high winds and dry conditions increased wildfire risk across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of 9:49 a.m., Monday, the utility’s outage map showed more than 813 current outages, and 34,549 customers affected, due to a combination of planned public safety power shutoffs and unplanned outages. The outage continued from Sunday, when more than 40,000 customers were affected, according to the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility said it cut power in parts of Napa, Marin, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties to prevent wildfire. Elsewhere in the South Bay and Sonoma counties, thousands of customers were affected by unplanned outages that PG&E said were caused by a storm. PG&E estimated that those outages would end throughout the afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The preventative shutoffs come as warm weather and gusty winds arrived in the Bay Area over the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory overnight Sunday for the Santa Cruz and interior North Bay Mountains, along with the Eastern Santa Clara and East Bay Hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gusts up to 60 mph and sustained winds between 15 and 30 mph blew through the region overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winds are expected to ebb on Monday afternoon. Fire risk was still elevated, though, due to relatively low humidity and hotter-than-expected conditions. The National Weather Service said temperatures were recording about 6 degrees higher than forecasted due to stronger-than-expected offshore winds bringing in warmer and drier air inland. The interior Bay Area could reach the high 80s and low 90s later in the day, while the coast remains in the 70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Elevated fire weather concerns continue through today across the interior with low humidities and strong gusts,” the weather service said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>More than 34,000 PG&E customers in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> remained without power on Monday, as high winds and dry conditions increased wildfire risk across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of 9:49 a.m., Monday, the utility’s outage map showed more than 813 current outages, and 34,549 customers affected, due to a combination of planned public safety power shutoffs and unplanned outages. The outage continued from Sunday, when more than 40,000 customers were affected, according to the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility said it cut power in parts of Napa, Marin, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties to prevent wildfire. Elsewhere in the South Bay and Sonoma counties, thousands of customers were affected by unplanned outages that PG&E said were caused by a storm. PG&E estimated that those outages would end throughout the afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The preventative shutoffs come as warm weather and gusty winds arrived in the Bay Area over the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory overnight Sunday for the Santa Cruz and interior North Bay Mountains, along with the Eastern Santa Clara and East Bay Hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gusts up to 60 mph and sustained winds between 15 and 30 mph blew through the region overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winds are expected to ebb on Monday afternoon. Fire risk was still elevated, though, due to relatively low humidity and hotter-than-expected conditions. The National Weather Service said temperatures were recording about 6 degrees higher than forecasted due to stronger-than-expected offshore winds bringing in warmer and drier air inland. The interior Bay Area could reach the high 80s and low 90s later in the day, while the coast remains in the 70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Elevated fire weather concerns continue through today across the interior with low humidities and strong gusts,” the weather service said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, May 14, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hundreds of Californians who make countertops are getting sick with an often deadly, job-related lung disease. Those who can no longer work because of it are often left struggling to make ends meet, even after pursuing benefits that are supposed to help them long term. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">State lawmakers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000990/california-must-move-faster-on-wildfire-risk-experts-warn\">have a new report\u003c/a> on how California can better avoid – or recover from – wildfires and other natural disasters.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>As silicosis cases increase, stonecutters struggle to get workers’ compensation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, silicosis cases have surged in California’s countertop fabrication industry. It’s an aggressive and often fatal lung disease. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079653/california-fabricators-face-artificial-stone-ban-as-silicosis-cases-mount\">At least 31 stoneworkers have died from silicosis since 2019\u003c/a>, and more than 550 in the state are confirmed to have the disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who can no longer work because of it are often left struggling to make ends meet, even after pursuing benefits that are supposed to help them long term. Former stoneworker Eleazar Resendiz Cortes has seen six of his co-workers suffer from silicosis. Two of the men needed oxygen machines to breathe and later underwent lung transplants. At 38, he said he fears a similar fate. Doctors have diagnosed Resendiz Cortes with silicosis. He can no longer work and has no income to support his family. The Bakersfield resident pursued worker’s compensation benefits, which are supposed to cover medical care and other expenses. But after two years, he still hasn’t been paid, and he’s struggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One insurer, AmTrust North America, denied his claim, arguing it wasn’t supported by substantial medical and other evidence. Another, Omaha National, is investigating but said it can’t comment on the specifics of the case. “These delays by the insurance company just make my clients worse,” said L.A. attorney Barry Rodich, who represents Resendiz Cortes and about 80 other sick stoneworkers. He said insurers have an economic incentive to delay claims that can be very expensive. He’s settled some silicosis claims for more than $1 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, all employers with at least one employee are required to have workers’ compensation insurance. A worker who gets hurt or sick on the job is supposed to file a claim with the employers’ insurer. But stoneworkers in the countertop fabrication industry often have multiple employers during their career. “When there’s multiple employers, the employers are going to point the fingers at each other,” said Yvonne Lang, who has represented insurers on silicosis claims. “And if the employers are pointing the fingers at each other, the carriers are going to point the fingers at each other.” She said insurance companies are looking to weed out fraudulent claims, and need proof that an illness came from working for an employer they insure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds of relatively young workers from contracting the incurable illness. They say the state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops. State workplace regulators could advance a proposal to ban the fabrication of artificial stone at their meeting next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000990/california-must-move-faster-on-wildfire-risk-experts-warn\">\u003cstrong>California must move faster on wildfire risk, experts warn\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fire risk experts cautioned California lawmakers this week that the state needs to change course to both survive and bounce back from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021019/la-fires-threaten-california-insurance-market-stability-housing-costs\">wildfires\u003c/a> and other natural catastrophes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state Capitol on Tuesday, Nancy Watkins, an actuary at financial adviser Milliman who specializes in fire risk and insurance, counseled lawmakers that the state needs to stop “nibbling around the edges.” “Nobody is going to save California from our decisions,” she said. “The state has to really step in and be more strategic about how to make things happen faster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-leader-taps-senators-becker-and-padilla-advance-effort-wildfire-recovery-and-energy\">statement on \u003c/a>Wednesday, state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said they would study the report’s findings and develop a plan to help strengthen recovery efforts and protect residents from rising energy and insurance costs. “This work is essential,” Becker said. “We must advance reforms that protect access to insurance, lower costs, support wildfire resilience, and provide fair outcomes for those impacted — while ensuring our utilities are both accountable for safety and financially stable enough to attract low-cost capital on behalf of ratepayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires over the past decade have driven up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985175/insurance-in-california-is-changing-heres-how-it-may-affect-you\">home insurance \u003c/a>rates and made coverage harder to obtain in many parts of California. In response, the state has invested heavily in firefighting capacity, early fire-detection technology and vegetation management. But Watkins told legislators those efforts alone are not enough. “The buildup of wildfire risk is a state and a local issue. It’s arising from climate change, it also arises from decades of decisions that we’ve made on land use, building, fire suppression, and decades of regulatory decisions,” Watkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watkins said the state should focus more heavily on making communities less vulnerable to wildfire by making them less ready to burn, rather than relying primarily on detecting and extinguishing fires quickly.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, May 14, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hundreds of Californians who make countertops are getting sick with an often deadly, job-related lung disease. Those who can no longer work because of it are often left struggling to make ends meet, even after pursuing benefits that are supposed to help them long term. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">State lawmakers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000990/california-must-move-faster-on-wildfire-risk-experts-warn\">have a new report\u003c/a> on how California can better avoid – or recover from – wildfires and other natural disasters.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>As silicosis cases increase, stonecutters struggle to get workers’ compensation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, silicosis cases have surged in California’s countertop fabrication industry. It’s an aggressive and often fatal lung disease. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079653/california-fabricators-face-artificial-stone-ban-as-silicosis-cases-mount\">At least 31 stoneworkers have died from silicosis since 2019\u003c/a>, and more than 550 in the state are confirmed to have the disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who can no longer work because of it are often left struggling to make ends meet, even after pursuing benefits that are supposed to help them long term. Former stoneworker Eleazar Resendiz Cortes has seen six of his co-workers suffer from silicosis. Two of the men needed oxygen machines to breathe and later underwent lung transplants. At 38, he said he fears a similar fate. Doctors have diagnosed Resendiz Cortes with silicosis. He can no longer work and has no income to support his family. The Bakersfield resident pursued worker’s compensation benefits, which are supposed to cover medical care and other expenses. But after two years, he still hasn’t been paid, and he’s struggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One insurer, AmTrust North America, denied his claim, arguing it wasn’t supported by substantial medical and other evidence. Another, Omaha National, is investigating but said it can’t comment on the specifics of the case. “These delays by the insurance company just make my clients worse,” said L.A. attorney Barry Rodich, who represents Resendiz Cortes and about 80 other sick stoneworkers. He said insurers have an economic incentive to delay claims that can be very expensive. He’s settled some silicosis claims for more than $1 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, all employers with at least one employee are required to have workers’ compensation insurance. A worker who gets hurt or sick on the job is supposed to file a claim with the employers’ insurer. But stoneworkers in the countertop fabrication industry often have multiple employers during their career. “When there’s multiple employers, the employers are going to point the fingers at each other,” said Yvonne Lang, who has represented insurers on silicosis claims. “And if the employers are pointing the fingers at each other, the carriers are going to point the fingers at each other.” She said insurance companies are looking to weed out fraudulent claims, and need proof that an illness came from working for an employer they insure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds of relatively young workers from contracting the incurable illness. They say the state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops. State workplace regulators could advance a proposal to ban the fabrication of artificial stone at their meeting next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000990/california-must-move-faster-on-wildfire-risk-experts-warn\">\u003cstrong>California must move faster on wildfire risk, experts warn\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fire risk experts cautioned California lawmakers this week that the state needs to change course to both survive and bounce back from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021019/la-fires-threaten-california-insurance-market-stability-housing-costs\">wildfires\u003c/a> and other natural catastrophes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state Capitol on Tuesday, Nancy Watkins, an actuary at financial adviser Milliman who specializes in fire risk and insurance, counseled lawmakers that the state needs to stop “nibbling around the edges.” “Nobody is going to save California from our decisions,” she said. “The state has to really step in and be more strategic about how to make things happen faster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-leader-taps-senators-becker-and-padilla-advance-effort-wildfire-recovery-and-energy\">statement on \u003c/a>Wednesday, state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said they would study the report’s findings and develop a plan to help strengthen recovery efforts and protect residents from rising energy and insurance costs. “This work is essential,” Becker said. “We must advance reforms that protect access to insurance, lower costs, support wildfire resilience, and provide fair outcomes for those impacted — while ensuring our utilities are both accountable for safety and financially stable enough to attract low-cost capital on behalf of ratepayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfires over the past decade have driven up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985175/insurance-in-california-is-changing-heres-how-it-may-affect-you\">home insurance \u003c/a>rates and made coverage harder to obtain in many parts of California. In response, the state has invested heavily in firefighting capacity, early fire-detection technology and vegetation management. But Watkins told legislators those efforts alone are not enough. “The buildup of wildfire risk is a state and a local issue. It’s arising from climate change, it also arises from decades of decisions that we’ve made on land use, building, fire suppression, and decades of regulatory decisions,” Watkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watkins said the state should focus more heavily on making communities less vulnerable to wildfire by making them less ready to burn, rather than relying primarily on detecting and extinguishing fires quickly.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, May 7, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As wildfires become more destructive in California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/education/2026-05-06/new-fresno-based-training-teaches-first-responders-to-find-human-remains-after-wildfires\">the need for forensic investigations is increasing.\u003c/a> Specifically – the need for finding and identifying bodies after a wildfire. A recent intensive academy at Fresno City College addressed this need by training working professionals. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Advocates are criticizing the state’s tracking of evictions, saying California has failed to accurately count them for decades, and drumming up support for a bill that would more closely monitor it. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Humboldt County Supervisors are looking at \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-04-30/humboldt-county-sheriff-oversight-committee\">creating a civilian oversight committee\u003c/a> for the sheriff’s office. They’re trying to get ahead of a possible citizen initiative.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/education/2026-05-06/new-fresno-based-training-teaches-first-responders-to-find-human-remains-after-wildfires\">\u003cstrong>New Fresno-based training teaches first responders to find human remains after wildfires\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a recent morning, Fresno County Deputy Coroner Bianca Torres was kneeling at the base of a burned up car. Nearby was a grisly sight: a skeleton found in the driver’s seat – but not the whole skeleton. “Because that person was seated there in the driver’s seat, we know that we’re missing pieces,” she said – specifically, missing bones. She was looking for bone fragments with a team of professionals including a firefighter, an arson investigator, a forensic anthropologist and a homicide detective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Normally, not all of them would have been doing this work, but they were enrolled in a training – and this scene was staged as part of the inaugural \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.firedeathacademy.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Central California Forensic Fire Death Investigation Academy\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. The intensive, weeklong course took place mid-April at Fresno City College.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As wildfires become more destructive in California, the need for forensic investigations afterward is increasing — specifically, the need for identifying bodies. The academy teaches first responders how to assist and recover human remains after fatal wildfire mass disasters. So as Torres swept and sifted through debris, others were pulling out pieces of the car’s carpet. It was a team effort, because they learned every piece found during an investigation is crucial. “Body preservation, bone preservation, that’s very important to us, the medical examiner and the anthropologists,” Torres said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five-day academy consisted of three days of lectures that taught attendees how a body burns and how to recover remains without accidentally damaging critical evidence. The last two days, students were set into groups to study a fire scenario and recover the remains within it. Some scenarios simulated houses, while others revolved around cars. Chelsey Juarez, a forensic anthropologist and a professor at Fresno State, led the academy. She said wildfires are becoming increasingly fatal. “As someone who responds to fire, the best time to prepare is right now,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last ten years, at least \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/top-20-deadliest-ca-wildfires.pdf?rev=0d4612ff0cb447fb827fa0ac6c309d3d&hash=34718653A215C315C5E3CB5BB6A4E550\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>180 people\u003c/u>\u003c/a> have died from fires in California, including the Camp and Palisades fires that wiped out parts of Butte and Los Angeles counties. So, Juarez said, if fires at that scale continue, more people might be pulled into investigating wildfire deaths – and she wants them to have a chance to learn before the next big wildfire occurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>New report shows gaps in eviction data reporting across the state\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates are criticizing the state’s tracking of evictions, saying California has failed to accurately count them for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://civilinjustice.net/report\">report by Strategic Actions for a Just Economy\u003c/a> covers data on eviction case outcomes in the state dating back to 2010. Its author, Kyle Nelson, said that while evictions are believed to drive homelessness in California, lawmakers are trying to prevent it without complete data. “This invites two questions: why are lawmakers crafting eviction prevention policies without fully understanding eviction data? And how do they know if these policy interventions are working?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, advocates are drumming up support for a bill that would more closely monitor eviction data. SB 1160 would require local courts to provide California’s Judicial Council with information on eviction filings, aggregated by zip code, and require the Council to make that data public. State Senator Maria Elena Durazo supports the legislation. “Essentially we’re navigating homelessness prevention without a map. So this bill shines light on the eviction process by using eviction data from the courts,” Durazo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>The report shows the counties with the most eviction filings report the least amount of data. It also shows multiple counties file more evictions now than they did prior to the pandemic.\u003c/div>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-04-30/humboldt-county-sheriff-oversight-committee\">\u003cstrong>Humboldt County takes first step toward sheriff oversight panel\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Humboldt County supervisors are considering creating a civilian oversight committee for the sheriff’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisors said they trust current Sheriff William Honsal but argued that now is the time to establish oversight, before any incident could undermine that trust. Supervisor Steve Madrone introduced the idea last month, saying some community members remain skeptical of the department because complaints are investigated internally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the avenue forward to improve that trust,” Madrone said. “I believe that as we improve that trust, it increases the number of people that want to become deputies. Because for them, morale goes up because they’re more trusted in the community by verifiable actions that involves people outside of law enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honsal pushed back, telling supervisors that existing oversight is sufficient. “Why fix something that’s not broken?” he said. “I’ve yet to hear why, other than you have a small group of people that want to see this because of a potential future incident.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An example ordinance would create a citizen-led committee to review complaints and make recommendations. The group would not have authority over daily operations or personnel decisions. Supervisors said they want to establish the committee themselves, rather than through a ballot measure.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, May 7, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As wildfires become more destructive in California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/education/2026-05-06/new-fresno-based-training-teaches-first-responders-to-find-human-remains-after-wildfires\">the need for forensic investigations is increasing.\u003c/a> Specifically – the need for finding and identifying bodies after a wildfire. A recent intensive academy at Fresno City College addressed this need by training working professionals. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Advocates are criticizing the state’s tracking of evictions, saying California has failed to accurately count them for decades, and drumming up support for a bill that would more closely monitor it. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Humboldt County Supervisors are looking at \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-04-30/humboldt-county-sheriff-oversight-committee\">creating a civilian oversight committee\u003c/a> for the sheriff’s office. They’re trying to get ahead of a possible citizen initiative.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/education/2026-05-06/new-fresno-based-training-teaches-first-responders-to-find-human-remains-after-wildfires\">\u003cstrong>New Fresno-based training teaches first responders to find human remains after wildfires\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a recent morning, Fresno County Deputy Coroner Bianca Torres was kneeling at the base of a burned up car. Nearby was a grisly sight: a skeleton found in the driver’s seat – but not the whole skeleton. “Because that person was seated there in the driver’s seat, we know that we’re missing pieces,” she said – specifically, missing bones. She was looking for bone fragments with a team of professionals including a firefighter, an arson investigator, a forensic anthropologist and a homicide detective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Normally, not all of them would have been doing this work, but they were enrolled in a training – and this scene was staged as part of the inaugural \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.firedeathacademy.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Central California Forensic Fire Death Investigation Academy\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. The intensive, weeklong course took place mid-April at Fresno City College.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As wildfires become more destructive in California, the need for forensic investigations afterward is increasing — specifically, the need for identifying bodies. The academy teaches first responders how to assist and recover human remains after fatal wildfire mass disasters. So as Torres swept and sifted through debris, others were pulling out pieces of the car’s carpet. It was a team effort, because they learned every piece found during an investigation is crucial. “Body preservation, bone preservation, that’s very important to us, the medical examiner and the anthropologists,” Torres said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five-day academy consisted of three days of lectures that taught attendees how a body burns and how to recover remains without accidentally damaging critical evidence. The last two days, students were set into groups to study a fire scenario and recover the remains within it. Some scenarios simulated houses, while others revolved around cars. Chelsey Juarez, a forensic anthropologist and a professor at Fresno State, led the academy. She said wildfires are becoming increasingly fatal. “As someone who responds to fire, the best time to prepare is right now,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last ten years, at least \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/top-20-deadliest-ca-wildfires.pdf?rev=0d4612ff0cb447fb827fa0ac6c309d3d&hash=34718653A215C315C5E3CB5BB6A4E550\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>180 people\u003c/u>\u003c/a> have died from fires in California, including the Camp and Palisades fires that wiped out parts of Butte and Los Angeles counties. So, Juarez said, if fires at that scale continue, more people might be pulled into investigating wildfire deaths – and she wants them to have a chance to learn before the next big wildfire occurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>New report shows gaps in eviction data reporting across the state\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates are criticizing the state’s tracking of evictions, saying California has failed to accurately count them for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://civilinjustice.net/report\">report by Strategic Actions for a Just Economy\u003c/a> covers data on eviction case outcomes in the state dating back to 2010. Its author, Kyle Nelson, said that while evictions are believed to drive homelessness in California, lawmakers are trying to prevent it without complete data. “This invites two questions: why are lawmakers crafting eviction prevention policies without fully understanding eviction data? And how do they know if these policy interventions are working?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, advocates are drumming up support for a bill that would more closely monitor eviction data. SB 1160 would require local courts to provide California’s Judicial Council with information on eviction filings, aggregated by zip code, and require the Council to make that data public. State Senator Maria Elena Durazo supports the legislation. “Essentially we’re navigating homelessness prevention without a map. So this bill shines light on the eviction process by using eviction data from the courts,” Durazo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>The report shows the counties with the most eviction filings report the least amount of data. It also shows multiple counties file more evictions now than they did prior to the pandemic.\u003c/div>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-04-30/humboldt-county-sheriff-oversight-committee\">\u003cstrong>Humboldt County takes first step toward sheriff oversight panel\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Humboldt County supervisors are considering creating a civilian oversight committee for the sheriff’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisors said they trust current Sheriff William Honsal but argued that now is the time to establish oversight, before any incident could undermine that trust. Supervisor Steve Madrone introduced the idea last month, saying some community members remain skeptical of the department because complaints are investigated internally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the avenue forward to improve that trust,” Madrone said. “I believe that as we improve that trust, it increases the number of people that want to become deputies. Because for them, morale goes up because they’re more trusted in the community by verifiable actions that involves people outside of law enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honsal pushed back, telling supervisors that existing oversight is sufficient. “Why fix something that’s not broken?” he said. “I’ve yet to hear why, other than you have a small group of people that want to see this because of a potential future incident.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An example ordinance would create a citizen-led committee to review complaints and make recommendations. The group would not have authority over daily operations or personnel decisions. Supervisors said they want to establish the committee themselves, rather than through a ballot measure.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-insurance-commissioner-candidates-debate-solutions-to-wildfire-driven-crisis",
"title": "California Insurance Commissioner Candidates Debate Solutions to Wildfire-Driven Crisis",
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"headTitle": "California Insurance Commissioner Candidates Debate Solutions to Wildfire-Driven Crisis | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Candidates vying for the position of state insurance commissioner in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/politics\">June primary election\u003c/a> met at a forum in downtown San Francisco on Thursday to make the case for why they’re right for the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The normally sleepy race is attracting a lot of attention as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfires\u003c/a> and inflation have caused a crisis in the state’s home insurance market — where coverage can be both difficult to obtain and costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s insurance commissioner has the primary job of setting the rules insurance companies need to follow in the state. It’s a role currently held by Ricardo Lara, who is termed out in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about what would be considered a benchmark for success, state Sen. Ben Allen said with a laugh, “One real benchmark would be that there would be less interest in the insurance commissioners’ position. Because it’s always been kind of under-the-radar. It’s become so high-profile because of all the problems that we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The future commissioner will need to balance requirements for insurance companies with being business-friendly enough that companies still want to sell policies in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000651\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000651\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steven Bradford (center), a former California state assemblymember and state senator, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They will also face widespread problems with the FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, and concerns about how to keep a healthy insurance market amid the acceleration of climate-fueled disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think everyone wants the insurance Commissioner’s position to go back to just doing work as opposed to this existential crisis that we’re in right now,” Allen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most candidates expressed similar aims, with varying plans for how to achieve them. Ideas ranged from creating a public disaster insurance program to securing more money to help neighborhoods harden homes against fires.[aside postID=news_12068943 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2000x1333.jpeg']Eight candidates will be on the ballot for the June primary, with the top two advancing to the November general election. Five of those were in attendance at the Thursday forum hosted by SPUR, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association — a nonprofit public policy organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allen represents portions of Los Angeles that were affected by last year’s fires. He spoke of bills he’d authored to improve consumer and environmental protections, including Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond passed in 2024 that provides money for climate resilience, including wildfire prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke of the need to focus on community-wide fire risk reduction and push insurance companies to better support customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steven Bradford, former State Assemblymember and Senator, highlighted the need to give the Department of Insurance more resources and more modern tools. He also spoke of wanting to have the department approve rate adjustments more quickly and for insurance companies to be more transparent in their rate-making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000652\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Merritt Farren, an attorney and tech executive, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Merritt Farren, a media and technology executive, lost his home in LA during the fires and was part of fighting State Farm’s recent rate hikes in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke of his experience working for Disney and Amazon, saying these companies could provide inspiration for simplifying the process of regulating and buying insurance and creating new tech jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also proposed a public reinsurance program, modeled after Florida’s catastrophe fund for hurricanes and the U.K.’s public–private reinsurance program for floods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jane Kim, a former San Francisco supervisor, perhaps had the most concrete suggestions for radical change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She proposed creating a single-payer public disaster insurance program run by the state, which would guarantee coverage and be modeled on programs in France, Spain and New Zealand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000653\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick Wolff, a financial analyst, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beyond home insurance, she suggested expanding the low-cost nonprofit auto insurance program created by the legislature in 1999 and guaranteeing healthcare for every child in California. “I think California can do it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick Wolff, a financial analyst, worked in the 2000s building an insurance brokerage for a bank, which, he said, gave him insights into how the industry operates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He suggested the FAIR Plan should have broader coverage and said the state was starting to make progress in allowing companies “to operate more economically and effectively, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Candidates vying for the position of state insurance commissioner in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/politics\">June primary election\u003c/a> met at a forum in downtown San Francisco on Thursday to make the case for why they’re right for the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The normally sleepy race is attracting a lot of attention as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfires\u003c/a> and inflation have caused a crisis in the state’s home insurance market — where coverage can be both difficult to obtain and costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s insurance commissioner has the primary job of setting the rules insurance companies need to follow in the state. It’s a role currently held by Ricardo Lara, who is termed out in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about what would be considered a benchmark for success, state Sen. Ben Allen said with a laugh, “One real benchmark would be that there would be less interest in the insurance commissioners’ position. Because it’s always been kind of under-the-radar. It’s become so high-profile because of all the problems that we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The future commissioner will need to balance requirements for insurance companies with being business-friendly enough that companies still want to sell policies in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000651\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000651\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-30-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steven Bradford (center), a former California state assemblymember and state senator, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They will also face widespread problems with the FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, and concerns about how to keep a healthy insurance market amid the acceleration of climate-fueled disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think everyone wants the insurance Commissioner’s position to go back to just doing work as opposed to this existential crisis that we’re in right now,” Allen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most candidates expressed similar aims, with varying plans for how to achieve them. Ideas ranged from creating a public disaster insurance program to securing more money to help neighborhoods harden homes against fires.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Eight candidates will be on the ballot for the June primary, with the top two advancing to the November general election. Five of those were in attendance at the Thursday forum hosted by SPUR, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association — a nonprofit public policy organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allen represents portions of Los Angeles that were affected by last year’s fires. He spoke of bills he’d authored to improve consumer and environmental protections, including Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond passed in 2024 that provides money for climate resilience, including wildfire prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke of the need to focus on community-wide fire risk reduction and push insurance companies to better support customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steven Bradford, former State Assemblymember and Senator, highlighted the need to give the Department of Insurance more resources and more modern tools. He also spoke of wanting to have the department approve rate adjustments more quickly and for insurance companies to be more transparent in their rate-making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000652\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-20-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Merritt Farren, an attorney and tech executive, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Merritt Farren, a media and technology executive, lost his home in LA during the fires and was part of fighting State Farm’s recent rate hikes in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke of his experience working for Disney and Amazon, saying these companies could provide inspiration for simplifying the process of regulating and buying insurance and creating new tech jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also proposed a public reinsurance program, modeled after Florida’s catastrophe fund for hurricanes and the U.K.’s public–private reinsurance program for floods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jane Kim, a former San Francisco supervisor, perhaps had the most concrete suggestions for radical change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She proposed creating a single-payer public disaster insurance program run by the state, which would guarantee coverage and be modeled on programs in France, Spain and New Zealand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000653\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick Wolff, a financial analyst, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beyond home insurance, she suggested expanding the low-cost nonprofit auto insurance program created by the legislature in 1999 and guaranteeing healthcare for every child in California. “I think California can do it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick Wolff, a financial analyst, worked in the 2000s building an insurance brokerage for a bank, which, he said, gave him insights into how the industry operates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He suggested the FAIR Plan should have broader coverage and said the state was starting to make progress in allowing companies “to operate more economically and effectively, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Yikes’: Bay Area Heat Lingers, Sierra Nevada Snowpack Melting Fast",
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"content": "\u003cp>Although March’s hottest days may be behind us, the unseasonable \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000348/heat-wave-will-blast-more-bay-area-temperature-records-friday\">heat\u003c/a> that baked California last week is set to continue, forecasters said Monday. While great for beach goers, the high temperatures threaten to melt the entirety of the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000372/snow-eater-heat-wave-behind-big-sierra-melt-is-a-look-at-our-climate-future\">dwindling snowpack\u003c/a> by the end of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>National Weather Service meteorologist Rachel Kennedy wrote in the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=mtr&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a> that while temperatures won’t be as warm as last week’s, they’ll still be about 10 to 15 degrees above normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across inland areas, high temperatures will reach the upper 70s to low 80s through Tuesday, with the 60s to 70s along the coastline. Karleisa Rogacheski, a lead meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office, said temperatures are expected to cool overnight, with morning lows in the upper 40s to mid-50s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the story: we are going to bebop around the 70s, it’s going to still be that summer-like pattern,” Rogacheski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, a weak cold front is likely to move into the region, dropping temperatures by up to 5 degrees. By Friday, temperatures will likely increase by up to 3 degrees into the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, the dropping temperatures could signal “some coastal drizzle,” especially across the North Bay, forecasters wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000249\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000249\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Sierra Nevada mountains as covered with snow near Lake Tahoe in California, on Jan. 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Temperatures in the Sierra Nevada around Lake Tahoe will be closer to the 60-degree mark, which is still about 10 to 20 degrees above average for this time of year, said Heather Richards, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Reno office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could see ourselves back up into the upper 60s for Tuesday,” Richards said, noting that the warm temperatures are causing “pretty rapid melting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the March heat wave in the state “probably was one of the most singularly extreme heat events in an anomalous sense that we’ve observed in North America in modern history,” during his Monday \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNA52Sriz8s\">office hours\u003c/a> on YouTube.[aside postID=science_2000372 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/01/Skier_Tahoe_OAP_1923-1440x1080.jpeg']Swain said he was worried that this week’s heat would drastically reduce the snowpack, which fell by 6% this weekend. As of Monday, the frozen reservoir sits \u003ca href=\"https://snow.water.ca.gov/\">at just 29% of normal\u003c/a> for April 1 — the northern part of the range is at just 11% of its average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yikes,” Swain said. “There will be no meaningful snowpack left in Northern California by April 1.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is some slight hope for small amounts of rain at the end of the month or in early April, but the extra heat will likely last through the end of March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Models are in agreement that rain will, in fact, return at the beginning of April,” Kennedy wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It`s better than nothing,” she said, “especially as the rainy season is winding down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s heat wave set all-time high March temperatures across the Bay Area — including 90 degrees in San Francisco on Friday, topping a 150-year-old record. Lake Tahoe also set a record for its hottest March day — at 76 degrees on March 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Although March’s hottest days may be behind us, the unseasonable \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000348/heat-wave-will-blast-more-bay-area-temperature-records-friday\">heat\u003c/a> that baked California last week is set to continue, forecasters said Monday. While great for beach goers, the high temperatures threaten to melt the entirety of the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000372/snow-eater-heat-wave-behind-big-sierra-melt-is-a-look-at-our-climate-future\">dwindling snowpack\u003c/a> by the end of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>National Weather Service meteorologist Rachel Kennedy wrote in the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=mtr&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a> that while temperatures won’t be as warm as last week’s, they’ll still be about 10 to 15 degrees above normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across inland areas, high temperatures will reach the upper 70s to low 80s through Tuesday, with the 60s to 70s along the coastline. Karleisa Rogacheski, a lead meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office, said temperatures are expected to cool overnight, with morning lows in the upper 40s to mid-50s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the story: we are going to bebop around the 70s, it’s going to still be that summer-like pattern,” Rogacheski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, a weak cold front is likely to move into the region, dropping temperatures by up to 5 degrees. By Friday, temperatures will likely increase by up to 3 degrees into the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, the dropping temperatures could signal “some coastal drizzle,” especially across the North Bay, forecasters wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000249\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000249\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/SierraNevadaGetty1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Sierra Nevada mountains as covered with snow near Lake Tahoe in California, on Jan. 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Temperatures in the Sierra Nevada around Lake Tahoe will be closer to the 60-degree mark, which is still about 10 to 20 degrees above average for this time of year, said Heather Richards, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Reno office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could see ourselves back up into the upper 60s for Tuesday,” Richards said, noting that the warm temperatures are causing “pretty rapid melting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the March heat wave in the state “probably was one of the most singularly extreme heat events in an anomalous sense that we’ve observed in North America in modern history,” during his Monday \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNA52Sriz8s\">office hours\u003c/a> on YouTube.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Swain said he was worried that this week’s heat would drastically reduce the snowpack, which fell by 6% this weekend. As of Monday, the frozen reservoir sits \u003ca href=\"https://snow.water.ca.gov/\">at just 29% of normal\u003c/a> for April 1 — the northern part of the range is at just 11% of its average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yikes,” Swain said. “There will be no meaningful snowpack left in Northern California by April 1.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is some slight hope for small amounts of rain at the end of the month or in early April, but the extra heat will likely last through the end of March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Models are in agreement that rain will, in fact, return at the beginning of April,” Kennedy wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It`s better than nothing,” she said, “especially as the rainy season is winding down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s heat wave set all-time high March temperatures across the Bay Area — including 90 degrees in San Francisco on Friday, topping a 150-year-old record. Lake Tahoe also set a record for its hottest March day — at 76 degrees on March 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Beyond the destruction of homes and loss of lives, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/eaton-fire\">Eaton Fire\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071233/a-year-after-the-la-fires-a-journalist-looks-back-on-the-stories-from-his-neighborhood\">ravaged Los Angeles\u003c/a> in the beginning of 2025 was merciless when it came to Altadena’s celebrated green spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than one year later, local advocates are scrambling to save the trees and plants that are still standing and restore what was lost.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altadena only has three public parks. The smallest, the Altadena Triangle Park, sits in the heart of the burn zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before it burned down, Amigos de los Rios, a nonprofit dedicated to creating and preserving Altadena’s green space, used to stand across the street — along with a gas station, a church, and the town’s fabled Bunny Museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Triangle Park survived, thanks in part to an oasis of lush, shady, native plant and tree life planted by Amigos de los Rios about seven years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Altadena is so beautiful, like the biodiversity is off the charts,” said Claire Robinson, the nonprofit’s founder and managing director. “It had 49% tree canopy in certain areas, which is off the charts for Los Angeles County.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074611\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074611\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Cal State Northridge’s Urban Forestry program, and local volunteers, are gathering regularly in Altadena to hold tree giveaways and develop smarter replanting strategies with an emphasis on native species. CSUN recently partnered with the L.A. Conservation Corps to expand its efforts. \u003ccite>(Steven Cuevas/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some Altadena neighborhoods had such thick canopies of trees that it made streets feel as if you were cocooned in a forest community, not in a community just 14 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Robinson said the fire changed all of that, consuming more than two-thirds of Altadena’s tree life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So now, we’re down 30% of what we had, and it’s become fever-pitch important,” Robinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need the trees for the heat protection, we need the trees for the protection they provided for the fire, we need them for the sense of history and place. I’m determined that we save every last tree we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire also destroyed Robinson’s home, just a short walk from the park. But none of that has slowed the group’s efforts on the ground. In recent months, Amigos de los Rios has adopted and is actively rehabilitating over 3,500 damaged trees across some four hundred Altadena properties. Plenty of other local advocates are also fighting to preserve surviving trees and restore those lost in the fire. In times like these, dependable services such as \u003ca href=\"https://fastfirewatchguards.com/oklahoma/tulsa/\">Tulsa Fire Watch Guards\u003c/a> help reinforce safety and vigilance while communities rebuild and recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One mile north of Triangle Park, where the concrete gives way to the steep foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Wynne Wilson surveyed the rugged mix of urban and national forest land.[aside postID=news_12071233 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-003-JB.jpg']“We are literally right at the toe of the mountains, we have bear[s], we have wildlife coming through here,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handsome adobe home she shared with her husband for 30 years used to sit at the back of a roughly half-acre parcel filled with native trees and foliage, much of which withstood the flames. The house, however, did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson has welcomed thousands of people to the property over the years. Some people come to learn about native plants, or to pick up new gardening strategies. Others simply enjoy the property’s serene, park-like setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the fire, Wilson co-founded a nonprofit called Altadena Green and organized an intervention aimed at stopping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from removing native trees that were considered “in the way” – or misidentified as dead or dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We went to meetings at 6:30 in the morning,” Wilson said. “They made it really challenging for us to intervene. But we didn’t stop, and then ultimately we created a following where hundreds of people were ready to march.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids were going to draw [pictures of] their trees and march with posters of their trees,” she said. “I told [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] that this is where we’re at, so what are we going to do? How are we going to slow down the destruction of the tree canopy that is left?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort worked, saving scores of trees which are now being rehydrated and rehabilitated so they can return to their full, pre-fire health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s not just us,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s multiple groups working on this, so I really see positive change for the future. I’d like to also establish a protected tree list for Altadena. Pasadena has an extensive protected tree list; we only have the oak trees protected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wynne Wilson of Altadena Green in her expansive garden, scorched by the fire but left largely intact. Her home of 30 years, however, was not so lucky. \u003ccite>(Steven Cuevas/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, there’s a new fight brewing, one with SoCal Edison. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, sparking from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054879/federal-government-sues-california-utility-alleging-equipment-sparked-deadly-wildfires\">the company’s equipment\u003c/a> allegedly ignited the Eaton Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The energy company plans to bury power lines to prevent future fires, but Wilson said the first leg of that work could damage the root systems of scores of Deodar cedars and other trees, some of which were compromised by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of us up here love the community, we love nature, we love our trees. We are warriors for the trees,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal State Northridge sustainability professor Crist Khachikian leads regular student field trips into the burn zone to learn about restoring lost trees and creating defensible spaces around homes. His department partnered with advocacy group Altadena Wild and other local environmental nonprofits to come up with an ambitious tree planting campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For example, the L.A. Conservation Corps. We reached out to them and said, ‘We have this project, would you be able to help us plant?’ And [they] said, ‘Absolutely,” Khachikian said.[aside postID=news_12038756 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg']“So, it’s all about partnerships and creating this ecosystem of people who are willing to help, and it galvanized after the fire, and now it’s taken off into a program that is interesting to lots of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late last year, Cal State Northridge held its first tree giveaway program in Altadena, distributing dozens of saplings to locals ready to plant. Later this spring, forestry students will conduct an updated field assessment of Altadena’s tree canopy while continuing to sponsor more tree giveaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also hyper-local, DIY efforts to “regreen” Altadena, plant by plant and seed by seed. After the Eaton Fire tore through Laurie Scott’s West Altadena neighborhood, taking the backyard garden she’d cultivated for years with it, she got the idea for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/regrow_altadena/\">Regrow Altadena\u003c/a>, a free plant and seed giveaway program that she operates from her front yard in West Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to fix everything, I wanted everything to be fixed. I wanted to make it all to be better, and I knew that I couldn’t,” Scott explained while standing alongside the large plant stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But I thought that maybe I could make one thing better for some people, so I started picking up bits of succulents that I found and propagating everything that I can get my hands on,” Scott said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been so hard for all of us. We all need home. We need comfort. And I’ve heard from a few folks that [a plant] really did make just all the difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Beyond the destruction of homes and loss of lives, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/eaton-fire\">Eaton Fire\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071233/a-year-after-the-la-fires-a-journalist-looks-back-on-the-stories-from-his-neighborhood\">ravaged Los Angeles\u003c/a> in the beginning of 2025 was merciless when it came to Altadena’s celebrated green spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than one year later, local advocates are scrambling to save the trees and plants that are still standing and restore what was lost.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altadena only has three public parks. The smallest, the Altadena Triangle Park, sits in the heart of the burn zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before it burned down, Amigos de los Rios, a nonprofit dedicated to creating and preserving Altadena’s green space, used to stand across the street — along with a gas station, a church, and the town’s fabled Bunny Museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Triangle Park survived, thanks in part to an oasis of lush, shady, native plant and tree life planted by Amigos de los Rios about seven years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Altadena is so beautiful, like the biodiversity is off the charts,” said Claire Robinson, the nonprofit’s founder and managing director. “It had 49% tree canopy in certain areas, which is off the charts for Los Angeles County.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074611\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074611\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Cal State Northridge’s Urban Forestry program, and local volunteers, are gathering regularly in Altadena to hold tree giveaways and develop smarter replanting strategies with an emphasis on native species. CSUN recently partnered with the L.A. Conservation Corps to expand its efforts. \u003ccite>(Steven Cuevas/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some Altadena neighborhoods had such thick canopies of trees that it made streets feel as if you were cocooned in a forest community, not in a community just 14 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Robinson said the fire changed all of that, consuming more than two-thirds of Altadena’s tree life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So now, we’re down 30% of what we had, and it’s become fever-pitch important,” Robinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need the trees for the heat protection, we need the trees for the protection they provided for the fire, we need them for the sense of history and place. I’m determined that we save every last tree we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire also destroyed Robinson’s home, just a short walk from the park. But none of that has slowed the group’s efforts on the ground. In recent months, Amigos de los Rios has adopted and is actively rehabilitating over 3,500 damaged trees across some four hundred Altadena properties. Plenty of other local advocates are also fighting to preserve surviving trees and restore those lost in the fire. In times like these, dependable services such as \u003ca href=\"https://fastfirewatchguards.com/oklahoma/tulsa/\">Tulsa Fire Watch Guards\u003c/a> help reinforce safety and vigilance while communities rebuild and recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One mile north of Triangle Park, where the concrete gives way to the steep foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Wynne Wilson surveyed the rugged mix of urban and national forest land.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We are literally right at the toe of the mountains, we have bear[s], we have wildlife coming through here,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handsome adobe home she shared with her husband for 30 years used to sit at the back of a roughly half-acre parcel filled with native trees and foliage, much of which withstood the flames. The house, however, did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson has welcomed thousands of people to the property over the years. Some people come to learn about native plants, or to pick up new gardening strategies. Others simply enjoy the property’s serene, park-like setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the fire, Wilson co-founded a nonprofit called Altadena Green and organized an intervention aimed at stopping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from removing native trees that were considered “in the way” – or misidentified as dead or dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We went to meetings at 6:30 in the morning,” Wilson said. “They made it really challenging for us to intervene. But we didn’t stop, and then ultimately we created a following where hundreds of people were ready to march.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids were going to draw [pictures of] their trees and march with posters of their trees,” she said. “I told [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] that this is where we’re at, so what are we going to do? How are we going to slow down the destruction of the tree canopy that is left?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort worked, saving scores of trees which are now being rehydrated and rehabilitated so they can return to their full, pre-fire health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s not just us,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s multiple groups working on this, so I really see positive change for the future. I’d like to also establish a protected tree list for Altadena. Pasadena has an extensive protected tree list; we only have the oak trees protected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250225-REGREENING-ALTADENA-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wynne Wilson of Altadena Green in her expansive garden, scorched by the fire but left largely intact. Her home of 30 years, however, was not so lucky. \u003ccite>(Steven Cuevas/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, there’s a new fight brewing, one with SoCal Edison. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, sparking from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054879/federal-government-sues-california-utility-alleging-equipment-sparked-deadly-wildfires\">the company’s equipment\u003c/a> allegedly ignited the Eaton Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The energy company plans to bury power lines to prevent future fires, but Wilson said the first leg of that work could damage the root systems of scores of Deodar cedars and other trees, some of which were compromised by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of us up here love the community, we love nature, we love our trees. We are warriors for the trees,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal State Northridge sustainability professor Crist Khachikian leads regular student field trips into the burn zone to learn about restoring lost trees and creating defensible spaces around homes. His department partnered with advocacy group Altadena Wild and other local environmental nonprofits to come up with an ambitious tree planting campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For example, the L.A. Conservation Corps. We reached out to them and said, ‘We have this project, would you be able to help us plant?’ And [they] said, ‘Absolutely,” Khachikian said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“So, it’s all about partnerships and creating this ecosystem of people who are willing to help, and it galvanized after the fire, and now it’s taken off into a program that is interesting to lots of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late last year, Cal State Northridge held its first tree giveaway program in Altadena, distributing dozens of saplings to locals ready to plant. Later this spring, forestry students will conduct an updated field assessment of Altadena’s tree canopy while continuing to sponsor more tree giveaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also hyper-local, DIY efforts to “regreen” Altadena, plant by plant and seed by seed. After the Eaton Fire tore through Laurie Scott’s West Altadena neighborhood, taking the backyard garden she’d cultivated for years with it, she got the idea for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/regrow_altadena/\">Regrow Altadena\u003c/a>, a free plant and seed giveaway program that she operates from her front yard in West Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to fix everything, I wanted everything to be fixed. I wanted to make it all to be better, and I knew that I couldn’t,” Scott explained while standing alongside the large plant stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But I thought that maybe I could make one thing better for some people, so I started picking up bits of succulents that I found and propagating everything that I can get my hands on,” Scott said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been so hard for all of us. We all need home. We need comfort. And I’ve heard from a few folks that [a plant] really did make just all the difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, February 12, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amongst the ponderosa pines in California’s Butte County, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999301/maidu-tribes-reignite-ancestral-fire-stewardship-in-the-sierra-foothills\">Native Maidu people are lighting fires\u003c/a> to encourage the re-growth of useful plants and reduce the risk from future wildfires. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A new bill introduced in the state assembly this week could make it easier to secure long-term funding for a program that lets people check out state parks passes from their local library,\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999301/maidu-tribes-reignite-ancestral-fire-stewardship-in-the-sierra-foothills\">\u003cstrong>Maidu Tribes Reignite Ancestral Fire Stewardship in the Sierra Foothills\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Magan Herrera stood in the middle of a sloping meadow this past fall, wearing a hard hat, sturdy boots, and a yellow fire-resistant jacket framing her pregnant belly. The meadow, in the midst of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sierra-nevada\">Sierra\u003c/a> foothills, may once have been a Maidu basket weaver’s garden. Deer grass juts from the ground in bunches — good habitat for grazing animals and material for the tribe’s baskets. The meadow also holds yerba santa, an evergreen shrub used to treat colds, and manzanita, with its brilliant green leaves identical on both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For thousands of years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973196/the-karuk-used-fire-to-manage-the-forest-for-centuries-now-they-want-to-do-that-again\">native people used fire\u003c/a> to tend this land in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11933052/the-burn-scars-of-the-sierra-foothills-tell-a-story-and-offer-lessons\">Sierra foothills\u003c/a>, in what is now known as Butte County, spurring growth of the plants they wanted, knocking back the ones they didn’t and constraining the lightning-ignited wildfires that burned the area every few years. Then came Western settlement, firefighters suppressing the flames, and conifers tangling thickly together. Eventually, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11887158/in-california-restoring-our-relationship-with-fire-is-possible\">conditions grew ripe\u003c/a> for the ferocious, wind-driven flames of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1998245/the-summer-that-changed-california-forever\">North Complex Fire and Bear Fire\u003c/a>, which consumed nearly everything along nearby Berry Creek and killed 11 people in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Herrera, who is part of the Maidu tribe, surveyed the meadow, she saw the promise of a place her people could, once again, rely on for generations to come. “My hope is for our people to use this land so that everybody will have everything that they need,” she said. To steward the land, she was helping to lead a planned burn. Maidu people from five local tribal groups participated: Berry Creek Rancheria, Mechoopa, Mooretown, Enterprise and Konkow Valley. It’s the first time in living memory that they’ve come together to burn, Herrera said. The loss of indigenous fire stewardship and the corresponding Western settler obsession with suppressing all fire have fueled our current era of devastating megafires. Returning fire stewardship to indigenous communities helps restore the land and people’s souls. This is the spirit embodied in the November meadow burn. The land will be safer from future wildfires and tended according to the traditions of the Maidu ancestors who lived here for generations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire, in this region of Northern California between Interstate 5 and the Sierra Nevada, is a defining problem of life. For native people like the Maidu, it is also a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The burn was formally a training, with the goal of enabling the Berry Creek Maidu to reestablish their traditional relationship with fire. But it was more than that. Jedediah Brown, the tribe’s historic preservation officer, described it as “a homecoming, a return of fire to the land and the people. […] Through the continuation of this work, the relationship between fire, people, and place is renewed in the way our ancestors intended.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Bill Introduced to Secure Funding for Popular Library Park Pass Program\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A new bill introduced in the state assembly this week could make it easier to secure long-term funding for \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/30806\">the program\u003c/a> that lets people check out state parks passes from their local library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calparks.org/press/new-bill-would-help-ensure-future-popular-california-state-parks-pass-program\">Introduced by Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara),\u003c/a> AB 1804 would authorize the California Department of Parks and Recreation to work with the California State Library and individual library systems to provide these park passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Norton, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation, said the program has been without a permanent source of funding since its start in 2021. “The program could still get cut back in lean years,” she said. “This isn’t a total fix, but what it does is it sort of codifies the program as this is something that state parks does on a regular basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last two budget cycles, the program came very close to losing funding. Norton said that’s because it relies on general fund dollars, which tend to be the first to get cut in a tough budget year.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, February 12, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amongst the ponderosa pines in California’s Butte County, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999301/maidu-tribes-reignite-ancestral-fire-stewardship-in-the-sierra-foothills\">Native Maidu people are lighting fires\u003c/a> to encourage the re-growth of useful plants and reduce the risk from future wildfires. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A new bill introduced in the state assembly this week could make it easier to secure long-term funding for a program that lets people check out state parks passes from their local library,\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999301/maidu-tribes-reignite-ancestral-fire-stewardship-in-the-sierra-foothills\">\u003cstrong>Maidu Tribes Reignite Ancestral Fire Stewardship in the Sierra Foothills\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Magan Herrera stood in the middle of a sloping meadow this past fall, wearing a hard hat, sturdy boots, and a yellow fire-resistant jacket framing her pregnant belly. The meadow, in the midst of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sierra-nevada\">Sierra\u003c/a> foothills, may once have been a Maidu basket weaver’s garden. Deer grass juts from the ground in bunches — good habitat for grazing animals and material for the tribe’s baskets. The meadow also holds yerba santa, an evergreen shrub used to treat colds, and manzanita, with its brilliant green leaves identical on both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For thousands of years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973196/the-karuk-used-fire-to-manage-the-forest-for-centuries-now-they-want-to-do-that-again\">native people used fire\u003c/a> to tend this land in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11933052/the-burn-scars-of-the-sierra-foothills-tell-a-story-and-offer-lessons\">Sierra foothills\u003c/a>, in what is now known as Butte County, spurring growth of the plants they wanted, knocking back the ones they didn’t and constraining the lightning-ignited wildfires that burned the area every few years. Then came Western settlement, firefighters suppressing the flames, and conifers tangling thickly together. Eventually, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11887158/in-california-restoring-our-relationship-with-fire-is-possible\">conditions grew ripe\u003c/a> for the ferocious, wind-driven flames of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1998245/the-summer-that-changed-california-forever\">North Complex Fire and Bear Fire\u003c/a>, which consumed nearly everything along nearby Berry Creek and killed 11 people in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Herrera, who is part of the Maidu tribe, surveyed the meadow, she saw the promise of a place her people could, once again, rely on for generations to come. “My hope is for our people to use this land so that everybody will have everything that they need,” she said. To steward the land, she was helping to lead a planned burn. Maidu people from five local tribal groups participated: Berry Creek Rancheria, Mechoopa, Mooretown, Enterprise and Konkow Valley. It’s the first time in living memory that they’ve come together to burn, Herrera said. The loss of indigenous fire stewardship and the corresponding Western settler obsession with suppressing all fire have fueled our current era of devastating megafires. Returning fire stewardship to indigenous communities helps restore the land and people’s souls. This is the spirit embodied in the November meadow burn. The land will be safer from future wildfires and tended according to the traditions of the Maidu ancestors who lived here for generations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire, in this region of Northern California between Interstate 5 and the Sierra Nevada, is a defining problem of life. For native people like the Maidu, it is also a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The burn was formally a training, with the goal of enabling the Berry Creek Maidu to reestablish their traditional relationship with fire. But it was more than that. Jedediah Brown, the tribe’s historic preservation officer, described it as “a homecoming, a return of fire to the land and the people. […] Through the continuation of this work, the relationship between fire, people, and place is renewed in the way our ancestors intended.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Bill Introduced to Secure Funding for Popular Library Park Pass Program\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A new bill introduced in the state assembly this week could make it easier to secure long-term funding for \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/30806\">the program\u003c/a> that lets people check out state parks passes from their local library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calparks.org/press/new-bill-would-help-ensure-future-popular-california-state-parks-pass-program\">Introduced by Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara),\u003c/a> AB 1804 would authorize the California Department of Parks and Recreation to work with the California State Library and individual library systems to provide these park passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Norton, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation, said the program has been without a permanent source of funding since its start in 2021. “The program could still get cut back in lean years,” she said. “This isn’t a total fix, but what it does is it sort of codifies the program as this is something that state parks does on a regular basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last two budget cycles, the program came very close to losing funding. Norton said that’s because it relies on general fund dollars, which tend to be the first to get cut in a tough budget year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>My biggest concern on the morning of Jan. 7, 2025, was the wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weather warnings said the Santa Anas would roll in hard with hurricane force velocity. Before sunset, mean wind gusts were already rattling windows and knocking over lawn furniture. Tree branches groaned and palm trees bowed toward the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We followed reports of a fire getting bigger out by the ocean, in the wealthy enclave of Pacific Palisades. Then, around 6:30 p.m., word got out of a brush fire igniting in Eaton Canyon, a few miles from my neighborhood on the southern edge of Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 7 p.m., people were voluntarily evacuating parts of east Altadena and north Pasadena, right below the canyon, as the wind-driven fire exploded and began its destructive western march, eventually tearing a six-mile path across the whole of Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I headed out into the windstorm on foot, around 8:30 p.m. After two decades as a reporter in Southern California, I’ve seen how the Santa Anas can turn a modest brush fire into a virtually unstoppable destructive force that will erase neighborhoods. But this one felt different. There was a fury in the wind that I’d never experienced. And this was my own community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not even knowing what I’d do with the material, I started walking east, recording and narrating what I saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/KdII2e2Nw7s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake Avenue cuts through the middle of Altadena, cleaving it into two distinct halves. I could see a fiery glow to the northeast. Embers were starting to blow down like burning snowflakes. I picked up the unmistakable smell of burning structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I crept out a few more times, snapping pictures and shooting video, trying to stay upright. The wind only seemed to grow angrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 2:30 a.m., I went out once last time. The windstorm of embers was bigger, and hotter, the fire obviously closer. A small fire crew from the city of Alhambra was just around the corner at the intersection of El Molino Avenue and Highland Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two firefighters had pulled out a manhole cover and were somehow drawing water from the sewer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Get the f–k out of here, now!” one of the firefighters yelled through the howling winds. Houses just two blocks southeast were fully engulfed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I packed a few things and evacuated to the parking lot of a nearby grocery store, but returned on foot at sunrise. By then the winds had calmed, but the sky above West Altadena was black as ink, the sunrise extinguished.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The stay-behinds\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033286/in-fire-scarred-altadena-these-residents-refused-to-leave\">first people I interviewed\u003c/a> after the fire was Justin Murphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and his brother evacuated their 94-year-old mom, Jane, from her home in East Altadena. Then they raced back up to the house to meet the fire head-on as it tore through the neighborhood. They saved Jane’s house and one across the street. Every other house on the cul-de-sac was destroyed.[aside postID=news_12033286 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250312_Stay-Behinds_JB_00010-1020x680.jpg']Murphy chose to stay behind after the fire, to mop up hot spots and protect the house from looters. Everyone else in the neighborhood was gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, I lived through the fire, and I lived after the fire, and I lived kind of as an outcast really,” Murphy told me, still a bit rattled by his experience. “But in a weird way, it made me look at myself and do some self-review.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past year, I’ve kept walking Altadena, trying to make sense of what happened with as many people who would talk to me, including Eshele Williams. Her family has lived in the same West Altadena neighborhood for 60 years. They lost four houses, all within a block or two of each other. I asked Williams why she and her family have been so willing to tell their story and speak out at local town hall events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve grown up in this community and the only thing that I can do is shine a really bright light on it, on us, and who we have always been and potentially talk about where we should go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Loss and resurrection\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Eaton Fire not only brought flames of destructive fury, it created a demographic earthquake that will shake-up Altadena’s racial and class complexion for the foreseeable future. But that’s something Williams saw coming long before the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Altadena has been in transition for a long time, when I grew up here all of my neighbors were Black,” Williams said. “And that has changed over the years, this gentrification of Altadena.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1170px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071474\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"831\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368.jpg 1170w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368-160x114.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From top left: Steven Cuevas, artist Alma Cielo, photographer James Bernal and journalist Sasha Khokha pose for a selfie on Dec. 28, 2025 at the site of Cielo’s former home and studio, which were completely destroyed in West Altadena during the Eaton fire. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alma Cielo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, I invited my old friend and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/program/the-california-report-magazine\">The California Report Magazine\u003c/a> host Sasha Khokha to come down from Northern California and see Altadena in the slow process of recovery. I wanted to introduce her to some of the people that I’ve featured in my stories over the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khokha arrived on a bright Sunday morning, so naturally, I took her to church. Since the fire, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has been worshipping in the nearby East LA neighborhood of Eagle Rock after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038756/an-historic-altadena-church-lost-to-the-eaton-fire-begins-the-long-journey-to-resurrection\">its entire campus in the heart of Altadena\u003c/a> burned down. After the service, senior Pastor Carri Grindon told us that even though this temporary space is a 20-minute drive from Altadena, they haven’t lost any parishioners. In fact, they’ve gained new ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People need the community more than they’ve ever needed it before. They need that sense of, we’ve lost so much, but we have each other and we’re not going anywhere,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would compare it to when you’ve had a death in your family. There’s grief, but also there’s tasks. And now people are, at least in my experience, sharing, expressing and processing their grief,” Grindon continued.[aside postID=news_12038756 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg']I’ve talked a lot about grief and trauma over the past year with 94-year-old Jane Murphy. She’s been a mental health therapist for decades and still sees clients every week. Her expansive home, saved from the fire by her sons, is filled with light that floods in from large windows throughout the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love this house. I’ve lived here 64 years,” Murphy told us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Murphy walked us through her later years with grace, irrepressible wonder and with absolute appreciation for whatever or whomever is in front of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s also very funny. Like her answer when I asked her how she’s doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Well, I’ve been medium rare,” she said. Now, medium rare for me, is the comedy and the tragedy. Because I walk through all this tragedy every day,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is literally true. An avid hiker for most of her life, Murphy still gets out and walks a couple of miles every day through her neighborhood, now peppered with vacant lots, reminders of lost homes and neighbors. And she says a blessing in her head as she passes each one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068927\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jane Murphy, photographed at her home in Altadena, California, on Dec. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(James Bernal/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“What I have done is I’ve blessed all these lots, blessed the people. I am deeply grateful more people did not die, but I’m very sad for the people in West Altadena who did die,” Murphy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All but one of the nineteen people who lost their lives in the fire lived in West Altadena. Murphy and I may not have known them personally, but we all shared space together in our community, drove the same streets, hiked the same foothill trails, bought groceries or had our cars repaired at the same places. The connection is undeniable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like me and many others, Murphy worries about what comes next for Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hopeful that Altadena will resurrect,” she said. “My fear is that some builders will come in and want to build condos on lots and change the character,” she says, echoing the sentiments of Williams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As rebuilding slowly lurches to a start, outsiders are indeed swooping in and scooping up properties that belonged to Altadena families for decades. Real estate listing firms like Redfin find that roughly half of all vacant lots sold in Altadena since the fire were snapped up by corporate investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire dealt a huge blow not only to homeowners but to renters as well. Scores of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050296/for-altadenas-therapists-trauma-and-healing-from-wildfire-ripple-outwards\">Altadena renters, like Melissa Lopez\u003c/a>, had to scramble to find new places outside Altadena and typically at inflated prices. Standing on the vacant lot where her home once stood on Lake Avenue, Lopez told Khokha and me that coming back to the property is like visiting a grave site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068936\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1418\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB-1536x1089.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Melissa Lopez photographed a year after her home in Altadena, California was destroyed by the Eaton fire. Right: Melissa Lopez shows the Altadena tattoo she got after the fires. Photographed in Altadena, CA, on Dec. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(James Bernal/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I know some people are like, ‘I can never go back to Altadena.’ And I always tell folks, I totally respect that, but you can’t avoid grief. It’ll find you, trust me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[But] I find a certain level of comfort when I come, because in many ways, there’s still some foundations, there’s still some rubble, empty lots. It’s the one place where the outsides match my insides.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living now about fifteen miles outside of Altadena, Melissa said renters like her have been largely left out of the re-building process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like we need a survey of — who commits to renting to fire survivors? Who’s committing to rent at reasonable prices?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were starting to really gentrify Altadena even before the fire,” she continued. “There are people saying, yeah, we want renters back. But I haven’t really seen that at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The fire followers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scores of other fire survivors are digging in and taking steps to rebuild. Fresh roots are sinking into the soil that’s come in after the soil that burned. Scorched trees are being rehabilitated, new saplings are being sunk into the earth. Freshly cut wood slats are sinking into freshly poured foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before anyone was drawing up blueprints for a rebuild, others, like Alma Cielo and her husband Paul, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12060753/a-look-at-prop-50-meet-the-duduk-whisperer-altadena-homeowners-resettling-in-rvs\">returned with trailers and RVs\u003c/a> to homestead on their scorched lots.[aside postID=news_12050296 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/2-Gabby-Raices-2000x1500.jpg']They’re going to rebuild their place too, in West Altadena, but they’re not quite ready just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to stand here and feel the land healing, and then we’ll be able to know where to go from there,” Alma Cielo said, standing near a cluster of blooming morning glories and next to a fig tree that’s leafing out again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling very grateful, actually, and at peace,” she added. The fire took away a lot of the things that I had been carrying that were simply weight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cielo lost about thirty years of journals that were destroyed in the fire, notes she thought would be the foundation of a memoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if I go through those books, you just see a lot of the same cycles of ignorance and trauma. And I really had wanted to burn them years ago, but I didn’t know how I could do that safely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe that’s how she starts the new book, I suggested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes,” she continued, “about how it was time to write a whole new story without having to constantly reference the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I told Cielo about feeling something similar, about how the fire drew me back to journalism after I’d felt burnt out from covering news for 25 years. The fire gave me a renewed purpose. Maybe I could help my community a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068917\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068917\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alma Cielo stands for a photograph with a Bodhi tree that survived the fire and is now growing back in the spot where her house once stood. Photographed in Altadena, CA, on Dec. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(James Bernal/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The fire also deepened my love and appreciation for a place I already held sacred, and helped me connect with my neighbors in a whole new way — by telling their stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s so much possibility now, there’s so much beauty, there is so much growth,” Cielo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cielo mentioned the concept of “fire followers,” — the trees and the plants that thrive after a fire, that need the smoke and ash in the soil to get that spark to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She, too, is a fire follower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to be better after this fire than I ever was before,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>My biggest concern on the morning of Jan. 7, 2025, was the wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weather warnings said the Santa Anas would roll in hard with hurricane force velocity. Before sunset, mean wind gusts were already rattling windows and knocking over lawn furniture. Tree branches groaned and palm trees bowed toward the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We followed reports of a fire getting bigger out by the ocean, in the wealthy enclave of Pacific Palisades. Then, around 6:30 p.m., word got out of a brush fire igniting in Eaton Canyon, a few miles from my neighborhood on the southern edge of Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 7 p.m., people were voluntarily evacuating parts of east Altadena and north Pasadena, right below the canyon, as the wind-driven fire exploded and began its destructive western march, eventually tearing a six-mile path across the whole of Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I headed out into the windstorm on foot, around 8:30 p.m. After two decades as a reporter in Southern California, I’ve seen how the Santa Anas can turn a modest brush fire into a virtually unstoppable destructive force that will erase neighborhoods. But this one felt different. There was a fury in the wind that I’d never experienced. And this was my own community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not even knowing what I’d do with the material, I started walking east, recording and narrating what I saw.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/KdII2e2Nw7s'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/KdII2e2Nw7s'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Lake Avenue cuts through the middle of Altadena, cleaving it into two distinct halves. I could see a fiery glow to the northeast. Embers were starting to blow down like burning snowflakes. I picked up the unmistakable smell of burning structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I crept out a few more times, snapping pictures and shooting video, trying to stay upright. The wind only seemed to grow angrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 2:30 a.m., I went out once last time. The windstorm of embers was bigger, and hotter, the fire obviously closer. A small fire crew from the city of Alhambra was just around the corner at the intersection of El Molino Avenue and Highland Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two firefighters had pulled out a manhole cover and were somehow drawing water from the sewer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Get the f–k out of here, now!” one of the firefighters yelled through the howling winds. Houses just two blocks southeast were fully engulfed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I packed a few things and evacuated to the parking lot of a nearby grocery store, but returned on foot at sunrise. By then the winds had calmed, but the sky above West Altadena was black as ink, the sunrise extinguished.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The stay-behinds\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033286/in-fire-scarred-altadena-these-residents-refused-to-leave\">first people I interviewed\u003c/a> after the fire was Justin Murphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and his brother evacuated their 94-year-old mom, Jane, from her home in East Altadena. Then they raced back up to the house to meet the fire head-on as it tore through the neighborhood. They saved Jane’s house and one across the street. Every other house on the cul-de-sac was destroyed.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Murphy chose to stay behind after the fire, to mop up hot spots and protect the house from looters. Everyone else in the neighborhood was gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, I lived through the fire, and I lived after the fire, and I lived kind of as an outcast really,” Murphy told me, still a bit rattled by his experience. “But in a weird way, it made me look at myself and do some self-review.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past year, I’ve kept walking Altadena, trying to make sense of what happened with as many people who would talk to me, including Eshele Williams. Her family has lived in the same West Altadena neighborhood for 60 years. They lost four houses, all within a block or two of each other. I asked Williams why she and her family have been so willing to tell their story and speak out at local town hall events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve grown up in this community and the only thing that I can do is shine a really bright light on it, on us, and who we have always been and potentially talk about where we should go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Loss and resurrection\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Eaton Fire not only brought flames of destructive fury, it created a demographic earthquake that will shake-up Altadena’s racial and class complexion for the foreseeable future. But that’s something Williams saw coming long before the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Altadena has been in transition for a long time, when I grew up here all of my neighbors were Black,” Williams said. “And that has changed over the years, this gentrification of Altadena.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1170px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071474\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"831\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368.jpg 1170w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_3368-160x114.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From top left: Steven Cuevas, artist Alma Cielo, photographer James Bernal and journalist Sasha Khokha pose for a selfie on Dec. 28, 2025 at the site of Cielo’s former home and studio, which were completely destroyed in West Altadena during the Eaton fire. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alma Cielo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, I invited my old friend and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/program/the-california-report-magazine\">The California Report Magazine\u003c/a> host Sasha Khokha to come down from Northern California and see Altadena in the slow process of recovery. I wanted to introduce her to some of the people that I’ve featured in my stories over the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khokha arrived on a bright Sunday morning, so naturally, I took her to church. Since the fire, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has been worshipping in the nearby East LA neighborhood of Eagle Rock after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038756/an-historic-altadena-church-lost-to-the-eaton-fire-begins-the-long-journey-to-resurrection\">its entire campus in the heart of Altadena\u003c/a> burned down. After the service, senior Pastor Carri Grindon told us that even though this temporary space is a 20-minute drive from Altadena, they haven’t lost any parishioners. In fact, they’ve gained new ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People need the community more than they’ve ever needed it before. They need that sense of, we’ve lost so much, but we have each other and we’re not going anywhere,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would compare it to when you’ve had a death in your family. There’s grief, but also there’s tasks. And now people are, at least in my experience, sharing, expressing and processing their grief,” Grindon continued.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I’ve talked a lot about grief and trauma over the past year with 94-year-old Jane Murphy. She’s been a mental health therapist for decades and still sees clients every week. Her expansive home, saved from the fire by her sons, is filled with light that floods in from large windows throughout the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love this house. I’ve lived here 64 years,” Murphy told us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Murphy walked us through her later years with grace, irrepressible wonder and with absolute appreciation for whatever or whomever is in front of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s also very funny. Like her answer when I asked her how she’s doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Well, I’ve been medium rare,” she said. Now, medium rare for me, is the comedy and the tragedy. Because I walk through all this tragedy every day,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is literally true. An avid hiker for most of her life, Murphy still gets out and walks a couple of miles every day through her neighborhood, now peppered with vacant lots, reminders of lost homes and neighbors. And she says a blessing in her head as she passes each one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068927\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-002-JB-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jane Murphy, photographed at her home in Altadena, California, on Dec. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(James Bernal/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“What I have done is I’ve blessed all these lots, blessed the people. I am deeply grateful more people did not die, but I’m very sad for the people in West Altadena who did die,” Murphy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All but one of the nineteen people who lost their lives in the fire lived in West Altadena. Murphy and I may not have known them personally, but we all shared space together in our community, drove the same streets, hiked the same foothill trails, bought groceries or had our cars repaired at the same places. The connection is undeniable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like me and many others, Murphy worries about what comes next for Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hopeful that Altadena will resurrect,” she said. “My fear is that some builders will come in and want to build condos on lots and change the character,” she says, echoing the sentiments of Williams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As rebuilding slowly lurches to a start, outsiders are indeed swooping in and scooping up properties that belonged to Altadena families for decades. Real estate listing firms like Redfin find that roughly half of all vacant lots sold in Altadena since the fire were snapped up by corporate investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire dealt a huge blow not only to homeowners but to renters as well. Scores of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050296/for-altadenas-therapists-trauma-and-healing-from-wildfire-ripple-outwards\">Altadena renters, like Melissa Lopez\u003c/a>, had to scramble to find new places outside Altadena and typically at inflated prices. Standing on the vacant lot where her home once stood on Lake Avenue, Lopez told Khokha and me that coming back to the property is like visiting a grave site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068936\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1418\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-013-JB-1536x1089.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Melissa Lopez photographed a year after her home in Altadena, California was destroyed by the Eaton fire. Right: Melissa Lopez shows the Altadena tattoo she got after the fires. Photographed in Altadena, CA, on Dec. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(James Bernal/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I know some people are like, ‘I can never go back to Altadena.’ And I always tell folks, I totally respect that, but you can’t avoid grief. It’ll find you, trust me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[But] I find a certain level of comfort when I come, because in many ways, there’s still some foundations, there’s still some rubble, empty lots. It’s the one place where the outsides match my insides.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living now about fifteen miles outside of Altadena, Melissa said renters like her have been largely left out of the re-building process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like we need a survey of — who commits to renting to fire survivors? Who’s committing to rent at reasonable prices?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were starting to really gentrify Altadena even before the fire,” she continued. “There are people saying, yeah, we want renters back. But I haven’t really seen that at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The fire followers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scores of other fire survivors are digging in and taking steps to rebuild. Fresh roots are sinking into the soil that’s come in after the soil that burned. Scorched trees are being rehabilitated, new saplings are being sunk into the earth. Freshly cut wood slats are sinking into freshly poured foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before anyone was drawing up blueprints for a rebuild, others, like Alma Cielo and her husband Paul, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12060753/a-look-at-prop-50-meet-the-duduk-whisperer-altadena-homeowners-resettling-in-rvs\">returned with trailers and RVs\u003c/a> to homestead on their scorched lots.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>They’re going to rebuild their place too, in West Altadena, but they’re not quite ready just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to stand here and feel the land healing, and then we’ll be able to know where to go from there,” Alma Cielo said, standing near a cluster of blooming morning glories and next to a fig tree that’s leafing out again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling very grateful, actually, and at peace,” she added. The fire took away a lot of the things that I had been carrying that were simply weight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cielo lost about thirty years of journals that were destroyed in the fire, notes she thought would be the foundation of a memoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if I go through those books, you just see a lot of the same cycles of ignorance and trauma. And I really had wanted to burn them years ago, but I didn’t know how I could do that safely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe that’s how she starts the new book, I suggested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes,” she continued, “about how it was time to write a whole new story without having to constantly reference the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I told Cielo about feeling something similar, about how the fire drew me back to journalism after I’d felt burnt out from covering news for 25 years. The fire gave me a renewed purpose. Maybe I could help my community a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068917\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068917\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-Altadena-Anniversary-012-JB-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alma Cielo stands for a photograph with a Bodhi tree that survived the fire and is now growing back in the spot where her house once stood. Photographed in Altadena, CA, on Dec. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(James Bernal/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The fire also deepened my love and appreciation for a place I already held sacred, and helped me connect with my neighbors in a whole new way — by telling their stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s so much possibility now, there’s so much beauty, there is so much growth,” Cielo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cielo mentioned the concept of “fire followers,” — the trees and the plants that thrive after a fire, that need the smoke and ash in the soil to get that spark to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She, too, is a fire follower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to be better after this fire than I ever was before,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, January 28, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With insurance companies reluctant to back fire-prone parts of the state, officials and builders are looking for ways to get people into homes designed to survive wildfires. Those efforts are now extending to entire developments. In El Dorado County, that includes the opening of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999891/living-with-fire-inside-northern-californias-first-wildfire-prepared-neighborhood\">a “wildfire-prepared neighborhood”\u003c/a> – the first in Northern California.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/politics/lawsuit-alleges-inhumane-conditions-at-ice-adelanto-facility\">lawsuit filed this week\u003c/a> claims people held at the federal immigration facility in Adelanto lack basic necessities like clean water, healthy food and medical care. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Democrat Ro Khanna is demanding the Trump administration turn over health and safety records for the California City immigration detention facility in the Mojave Desert, after a recent oversight visit that he described as “alarming.” \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999891/living-with-fire-inside-northern-californias-first-wildfire-prepared-neighborhood\">\u003cstrong>Living With Fire: Inside Northern California’s First ‘Wildfire-Prepared Neighborhood’\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the small \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/tag/sierra-nevada\">Sierra\u003c/a> foothills community of Cameron Park, state officials, Cal Fire leaders, members of the insurance and construction industries, and a group of “El Dorado Roses” gathered around a yellow ceremonial ribbon. The Roses — mature women in Victorian dresses with large hats festooned in artificial flowers who serve as ambassadors for El Dorado County’s Chamber of Commerce — had come to celebrate the opening of new model homes for a unique neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 24 single-story homes planned for the Stone Canyon development in Cameron Park, now under construction and up for sale, will form Northern California’s first “wildfire-prepared neighborhood.” Developers and policymakers hope the designation from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety could offer a blueprint for building — and insuring — homes in an era of megafires. With insurance companies reluctant to insure fire-prone parts of California after a string of catastrophic blazes, state officials and builders are increasingly looking to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024420/rebuilding-la-heres-what-fire-survivors-and-experts-say-is-key\">fire-hardened construction\u003c/a> to keep housing both insurable and habitable. “Fire-hardened homes are the future of the state of California,” El Dorado County Supervisor George Turnboo said. He bemoaned the plight of Caldor Fire survivors in his district who find \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021019/la-fires-threaten-california-insurance-market-stability-housing-costs\">insurance difficult to obtain\u003c/a> — including himself. He said he now pays $10,000 a year for insurance that once cost $900.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The construction company leading the Stone Canyon project, KB Home, is betting that fire-prepared construction will attract buyers seeking peace of mind — and make it easier for them to obtain insurance. Nam Joe, Sacramento division president for KB Home, said buyers in the company’s first wildfire-prepared neighborhood, in fire-prone Escondido, enjoy more insurance options than owners of non-prepared homes nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roy Wright, CEO of IBHS said in examining homes that burned in last year’s L.A. fires, he and his team found that houses within range of fire had a 90% chance of damage or destruction if burnable material was within five feet of the home. They published their \u003ca href=\"https://ibhs.org/ibhs-news-releases/ibhs-findings-on-la-countys-palisades-and-eaton-fires/\">post-fire investigation\u003c/a> findings last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearing flammable material within that perimeter is one of the most effective ways of hardening a home — and among the most accessible to homeowners. The practice is now the subject of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068943/after-devastating-la-fires-california-is-drafting-nations-toughest-rules-for-homes\">much-debated policy\u003c/a> under review by the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection for high fire-risk areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Congressman Khanna Demands Records From California City Detention Facility\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bay Area Congressman Ro Khanna is demanding the Trump administration turn over health and safety records for the California City immigration detention facility, after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069220/south-bay-rep-ro-khanna-horrified-after-visit-to-california-city-ice-detention-center\">a recent oversight visit\u003c/a> that he described as “alarming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Khanna called on the agency to produce logs of its use of force and solitary confinement, and how long detained people had to wait for medical care. He said the mistreatment of detained immigrants and the two fatal shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis are part of what he calls “a human rights issue of our time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his visit earlier this month, Rep. Khanna described what he called the “systemic neglect” of more than 900 people currently held at the California City Detention Facility. “We’re treating these people like animals, not like human beings … It’s an embarrassment for the country,” he told KQED. “Whatever you think about the consequences for people who are undocumented, we should all agree that you treat people with dignity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates have raised alarms over poor conditions in ICE detention as the number of in-custody deaths\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/04/ice-2025-deaths-timeline\"> surged\u003c/a> to its highest level in more than 20 years, with 32 people dying in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArticlePage-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/politics/lawsuit-alleges-inhumane-conditions-at-ice-adelanto-facility\">\u003cstrong>Lawsuit Alleges Inhumane Conditions At Adelanto ICE Facility\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights announced a new lawsuit Monday against federal immigration agencies for claims of inhumane conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization claims people detained in the Adelanto facility lack drinkable water, healthy food, clean clothes, places to sleep and access to medical care. Failing to provide these basic necessities, CHIRLA says in court documents, amounts to punishment — violating detainees rights to due process. “ We are really at a moment where we are seeing a human rights crisis right before our eyes,” CHIRLA policy director Jeanette Zanipatin said at a news conference Monday. “And the detention centers, especially the one at Adelanto, is where we are seeing it unfold in real time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Public Counsel are assisting in the case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. “We’re asking both that the judge force Adelanto, the detention facility, to ensure that basic medical care is being provided, that basic hygiene and sanitary conditions, food and water are provided, and that oversight is conducted over the facility,” said Alvaro Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The concerns raised by CHIRLA as they announced the lawsuit closely resemble the findings of Disability Rights California, which also claimed detainees were not provided adequate medical care, food, water or clean clothing. The organization also reported that some people had limited access to communication with their loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, January 28, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With insurance companies reluctant to back fire-prone parts of the state, officials and builders are looking for ways to get people into homes designed to survive wildfires. Those efforts are now extending to entire developments. In El Dorado County, that includes the opening of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999891/living-with-fire-inside-northern-californias-first-wildfire-prepared-neighborhood\">a “wildfire-prepared neighborhood”\u003c/a> – the first in Northern California.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/politics/lawsuit-alleges-inhumane-conditions-at-ice-adelanto-facility\">lawsuit filed this week\u003c/a> claims people held at the federal immigration facility in Adelanto lack basic necessities like clean water, healthy food and medical care. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Democrat Ro Khanna is demanding the Trump administration turn over health and safety records for the California City immigration detention facility in the Mojave Desert, after a recent oversight visit that he described as “alarming.” \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999891/living-with-fire-inside-northern-californias-first-wildfire-prepared-neighborhood\">\u003cstrong>Living With Fire: Inside Northern California’s First ‘Wildfire-Prepared Neighborhood’\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the small \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/tag/sierra-nevada\">Sierra\u003c/a> foothills community of Cameron Park, state officials, Cal Fire leaders, members of the insurance and construction industries, and a group of “El Dorado Roses” gathered around a yellow ceremonial ribbon. The Roses — mature women in Victorian dresses with large hats festooned in artificial flowers who serve as ambassadors for El Dorado County’s Chamber of Commerce — had come to celebrate the opening of new model homes for a unique neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 24 single-story homes planned for the Stone Canyon development in Cameron Park, now under construction and up for sale, will form Northern California’s first “wildfire-prepared neighborhood.” Developers and policymakers hope the designation from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety could offer a blueprint for building — and insuring — homes in an era of megafires. With insurance companies reluctant to insure fire-prone parts of California after a string of catastrophic blazes, state officials and builders are increasingly looking to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024420/rebuilding-la-heres-what-fire-survivors-and-experts-say-is-key\">fire-hardened construction\u003c/a> to keep housing both insurable and habitable. “Fire-hardened homes are the future of the state of California,” El Dorado County Supervisor George Turnboo said. He bemoaned the plight of Caldor Fire survivors in his district who find \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021019/la-fires-threaten-california-insurance-market-stability-housing-costs\">insurance difficult to obtain\u003c/a> — including himself. He said he now pays $10,000 a year for insurance that once cost $900.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The construction company leading the Stone Canyon project, KB Home, is betting that fire-prepared construction will attract buyers seeking peace of mind — and make it easier for them to obtain insurance. Nam Joe, Sacramento division president for KB Home, said buyers in the company’s first wildfire-prepared neighborhood, in fire-prone Escondido, enjoy more insurance options than owners of non-prepared homes nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roy Wright, CEO of IBHS said in examining homes that burned in last year’s L.A. fires, he and his team found that houses within range of fire had a 90% chance of damage or destruction if burnable material was within five feet of the home. They published their \u003ca href=\"https://ibhs.org/ibhs-news-releases/ibhs-findings-on-la-countys-palisades-and-eaton-fires/\">post-fire investigation\u003c/a> findings last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearing flammable material within that perimeter is one of the most effective ways of hardening a home — and among the most accessible to homeowners. The practice is now the subject of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068943/after-devastating-la-fires-california-is-drafting-nations-toughest-rules-for-homes\">much-debated policy\u003c/a> under review by the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection for high fire-risk areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Congressman Khanna Demands Records From California City Detention Facility\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bay Area Congressman Ro Khanna is demanding the Trump administration turn over health and safety records for the California City immigration detention facility, after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069220/south-bay-rep-ro-khanna-horrified-after-visit-to-california-city-ice-detention-center\">a recent oversight visit\u003c/a> that he described as “alarming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Khanna called on the agency to produce logs of its use of force and solitary confinement, and how long detained people had to wait for medical care. He said the mistreatment of detained immigrants and the two fatal shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis are part of what he calls “a human rights issue of our time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his visit earlier this month, Rep. Khanna described what he called the “systemic neglect” of more than 900 people currently held at the California City Detention Facility. “We’re treating these people like animals, not like human beings … It’s an embarrassment for the country,” he told KQED. “Whatever you think about the consequences for people who are undocumented, we should all agree that you treat people with dignity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates have raised alarms over poor conditions in ICE detention as the number of in-custody deaths\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/04/ice-2025-deaths-timeline\"> surged\u003c/a> to its highest level in more than 20 years, with 32 people dying in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArticlePage-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/politics/lawsuit-alleges-inhumane-conditions-at-ice-adelanto-facility\">\u003cstrong>Lawsuit Alleges Inhumane Conditions At Adelanto ICE Facility\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights announced a new lawsuit Monday against federal immigration agencies for claims of inhumane conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization claims people detained in the Adelanto facility lack drinkable water, healthy food, clean clothes, places to sleep and access to medical care. Failing to provide these basic necessities, CHIRLA says in court documents, amounts to punishment — violating detainees rights to due process. “ We are really at a moment where we are seeing a human rights crisis right before our eyes,” CHIRLA policy director Jeanette Zanipatin said at a news conference Monday. “And the detention centers, especially the one at Adelanto, is where we are seeing it unfold in real time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Public Counsel are assisting in the case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. “We’re asking both that the judge force Adelanto, the detention facility, to ensure that basic medical care is being provided, that basic hygiene and sanitary conditions, food and water are provided, and that oversight is conducted over the facility,” said Alvaro Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The concerns raised by CHIRLA as they announced the lawsuit closely resemble the findings of Disability Rights California, which also claimed detainees were not provided adequate medical care, food, water or clean clothing. The organization also reported that some people had limited access to communication with their loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "One Potential Solution to Deadly Fires in the Wilderness: Don't Build There",
"headTitle": "One Potential Solution to Deadly Fires in the Wilderness: Don’t Build There | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As the riskiest areas for wildfire expand, Californians keep pouring into them. By midcentury, builders \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837714001409\">may add\u003c/a> as many as 1.2 million new homes in geographic areas most at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a contradiction, and the state’s showing no signs of resolving it. Almost as incendiary as wildfire itself is the idea that we shouldn’t build — or in many cases rebuild — because of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"small\" citation=\"Kurt Henke, retired Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District chief\"]‘Are there areas that shouldn’t be built? Absolutely. If the last two or three years doesn’t change it, what more do they need to see?’[/pullquote]Even as California demands \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941685/this-california-neighborhood-was-built-to-survive-a-wildfire-and-it-worked\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hardened homes\u003c/a> through tougher building codes, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1943058/whos-checking-homes-for-flammable-brush-in-some-high-risk-areas-maybe-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">struggles\u003c/a> with enforcing existing requirements for defensible space, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1942547/in-the-age-of-the-crazy-fast-fire-a-good-evacuation-plan-may-not-be-enough\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">begins to consider\u003c/a> the role of evacuation routes in community safety, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1942299/onetime-enemies-over-logging-are-now-a-community-to-prevent-wildfire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reconsiders\u003c/a> its relationship with the forests and grasslands where people spark fires, the hardest question remains unspoken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should California communities retreat from the growing risk of fire?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Retreat seems to grate on the American psyche; we don’t like to go backwards,” said Nicholas Pinter, a geology professor at UC Davis who \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/small-towns-big-flood-waters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies\u003c/a> repeat flooding, another natural hazard whose frequency is affected by human behavior and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"small\"]\u003ca href=\"mailto:mpeterson@kqed.org\">Contact Molly Peterson\u003c/a>[/pullquote]While California has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1917374/map-see-if-you-live-in-a-high-risk-fire-zone-and-what-that-means\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mapped\u003c/a> fire risk and boosted scrutiny of local fire response in \u003ca href=\"http://opr.ca.gov/planning/general-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general plans\u003c/a>, the road maps for development that officials use, nothing prevents local communities from rebuilding in places that have burned over and over, like Paradise in Butte County, and Fountaingrove in the city of Santa Rosa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts say the state’s land use and planning practices demand reconsideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s mature and it’s a mark of intelligence that we can actually say … let’s do this better, let’s do it radically different, different enough that this isn’t actually that big a problem anymore,” said Max Moritz, a cooperative extension fire specialist at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Our Vulnerabilities Are Our Choices\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety percent of buildings in Paradise burned down. Established in the Sierra Nevada foothills in the 1800s, the town grew in the 20th century without much in the way of zoning or planning for fire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943271\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 425px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1943271\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-1200x900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"425\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claire Gottsdanker lost her home in Santa Barbara County’s Tea Fire. Immediately after a fire is a ‘terrible time to make a decision,’ about rebuilding, she said. \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s normal for California. No codified guidance tells communities where and how to build to reduce the threat from natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s recently updated building codes do minimize hazards in the “building envelope,” the outer elements in the structure itself. To aid in fighting fires, the state also \u003ca href=\"https://www.caloes.ca.gov/HazardMitigationSite/Documents/011-2018%20SHMP_FINAL_Ch%208.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requires\u003c/a> water supplies and certain features related to road access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some planners now say these mitigation efforts aren’t enough to guarantee the safety of new development. Pete Parkinson, who lost a home in Santa Rosa and has led planning departments in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties before retiring, sounded an alarm last fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I cannot recall any development project that was denied, or where the density was substantially reduced, because of known wildfire hazards,” he \u003ca href=\"http://winewaterwatch.org/wp1/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/PParkinson-AICP-We-Planned-We-Were-Wrong.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote\u003c/a> in a regional newsletter for the American Planning Association. “The fire hazards in some areas of our state are simply too great to allow additional residential development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Max Moritz has talked to local planners and fire officials who sign off on developments and recognize weaknesses in the current system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t have the authority to do what they know is right, and so they have to let some of these developments proceed without being able to say anything about how it could be done better,” he said. “From the people I’ve talked to, I know that that’s hard to sleep with really, when you play that out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1941376,science_1943058'] [/aside]Since January, the state has made counties consult with fire officials on planning, but it’s not clear how much that will affect decisions. Under a law passed last year, counties with very high risk fire severity zones and state responsibility areas must submit the safety elements of their general plans to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection for review. If counties don’t incorporate the fire marshall’s recommendations, they \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2911\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">must meet\u003c/a> with officials from the board, but the law provides no penalties or substantive requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California produces several maps that include information potentially useful to planning, but none includes guidance about how planners might use them, says Moritz. Cal Fire has \u003ca href=\"http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/fire_prevention_wildland_zones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maps\u003c/a> on fire hazard severity zones and has analyzed \u003ca href=\"http://frap.fire.ca.gov/projects/fireprobability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fire probability\u003c/a>; the California Public Utilities Commission has created fire threat \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/firethreatmaps/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maps\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moritz says these maps focus on just parts of what makes up fire risk. That risk, he says, is a calculation based both on hazards — the steepness of canyons and the dryness of vegetation — and on vulnerabilities — the systems that communities build to cope with the hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So whether San Diego County is waiving requirements for multiple roads in and out of a new development next to the steep canyons of \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/urban/pdfs/San-Diego-BoS-Wildfire-Comment-Letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harmony Grove\u003c/a>, or Los Angeles County is approving thousands of new homes in the fire-prone grasslands of \u003ca href=\"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/statement-tejon-ranch-co-regarding-214500538.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centennial at Tejon Ranch\u003c/a>, our vulnerabilities — our choices, really — aren’t on any map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2019/06/Peterson2wayWildfireRetreat.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Limits on Rebuilding?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politicians would have to act if counties are to set limits on where developers build, or the state is to set limits on what counties could permit. But elected officials are rarely caught talking about such limits in the wild. Instead, we rely on retired fire officials to speak truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are there areas that shouldn’t be built? Absolutely,” said Kurt Henke, who retired as chief from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District after a 35-year career. “If the last two or three years doesn’t change it, what more do they need to see?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943274\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-complete_open_graph wp-image-1943274\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-1200x900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former city of Santa Barbara fire chief Pat McElroy. ‘Hoping it doesn’t happen again isn’t a strategy.’ \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fire officials stress that public safety isn’t just the work of first responders. In planning, though, safety concerns compete with the need for both housing and the local property taxes that fund essential services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local control over planning and development is sacrosanct in California. But one fire-safety argument is that the state could take some of that authority over land use back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On his way into retirement last December, Cal Fire chief Ken Pimlott \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/d2f76432db1749d4918e55624a47c654\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told AP\u003c/a> that the state must consider prohibiting building in wildfire-prone areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hours into his new job in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Colfax, standing with Placer County supervisors and Auburn mayor Cheryl Maki, as he \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOES/videos/1808489912589772/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was asked\u003c/a> about Pimlott’s remarks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom turned to face the local officials as he said he recognized the stresses they face in permitting development in the wildland-urban interface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last thing you want is, you know, some guy in Sacramento there telling you what to do in Auburn,” Newsom said. “That said, if, you know, there’s a point where common sense … is not in evidence, maybe we can lean in a little, and encourage and incentivize better behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., the Constitution prevents government taking of private property without compensation. But natural hazards change the value of compensation all of the time, and limits on zoning or development can occur. While it’s very rare that a public official will propose an outright ban on rebuilding after a fire, it does happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, a fire that sparked in a Los Angeles County homeless camp wrapped the hills around the 405 freeway in flames. After that blaze, called the Skirball Fire, and the neighboring Rye and Creek Fires, the longtime head of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Joe Edmiston, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rebuilding-in-hazard-zones-20171216-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spoke to the Los Angeles Times\u003c/a> about scorched properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think two strikes is enough and they ought to be bought out,” he said. It wasn’t the first time he had floated the idea — 24 years earlier, after another fire, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-wildfire-rebuild-20181124-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called for\u003c/a> a “three strikes” rule, under which homeowners could obtain recovery funds for no more than three disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edmiston is now part of a task force evaluating local response to the 2017 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,500 buildings. A spokeswoman for the conservancy said Edmiston wouldn’t comment further on planning and rebuilding until that work is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Montecito: Redefining Resilience\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January of last year, heavy rain let loose a punch: Mud and water poured down from the Santa Ynez mountains into Montecito, a town of about 9,000 people in Santa Barbara County. Former Santa Barbara City fire chief Pat McElroy says the debris flow slapped the bark off sycamore trees and bowled sandstone rocks the size of SUVs into houses. Twenty-three people died as the Thomas fire still burned in backcountry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fire was the county’s fifth in a decade. McElroy counts a cumulative toll from those years, from the 2007 Zaca Fire, the Tea and Gap Fires in 2008, the 2009 Jesusita Fire, and the Thomas in 2017. “It was a really shattering experience,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Montecito residents want to redefine resilience, by boosting physical protections against the cycle of fire, mud, repeat. McElroy helped found the Partnership for Resilient Communities, and people in the wealthy town have privately raised nearly $5 million to pay for six steel hoop retention nets that could slow the destructive crush of mud and debris that fire can cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1943283 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-1020x655.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-1020x655.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-800x514.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-768x493.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-1200x771.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews stretch a mesh of steel hoops like chain mail across San Ysidro Creek in Montecito. The nets won’t block all debris that rain after a fire can release, but will slow it down.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early May, a helicopter hovered over San Ysidro Creek dangling a long mesh net of rings. Across the creek canyon, crews stood on wires stretched like tightropes, 70 feet across. The workers linked the mesh to the wires where they stood, then pulled the rings taut, like chainmail. These nets won’t stop debris rolling down the creek, but they will slow it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hoping it doesn’t happen again isn’t a strategy,” McElroy said, beaming as the operation unfolded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others in Montecito wonder whether county planning practices need an even more radical shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ten years ago, Santa Barbara County’s Tea Fire stole Claire Gottsdanker’s home, burning it to the ground as she watched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gottsdanker, a landscape designer, says she was one of the first people in Montecito to pull a permit to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She rebuilt quickly. But the trauma clung to her. Three years after the Tea Fire, she had a stroke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of that was on her mind a decade later, immediately after the Thomas Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s a terrible time to make a decision,” Gottsdanker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After seeing the impacts of the Thomas Fire, she says, she wouldn’t want to rebuild again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Barbara County’s flood control district made it clear that everyone who wanted to could rebuild. As a member of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review, Gottsdanker was one of the first to review plans for one property along Montecito Creek, another canyon creek pounded by mudflows. In a public hearing, she asked the homeowner why she would want to do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here she was getting her house reviewed and she can’t even get to it,” said Gottsdanker. “The county issued these … permits really fast. And I’m going, slow down, having been there 10 years ago, you need to slow down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The architectural review board and the planning board approved the project. No construction has begun; the once-verdant site remains brown and scrubby, with a camper tucked under a massive tree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Window of Opportunity, But Short-Lived\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Ryan Miller was growing up in the heart of Paradise, he thought of fire as something that happened to other people, on the edge of town. His family hadn’t moved to the Butte County town seeking a wildland experience. Rather, they were like a lot of his neighbors, wanting to be close to jobs in Chico: people who were “priced out,” he said, of the urban center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Miller’s a UC Davis Ph.D. student whose work focuses in part on natural hazards and how they impact housing disparity. His childhood home was one of thousands burned to the ground during the Camp Fire, and his mother has moved 30 miles away; she isn’t sure yet whether she will return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller worries that people in his community will feel pressured socially and economically into rebuilding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s this growing sense that, you know, your duty is to go back and be resilient and go back to Paradise,” he said. “So I think we need to be more comfortable with the word ‘retreat.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Focusing on rebuilding is a narrow idea about community resilience after a wildfire. UC Davis geology professor Nicholas Pinter suggests a broader approach, with every question put on the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinter studies repeat flooding and how communities respond to it, including by “managed retreat” — a term used often in the context of flood and sea level rise to describe backing away from a natural hazard. But he says maybe retreat isn’t the right word to encourage people to think differently about their risk, and to rely less on engineered mitigations that can often fail. Instead, California could think about heading toward a better understanding of resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re really talking about is fixing these old planning errors, moving people to a more appropriate location, and balancing human occupation of the landscape with the hazards that exist out there,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood risk and fire risk are very different, but Pinter says in both contexts the time after the disaster is a crucial one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There really is this short-lived window of opportunity following a major natural disaster to have some sort of transformative change, to make things different afterwards,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California’s fires last year, that window is open. But for how long is anybody’s guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Almost as incendiary as wildfire itself is the idea that we shouldn’t build — or in many cases rebuild — because of it. But some people are beginning to speak out that retreating from the 'Wildland-Urban Interface' needs to be on the table.",
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"description": "Almost as incendiary as wildfire itself is the idea that we shouldn’t build — or in many cases rebuild — because of it. But some people are beginning to speak out that retreating from the 'Wildland-Urban Interface' needs to be on the table.",
"title": "One Potential Solution to Deadly Fires in the Wilderness: Don't Build There | KQED",
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"headline": "One Potential Solution to Deadly Fires in the Wilderness: Don't Build There",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As the riskiest areas for wildfire expand, Californians keep pouring into them. By midcentury, builders \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837714001409\">may add\u003c/a> as many as 1.2 million new homes in geographic areas most at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a contradiction, and the state’s showing no signs of resolving it. Almost as incendiary as wildfire itself is the idea that we shouldn’t build — or in many cases rebuild — because of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Are there areas that shouldn’t be built? Absolutely. If the last two or three years doesn’t change it, what more do they need to see?’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even as California demands \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1941685/this-california-neighborhood-was-built-to-survive-a-wildfire-and-it-worked\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hardened homes\u003c/a> through tougher building codes, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1943058/whos-checking-homes-for-flammable-brush-in-some-high-risk-areas-maybe-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">struggles\u003c/a> with enforcing existing requirements for defensible space, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1942547/in-the-age-of-the-crazy-fast-fire-a-good-evacuation-plan-may-not-be-enough\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">begins to consider\u003c/a> the role of evacuation routes in community safety, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1942299/onetime-enemies-over-logging-are-now-a-community-to-prevent-wildfire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reconsiders\u003c/a> its relationship with the forests and grasslands where people spark fires, the hardest question remains unspoken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should California communities retreat from the growing risk of fire?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Retreat seems to grate on the American psyche; we don’t like to go backwards,” said Nicholas Pinter, a geology professor at UC Davis who \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/small-towns-big-flood-waters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies\u003c/a> repeat flooding, another natural hazard whose frequency is affected by human behavior and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003ca href=\"mailto:mpeterson@kqed.org\">Contact Molly Peterson\u003c/a>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While California has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1917374/map-see-if-you-live-in-a-high-risk-fire-zone-and-what-that-means\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mapped\u003c/a> fire risk and boosted scrutiny of local fire response in \u003ca href=\"http://opr.ca.gov/planning/general-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general plans\u003c/a>, the road maps for development that officials use, nothing prevents local communities from rebuilding in places that have burned over and over, like Paradise in Butte County, and Fountaingrove in the city of Santa Rosa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts say the state’s land use and planning practices demand reconsideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s mature and it’s a mark of intelligence that we can actually say … let’s do this better, let’s do it radically different, different enough that this isn’t actually that big a problem anymore,” said Max Moritz, a cooperative extension fire specialist at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Our Vulnerabilities Are Our Choices\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety percent of buildings in Paradise burned down. Established in the Sierra Nevada foothills in the 1800s, the town grew in the 20th century without much in the way of zoning or planning for fire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943271\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 425px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1943271\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-1200x900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"425\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/RS37628_IMG_6088-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claire Gottsdanker lost her home in Santa Barbara County’s Tea Fire. Immediately after a fire is a ‘terrible time to make a decision,’ about rebuilding, she said. \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s normal for California. No codified guidance tells communities where and how to build to reduce the threat from natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s recently updated building codes do minimize hazards in the “building envelope,” the outer elements in the structure itself. To aid in fighting fires, the state also \u003ca href=\"https://www.caloes.ca.gov/HazardMitigationSite/Documents/011-2018%20SHMP_FINAL_Ch%208.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requires\u003c/a> water supplies and certain features related to road access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some planners now say these mitigation efforts aren’t enough to guarantee the safety of new development. Pete Parkinson, who lost a home in Santa Rosa and has led planning departments in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties before retiring, sounded an alarm last fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I cannot recall any development project that was denied, or where the density was substantially reduced, because of known wildfire hazards,” he \u003ca href=\"http://winewaterwatch.org/wp1/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/PParkinson-AICP-We-Planned-We-Were-Wrong.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote\u003c/a> in a regional newsletter for the American Planning Association. “The fire hazards in some areas of our state are simply too great to allow additional residential development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Max Moritz has talked to local planners and fire officials who sign off on developments and recognize weaknesses in the current system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t have the authority to do what they know is right, and so they have to let some of these developments proceed without being able to say anything about how it could be done better,” he said. “From the people I’ve talked to, I know that that’s hard to sleep with really, when you play that out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since January, the state has made counties consult with fire officials on planning, but it’s not clear how much that will affect decisions. Under a law passed last year, counties with very high risk fire severity zones and state responsibility areas must submit the safety elements of their general plans to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection for review. If counties don’t incorporate the fire marshall’s recommendations, they \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2911\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">must meet\u003c/a> with officials from the board, but the law provides no penalties or substantive requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California produces several maps that include information potentially useful to planning, but none includes guidance about how planners might use them, says Moritz. Cal Fire has \u003ca href=\"http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/fire_prevention_wildland_zones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maps\u003c/a> on fire hazard severity zones and has analyzed \u003ca href=\"http://frap.fire.ca.gov/projects/fireprobability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fire probability\u003c/a>; the California Public Utilities Commission has created fire threat \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/firethreatmaps/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maps\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moritz says these maps focus on just parts of what makes up fire risk. That risk, he says, is a calculation based both on hazards — the steepness of canyons and the dryness of vegetation — and on vulnerabilities — the systems that communities build to cope with the hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So whether San Diego County is waiving requirements for multiple roads in and out of a new development next to the steep canyons of \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/urban/pdfs/San-Diego-BoS-Wildfire-Comment-Letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harmony Grove\u003c/a>, or Los Angeles County is approving thousands of new homes in the fire-prone grasslands of \u003ca href=\"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/statement-tejon-ranch-co-regarding-214500538.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centennial at Tejon Ranch\u003c/a>, our vulnerabilities — our choices, really — aren’t on any map.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Limits on Rebuilding?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politicians would have to act if counties are to set limits on where developers build, or the state is to set limits on what counties could permit. But elected officials are rarely caught talking about such limits in the wild. Instead, we rely on retired fire officials to speak truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are there areas that shouldn’t be built? Absolutely,” said Kurt Henke, who retired as chief from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District after a 35-year career. “If the last two or three years doesn’t change it, what more do they need to see?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943274\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-complete_open_graph wp-image-1943274\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-1200x900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/California-Wildfire-Policies.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former city of Santa Barbara fire chief Pat McElroy. ‘Hoping it doesn’t happen again isn’t a strategy.’ \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fire officials stress that public safety isn’t just the work of first responders. In planning, though, safety concerns compete with the need for both housing and the local property taxes that fund essential services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local control over planning and development is sacrosanct in California. But one fire-safety argument is that the state could take some of that authority over land use back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On his way into retirement last December, Cal Fire chief Ken Pimlott \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/d2f76432db1749d4918e55624a47c654\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told AP\u003c/a> that the state must consider prohibiting building in wildfire-prone areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hours into his new job in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Colfax, standing with Placer County supervisors and Auburn mayor Cheryl Maki, as he \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOES/videos/1808489912589772/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was asked\u003c/a> about Pimlott’s remarks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom turned to face the local officials as he said he recognized the stresses they face in permitting development in the wildland-urban interface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last thing you want is, you know, some guy in Sacramento there telling you what to do in Auburn,” Newsom said. “That said, if, you know, there’s a point where common sense … is not in evidence, maybe we can lean in a little, and encourage and incentivize better behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., the Constitution prevents government taking of private property without compensation. But natural hazards change the value of compensation all of the time, and limits on zoning or development can occur. While it’s very rare that a public official will propose an outright ban on rebuilding after a fire, it does happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, a fire that sparked in a Los Angeles County homeless camp wrapped the hills around the 405 freeway in flames. After that blaze, called the Skirball Fire, and the neighboring Rye and Creek Fires, the longtime head of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Joe Edmiston, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rebuilding-in-hazard-zones-20171216-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spoke to the Los Angeles Times\u003c/a> about scorched properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think two strikes is enough and they ought to be bought out,” he said. It wasn’t the first time he had floated the idea — 24 years earlier, after another fire, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-wildfire-rebuild-20181124-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called for\u003c/a> a “three strikes” rule, under which homeowners could obtain recovery funds for no more than three disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edmiston is now part of a task force evaluating local response to the 2017 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,500 buildings. A spokeswoman for the conservancy said Edmiston wouldn’t comment further on planning and rebuilding until that work is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Montecito: Redefining Resilience\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January of last year, heavy rain let loose a punch: Mud and water poured down from the Santa Ynez mountains into Montecito, a town of about 9,000 people in Santa Barbara County. Former Santa Barbara City fire chief Pat McElroy says the debris flow slapped the bark off sycamore trees and bowled sandstone rocks the size of SUVs into houses. Twenty-three people died as the Thomas fire still burned in backcountry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fire was the county’s fifth in a decade. McElroy counts a cumulative toll from those years, from the 2007 Zaca Fire, the Tea and Gap Fires in 2008, the 2009 Jesusita Fire, and the Thomas in 2017. “It was a really shattering experience,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Montecito residents want to redefine resilience, by boosting physical protections against the cycle of fire, mud, repeat. McElroy helped found the Partnership for Resilient Communities, and people in the wealthy town have privately raised nearly $5 million to pay for six steel hoop retention nets that could slow the destructive crush of mud and debris that fire can cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1943283 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-1020x655.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-1020x655.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-800x514.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-768x493.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire-1200x771.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/San-Ysidro-mud-wildfire.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews stretch a mesh of steel hoops like chain mail across San Ysidro Creek in Montecito. The nets won’t block all debris that rain after a fire can release, but will slow it down.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early May, a helicopter hovered over San Ysidro Creek dangling a long mesh net of rings. Across the creek canyon, crews stood on wires stretched like tightropes, 70 feet across. The workers linked the mesh to the wires where they stood, then pulled the rings taut, like chainmail. These nets won’t stop debris rolling down the creek, but they will slow it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hoping it doesn’t happen again isn’t a strategy,” McElroy said, beaming as the operation unfolded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others in Montecito wonder whether county planning practices need an even more radical shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ten years ago, Santa Barbara County’s Tea Fire stole Claire Gottsdanker’s home, burning it to the ground as she watched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gottsdanker, a landscape designer, says she was one of the first people in Montecito to pull a permit to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She rebuilt quickly. But the trauma clung to her. Three years after the Tea Fire, she had a stroke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of that was on her mind a decade later, immediately after the Thomas Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s a terrible time to make a decision,” Gottsdanker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After seeing the impacts of the Thomas Fire, she says, she wouldn’t want to rebuild again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Barbara County’s flood control district made it clear that everyone who wanted to could rebuild. As a member of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review, Gottsdanker was one of the first to review plans for one property along Montecito Creek, another canyon creek pounded by mudflows. In a public hearing, she asked the homeowner why she would want to do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here she was getting her house reviewed and she can’t even get to it,” said Gottsdanker. “The county issued these … permits really fast. And I’m going, slow down, having been there 10 years ago, you need to slow down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The architectural review board and the planning board approved the project. No construction has begun; the once-verdant site remains brown and scrubby, with a camper tucked under a massive tree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Window of Opportunity, But Short-Lived\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Ryan Miller was growing up in the heart of Paradise, he thought of fire as something that happened to other people, on the edge of town. His family hadn’t moved to the Butte County town seeking a wildland experience. Rather, they were like a lot of his neighbors, wanting to be close to jobs in Chico: people who were “priced out,” he said, of the urban center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Miller’s a UC Davis Ph.D. student whose work focuses in part on natural hazards and how they impact housing disparity. His childhood home was one of thousands burned to the ground during the Camp Fire, and his mother has moved 30 miles away; she isn’t sure yet whether she will return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller worries that people in his community will feel pressured socially and economically into rebuilding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s this growing sense that, you know, your duty is to go back and be resilient and go back to Paradise,” he said. “So I think we need to be more comfortable with the word ‘retreat.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Focusing on rebuilding is a narrow idea about community resilience after a wildfire. UC Davis geology professor Nicholas Pinter suggests a broader approach, with every question put on the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinter studies repeat flooding and how communities respond to it, including by “managed retreat” — a term used often in the context of flood and sea level rise to describe backing away from a natural hazard. But he says maybe retreat isn’t the right word to encourage people to think differently about their risk, and to rely less on engineered mitigations that can often fail. Instead, California could think about heading toward a better understanding of resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re really talking about is fixing these old planning errors, moving people to a more appropriate location, and balancing human occupation of the landscape with the hazards that exist out there,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood risk and fire risk are very different, but Pinter says in both contexts the time after the disaster is a crucial one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There really is this short-lived window of opportunity following a major natural disaster to have some sort of transformative change, to make things different afterwards,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California’s fires last year, that window is open. But for how long is anybody’s guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>David Bevacqua never had trouble insuring a home in California, but he was in for a rude surprise after recently buying a house in Bass Lake, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"small\" citation=\"California homeowner David Bevacqua\"]‘I’m paying twice as much as I expected, and now I have to deal with three separate policies on this one house.’[/pullquote] “None of the insurance companies would quote me,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bevacqua is not alone. As more and more destructive wildfires have whipped through the state in recent years, Californians living in areas considered a high wildfire risk are seeing their insurance rates creep up \u003cem>—\u003c/em> or in cases like Bevacqua’s, having insurers simply pull out of some communities altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2015 and 2016 alone, according to the state insurance commissioner’s office, there was a 15 percent increase in “insurer initiated non-renewals” in fire-prone areas. That means homeowners wanted to keep their insurance but the companies refused to renew their policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Bevacqua couldn’t get a policy on the “admitted” market, where rates are regulated by the state, he ended up going with an alternative known as the FAIR Plan. Created in the 1960s, it’s a very limited, expensive option-of-last resort for consumers who cannot find insurance elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m paying twice as much as I expected, and now I have to deal with three separate policies on this one house,” he said, referring to yet another policy he bought covering earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ah, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stories like Bevacqua’s have caught the attention of policymakers in Sacramento, who have made a number of tweaks to laws governing personal property insurance in recent years, including legislation prohibiting insurers from canceling policies after a home burns down, and laws aimed at making sure people understand their policies and are not underinsured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"small\" citation=\"Mark Sektnan, American Property Casualty Insurance Association\"]‘Wildfire is the one catastrophe where you may take all the correct actions, but if none of your neighbors do, the effectiveness of your own mitigations are not as good.’[/pullquote]But more sweeping insurance reforms have died under pressure from the insurance industry, and as of yet, no one seems to be ready to completely overhaul the state’s insurance market. According to the industry, 98 percent of Californians with home insurance are still covered by the traditional, regulated market, with the other 2% using the FAIR Plan and other policies not regulated by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason I hesitate about rethinking the entire insurance industry is that in California — despite these fires, despite the challenges — we have a robust market,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We still feel comfortable that our insurance market is strong and healthy enough to be able to pay out claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overall we still see the market as very competitive, very viable,” he said. “But we do understand that homeowners in certain areas may be facing challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Increasingly Unavailable and Unaffordable’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California actually has some of the most consumer-friendly insurance laws in the nation, thanks to a 30-year-old ballot measure that set the rules still in effect today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1943266,science_1943058'] [/aside]Those rules require insurance companies participating in the regulated market to base insurance rates on a customer’s individual level of risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the state insurance commissioner must approve the amount insurers can charge, he can’t force them to offer insurance if they think the risk is too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those restrictions make sense, Lara said, to ensure that the insurance market stays financially healthy. So while he is concerned about the cost and availability of insurance in wildfire-prone areas, he said that basing prices on the level of risk that a home poses makes sense, even if it is driving up costs for those who are the most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery, set up by the state Legislature and governor to study wildfire costs, agreed with Lara, warning that if California “artificially masks” expensive insurance in high-risk regions by subsidizing rates, it will incentivize risky behavior and make insurance more expensive for people in other parts of the state where wildfires are not a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the commission’s recent report said that while “the home insurance market is not in crisis yet,” the state is “marching toward a future where home insurance will be increasingly unavailable and/or unaffordable” for Californians in high-risk fire areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission focused on areas known as the wildland urban interface, or WUI, which refers to regions where homes are built near forests or other wildlands threatened by wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In evaluating whether to subsidize homeowners insurance in the WUI, policymakers need to consider whether the state wants to encourage more people to move into the WUI,” the report states. “We believe doing so will lead to more deaths and injuries of both residents and first responders, destruction of property, loss of homes, more damages to be paid by utilities … consequent costs to shareholders and utility ratepayers, and more costs for local, state and federal governments and taxpayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Discounts for Clearing Brush?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer advocate Amy Bach, executive director of the insurance consumer group United Policyholders, agrees that the current risk-based system should not be changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because at its core, she says, insurance is “basically just a very kind of informed gambling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you buy insurance, you’re basically transferring your risk onto the insurance company,” she said. “The insurance company looks at you and says, ‘OK what is this person’s risk profile? How old are they? How responsible are they? What’s their history? … ‘ They’re just deciding, what is this risk worth that I’m taking on, and what am I going to charge this person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, the insurance commissioner, said he is trying to figure out how to “incentivize more of the admitted market insurers to stay in” high-risk areas to ensure lower prices and consumer protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that’s a lot to ask in some of these communities,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he noted that California is the largest market in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a massive market for the insurance companies. I don’t think it behooves them to leave the market. But also we have to figure out how we learn to coexist and how do we ensure that the market is robust so that they can pay out the claims and we can continue with our daily lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that could be requiring insurance companies to offer lower prices to individuals and communities that invest in materials and initiatives that make them less vulnerable to fire. That could include \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1943058/whos-checking-homes-for-flammable-brush-in-some-high-risk-areas-maybe-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clearing the area\u003c/a> around a home of dangerous brush that can ignite during a wildfire, or building homes with more fire-resistant materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara said his office is pushing insurance companies to consider those sorts of discounts, similar to the discounts they give good drivers, for example. He said the industry is open to the concept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry is indeed exploring the idea, says Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. But to make it work, companies would need entire communities to participate in reducing a wildfire threat, because fires come with a uniquely unfortunate risk compared to other natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you mitigate your house for a hurricane or earthquake — whatever you do for your house directly benefits you, whatever your neighbors don’t do, doesn’t negatively impact you,” Sektnan said. “Wildfire is the one catastrophe where you may take all the correct actions, but if none of your neighbors do, the effectiveness of your own mitigations are not as good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sektnan said this kind of communitywide approach is already being taken in at least one market, where the county of Boulder in Colorado is partnering with insurers to bring down everyone’s rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara agreed that collective action is key, saying the state now needs to think about how to ensure communities work together to harden themselves against wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also wants to simplify insurance contracts so that consumers have a better idea of their coverage ahead of a disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we create smarter contracts so that people can clearly understand what they’re covered [for], what they’re paying?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Questions Loom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, personal property insurance isn’t the only insurance question looming over California, as climate change is not only making wildfires more destructive, but it’s raising broader questions about the state’s resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, state firefighting costs have exploded in recent years, so Lara is pushing legislation that would let the state take out insurance to cover those cost overruns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders are also debating the possibility of a multibillion dollar wildfire insurance fund that would help protect the state’s utilities against financial ruin when they’re found liable for fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Lara is also exploring more out-of-the-box ideas, such as taking out insurance policies on natural resource like wetlands or forests that are threatened by climate change but whose existence actually helps mitigate its effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, a former state lawmaker, authored legislation in 2018 to create a working group to address the broader question of climate change and insurance; that group will start meeting soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are we most vulnerable as a state? Where are we most at risk? ” he said. “We know, for example in the Bay Area, the wetlands around the bay are critical, and we have to make sure that they’re strong and they’re thriving so that we could defend against potential flooding or sea level rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other parts of the world, this is already happening. For example, a coral reef off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, was recently insured in a collaboration between the government and nongovernmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world’s already starting to figure out how do we bring in the insurance industry in our united front against climate change,” Lara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, California must do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jon Brooks contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “None of the insurance companies would quote me,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bevacqua is not alone. As more and more destructive wildfires have whipped through the state in recent years, Californians living in areas considered a high wildfire risk are seeing their insurance rates creep up \u003cem>—\u003c/em> or in cases like Bevacqua’s, having insurers simply pull out of some communities altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2015 and 2016 alone, according to the state insurance commissioner’s office, there was a 15 percent increase in “insurer initiated non-renewals” in fire-prone areas. That means homeowners wanted to keep their insurance but the companies refused to renew their policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Bevacqua couldn’t get a policy on the “admitted” market, where rates are regulated by the state, he ended up going with an alternative known as the FAIR Plan. Created in the 1960s, it’s a very limited, expensive option-of-last resort for consumers who cannot find insurance elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But more sweeping insurance reforms have died under pressure from the insurance industry, and as of yet, no one seems to be ready to completely overhaul the state’s insurance market. According to the industry, 98 percent of Californians with home insurance are still covered by the traditional, regulated market, with the other 2% using the FAIR Plan and other policies not regulated by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason I hesitate about rethinking the entire insurance industry is that in California — despite these fires, despite the challenges — we have a robust market,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We still feel comfortable that our insurance market is strong and healthy enough to be able to pay out claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overall we still see the market as very competitive, very viable,” he said. “But we do understand that homeowners in certain areas may be facing challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Increasingly Unavailable and Unaffordable’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California actually has some of the most consumer-friendly insurance laws in the nation, thanks to a 30-year-old ballot measure that set the rules still in effect today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those rules require insurance companies participating in the regulated market to base insurance rates on a customer’s individual level of risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the state insurance commissioner must approve the amount insurers can charge, he can’t force them to offer insurance if they think the risk is too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those restrictions make sense, Lara said, to ensure that the insurance market stays financially healthy. So while he is concerned about the cost and availability of insurance in wildfire-prone areas, he said that basing prices on the level of risk that a home poses makes sense, even if it is driving up costs for those who are the most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery, set up by the state Legislature and governor to study wildfire costs, agreed with Lara, warning that if California “artificially masks” expensive insurance in high-risk regions by subsidizing rates, it will incentivize risky behavior and make insurance more expensive for people in other parts of the state where wildfires are not a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the commission’s recent report said that while “the home insurance market is not in crisis yet,” the state is “marching toward a future where home insurance will be increasingly unavailable and/or unaffordable” for Californians in high-risk fire areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission focused on areas known as the wildland urban interface, or WUI, which refers to regions where homes are built near forests or other wildlands threatened by wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In evaluating whether to subsidize homeowners insurance in the WUI, policymakers need to consider whether the state wants to encourage more people to move into the WUI,” the report states. “We believe doing so will lead to more deaths and injuries of both residents and first responders, destruction of property, loss of homes, more damages to be paid by utilities … consequent costs to shareholders and utility ratepayers, and more costs for local, state and federal governments and taxpayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Discounts for Clearing Brush?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer advocate Amy Bach, executive director of the insurance consumer group United Policyholders, agrees that the current risk-based system should not be changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because at its core, she says, insurance is “basically just a very kind of informed gambling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you buy insurance, you’re basically transferring your risk onto the insurance company,” she said. “The insurance company looks at you and says, ‘OK what is this person’s risk profile? How old are they? How responsible are they? What’s their history? … ‘ They’re just deciding, what is this risk worth that I’m taking on, and what am I going to charge this person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, the insurance commissioner, said he is trying to figure out how to “incentivize more of the admitted market insurers to stay in” high-risk areas to ensure lower prices and consumer protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that’s a lot to ask in some of these communities,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he noted that California is the largest market in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a massive market for the insurance companies. I don’t think it behooves them to leave the market. But also we have to figure out how we learn to coexist and how do we ensure that the market is robust so that they can pay out the claims and we can continue with our daily lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that could be requiring insurance companies to offer lower prices to individuals and communities that invest in materials and initiatives that make them less vulnerable to fire. That could include \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1943058/whos-checking-homes-for-flammable-brush-in-some-high-risk-areas-maybe-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clearing the area\u003c/a> around a home of dangerous brush that can ignite during a wildfire, or building homes with more fire-resistant materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara said his office is pushing insurance companies to consider those sorts of discounts, similar to the discounts they give good drivers, for example. He said the industry is open to the concept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry is indeed exploring the idea, says Mark Sektnan, of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. But to make it work, companies would need entire communities to participate in reducing a wildfire threat, because fires come with a uniquely unfortunate risk compared to other natural disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you mitigate your house for a hurricane or earthquake — whatever you do for your house directly benefits you, whatever your neighbors don’t do, doesn’t negatively impact you,” Sektnan said. “Wildfire is the one catastrophe where you may take all the correct actions, but if none of your neighbors do, the effectiveness of your own mitigations are not as good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sektnan said this kind of communitywide approach is already being taken in at least one market, where the county of Boulder in Colorado is partnering with insurers to bring down everyone’s rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara agreed that collective action is key, saying the state now needs to think about how to ensure communities work together to harden themselves against wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also wants to simplify insurance contracts so that consumers have a better idea of their coverage ahead of a disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we create smarter contracts so that people can clearly understand what they’re covered [for], what they’re paying?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Climate Questions Loom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, personal property insurance isn’t the only insurance question looming over California, as climate change is not only making wildfires more destructive, but it’s raising broader questions about the state’s resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, state firefighting costs have exploded in recent years, so Lara is pushing legislation that would let the state take out insurance to cover those cost overruns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders are also debating the possibility of a multibillion dollar wildfire insurance fund that would help protect the state’s utilities against financial ruin when they’re found liable for fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Lara is also exploring more out-of-the-box ideas, such as taking out insurance policies on natural resource like wetlands or forests that are threatened by climate change but whose existence actually helps mitigate its effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lara, a former state lawmaker, authored legislation in 2018 to create a working group to address the broader question of climate change and insurance; that group will start meeting soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are we most vulnerable as a state? Where are we most at risk? ” he said. “We know, for example in the Bay Area, the wetlands around the bay are critical, and we have to make sure that they’re strong and they’re thriving so that we could defend against potential flooding or sea level rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other parts of the world, this is already happening. For example, a coral reef off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, was recently insured in a collaboration between the government and nongovernmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world’s already starting to figure out how do we bring in the insurance industry in our united front against climate change,” Lara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, California must do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jon Brooks contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One",
"headTitle": "Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s one of the most confounding sights of California’s recent firestorms: One home is completely destroyed, and another right next door is still standing, even untouched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\"]Cal Fire inspected just 17% of properties in 2018 in areas where the agency is responsible for checking defensible space, according to a KQED analysis of almost a half-million inspection records. That is just over half of the agency’s 33% goal.[/pullquote]Might be luck. Or it could be because that homeowner took care of the property’s “defensible space,” an area around the building where flammable brush and grass have been cut back, depriving the fire of fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say even a few homes surrounded by too much growth can put an entire neighborhood at risk. So in many parts of the state, inspectors go door to door, checking a home’s defensible space and issuing citations for violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a KQED investigation has found homes and buildings in Northern California, in some of the most at-risk fire areas in the state, are rarely inspected \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by Cal Fire, the state firefighting agency responsible for checking defensible space in much of California\u003c/span>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one Cal Fire region in the Sierra Nevada, just 6% of properties were inspected in 2018. In the Bay Area, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties in its jurisdiction that includes Napa and Sonoma counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in Southern California coastal counties, county fire departments are checking homes at much higher rates, with some counties looking at 100% of properties and sending homeowners multiple reminders to make their houses safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be doing more, doing better,” said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension, after reviewing the findings. “We need to have more people aware they live on a fire-prone landscape and taking action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\" citation=\"Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale\"]‘Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.’[/pullquote]Cal Fire, for its part, says it’s struggling to meet its inspection goals due to a lack of inspectors and resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many Californians, a defensible space inspection will be the only exposure to wildfire planning they get.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not too many other ways people will learn about the vulnerability of their own home other than having an inspector or firefighter at their property,” Moritz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lake County: Many Fires, Few Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One place struggling to enforce defensible space is also one of the hardest hit by wildfires in recent years: Lake County, just north of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cal Fire unit that covers Lake County inspected just 12% of properties in its overall region in 2018. Local fire departments have also tried to do inspections, but have been busy with the catastrophic fires of recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, the \u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1226\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Valley Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> burned almost 2,000 homes and structures in the county. Then came the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1390\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clayton Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2016, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1876\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulphur Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2017 and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6073/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mendocino Complex\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2018. That four-county blaze was the largest in state history, scorching 717 square miles, a bigger area than is taken up by the cities of Houston or Phoenix.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1943083\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_190607C.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve burned up about 45 percent of our county land mass,” said Willie Sapeta, fire chief for the Lake County Fire Protection District. “Lake County as a whole is suffering from PTSD just because everyone is so traumatized by it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sapeta has seen first-hand the difference that maintaining defensible space can make. In 2015, the Clayton Fire was racing through tall grass and brush on the outskirts of the town of Lower Lake. But it slowed down when it approached the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum; there, the grasses had been mowed within 100 feet of the wooden building, creating a buffer. The shrubs around the museum also had large gaps between them, another important defensible space tactic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The museum, and the buildings behind it, were left untouched by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Definitely a big part of Lower Lake was saved by having that defensible space in place,” Sapeta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the hills remain covered with dead, blackened trees, but the undergrowth has sprung back, fed by this winter’s abundant rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the scars of wildfire still visible, Sapeta says, many homeowners still haven’t cleared their defensible space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Life happens,” he said. “They’ve got kids. They’ve got jobs. And then all of a sudden they don’t realize we’re in June and all that brush is right up against their home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighters in Sapeta’s fire district, one of several covering the county, try to make defensible space inspections when they can. But mostly they’re responding to emergency calls like fires, car crashes and heart attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943085\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943085\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-768x722.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-1020x959.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake County, where Willie Sapeta leads the fire protection district, passed a defensible space ordinance for the first time this year. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To really educate homeowners and enforce the rules, Sapeta says, he needs dedicated inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to have a fire prevention program where I’ve got a staff of six or eight people,” he said. “Nothing more in the world I’d love, to be able to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the funds, however, aren’t there. “It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake County’s Board of Supervisors passed its first defensible space ordinance earlier this year, despite the opposition of some members of the public concerned about the cost of clearing their properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even without additional funding, inspectors are visiting homes for the first time. To do that, the planning department is temporarily pulling building inspectors off their jobs to focus on vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Other counties are in the same boat, particularly like Butte and Shasta counties,” said Mary Jane Montana, Lake County’s chief building official. “None of us have a lot money, and we’re faced with the same thing. So, we kind of just had to say, ‘We’re doing it this year.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Everybody Wants to Save Their Community’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire safety is very different in other parts of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\" citation=\"Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta, on the lack of defensible space inspections in Lake County\"]‘It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.’[/pullquote]“All these homes have chimneys,” said Charles Butler, code enforcement officer for San Diego Fire-Rescue, squinting at a row of suburban homes. “Another thing I look for is tree canopy up over the chimney. That is a violation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler enters the information on an iPad, something he does at thousands of homes every year. He’s one of five inspectors responsible for about 45,000 homes in San Diego’s wildland-urban interface, where houses are nestled against open space or rugged canyons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he finds dead brush or tall weeds, he leaves the homeowner a notice about what to fix, with several weeks to comply. The city then does another inspection, and if the work still isn’t complete, follows up a third time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If problems persist, the city hires a contractor to clear the brush. The owner is then on the hook for the cost, and a lien is put on their property. The city has to resort to this process, called “forced abatement,” on a few dozen properties each year, often at \u003ca href=\"https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/science-environment/this-company-will-clear-fire-hazards-from-your-property-whether-you-asked-it-to-or-not/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">considerable cost \u003c/a>to the owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people who don’t follow the rules are elderly or financially burdened, says Marcy Garcia\u003cstrong>,\u003c/strong> San Diego Fire-Rescue’s code compliance supervisor. In those cases, the city tries to connect violators with local fire-safe councils, the community-led groups that have \u003ca href=\"http://firesafesdcounty.org/dsap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grants or have other resources\u003c/a> available to help get the work done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943081\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943081\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-160x143.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-768x685.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-1020x910.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego code enforcement officer Charles Butler enters defensible space inspection data. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Garcia says the overall compliance rate is high because the city provides crucial reminders to homeowners who may care about fire safety but haven’t gotten around to fixing their property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially in the areas where there have been fires before, they’re very receptive to it,” said Garcia. “Everybody wants to save their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cal Fire Struggling\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to local governments, Cal Fire is also responsible for enforcing defensible space regulations, for more than 750,000 homes and buildings within 31 million acres that fall outside city and town limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But across that territory, Cal Fire is struggling to meet its inspection goals, especially in rural Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A defensible space law, passed in 2005, \u003ca href=\"http://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requires a 100-foot buffer\u003c/a> around homes in fire zones. From zero to 30 feet, homeowners must create a “lean and green” zone by trimming trees so they don’t hang over roofs and clearing dead grass and brush. Between 30 and 100 feet, they must keep shrubs spaced apart and grasses mowed to 4 inches or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our goal is to inspect every property in our responsibility area every three years,” said Steven Hawks, deputy chief for Cal Fire’s wildland fire-prevention engineering program. “Defensible space is a critical component to a home surviving a wildland fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire reports it’s close to its goal. From July 2017 through June 2018, it completed 217,666 inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But doesn’t mean Cal Fire visited 217,666 properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED analysis of almost a half- million inspection records shows the agency’s inspection rate was just 17% of properties in 2018, far below the agency’s 33% goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason for the discrepancy is that Cal Fire includes multiple trips to the same properties that failed a first inspection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also includes visits in areas where responsibility for inspections has been handed to county fire departments. And those rates are dramatically higher than Cal Fire’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Orange County and Ventura County fire departments each inspect 100% of properties in risky fire zones every year. The Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County fire departments get to around 60%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Cal Fire sends money to those counties, as well as Marin and Kern, because they do their own firefighting, it generally doesn’t cover the costs of their entire defensible space programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943088\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 750px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1943088\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s defensible space law requires managing vegetation 100 feet around structures. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Achieving those high inspection rates takes substantial county investment. Some county fire departments have dedicated teams of year-round inspectors, while others rely on firefighting engine crews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does take resources and commitment, but we do it because it’s one of the most important programs in the department,” says Ventura County Fire Marshal Massoud Araghi. “This is what we believe will save structures and will help our firefighters be safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Araghi estimated a 99.9% compliance rate from the county’s homeowners, something he attributes to annual inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very important the time period is consistent,” he said. “Everyone knows they have to have it clean by a certain time. If you have long periods of time in between, you won’t be successful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Resources Lacking\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some high-risk fire areas where Cal Fire does inspections, properties receive dramatically few inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the low end, just 6% of properties received inspections in 2018 by the Cal Fire unit that covers the Sierra Nevada counties of Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento and Alpine. At that rate, which has remained mostly consistent since 2010, each property would be visited about once every 16 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same pattern is found in the nearby rural counties of Nevada, Yuba, Placer, Sierra and Sutter, where 7% of properties were inspected in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties, where recent fires have been historically devastating, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire gives several reasons for the low numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, the agency hires between four and six defensible space inspectors in each of its 21 units throughout the state, but those inspectors are only funded to work three months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in 2011, that money came from a $152 annual fee on homeowners within Cal Fire’s jurisdiction\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>But the levy was opposed by many in rural counties who saw it as an added tax, and in 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to suspend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Cal Fire’s defensible space funding has come from revenue generated by the state’s cap-and-trade program, designed to lower carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without more funding, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Hawks says, it will be tough to increase the inspection rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another issue is that inspectors are not distributed in proportion to the number of properties in each region. A Cal Fire unit that covers 35,000 properties has four seasonal inspectors, for example, but one with double that number has just six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943091\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943091\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-160x131.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-768x630.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-1020x837.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire firefighter Tony Kochis discusses defensible space with a homeowner in Yountville, California in 2014. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We should look at the numbers like you’re looking at them,” Hawks told KQED. “We may have some units that have a larger number of parcels than others, and they should get more of the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has the power to hire contractors to clean up properties when homeowners don’t comply, but it’s not something the agency currently does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t really have the staff to accomplish that mission,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, Hawks says, Cal Fire hasn’t been able to hire enough people to take care of its defensible space responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not been able to fill our defensible space inspectors in every unit every year,” he said. “So having enough qualified people on the list to fill our positions is important.” Hawks could not provide numbers for how many positions have gone unfilled or the reasons why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, some inspections are done by the agency’s firefighters during down times. But with fire seasons getting longer and more intense, there hasn’t been much of that in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s difficult with the fire seasons being the way they’ve been,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Doubling Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers in Sacramento are now considering a bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 1516\u003c/a>, that mandates Cal Fire do inspections at a rate double what it does now. The bill requires the agency to inspect properties once every three years, beginning in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to change the way that we think about clearing the foliage off of private property,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale. “Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would also create new defensible space rules specifically for the zone within five feet of a building, something many defensible space experts recommend. Cal Fire would be responsible for identifying which kinds of plants homeowners aren’t allowed to grow in that zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say absolutely the zero-to-5 feet is the most important place to focus on,” said Alexandra Syphard, chief scientist at Sage Underwriters, a company that evaluates the fire risk of homes for the insurance industry. “The things that tend to be the most important are those things that are right up against the house: trees overhanging your roof, vegetation that’s touching the structure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many homes are ignited by embers that are blown ahead of a wildfire as opposed to actually being lit by flames. If a tree or bush next to a house catches fire that way, it can spread to the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defensible space can reduce that risk and also give firefighters the necessary space to maneuver and defend a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t have to be drastic,” said Syphard. “You can still have a lot of vegetation on your property, but reducing it by at least 20% is a critical threshold where you do significantly improve survival chances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she cautions that there’s no guarantee a home will be spared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of homes with more defensible space than is even required are still destroyed by fires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With many Californians struggling to get fire insurance policies, there’s also a push for insurance companies to consider the maintenance of defensible space when setting rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to look at how do we allow Californians to get maybe a discount for mitigating wildfire risk, for hardening their home … similar to what we give in terms of discounts for good drivers,” said Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner. “We’re pushing insurance companies now, and surprisingly they’re coming to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has not said what doubling inspections would cost, but if AB 1516 passes, the agency would request the funding as part of its annual budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do need more resources for Cal Fire,” said Assemblymember Friedman. “I do believe that Governor Newsom is very serious about investing to make our communities more resilient to fire and he’ll see the wisdom in investing in these kinds of programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"780\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://kqednews.carto.com/builder/eb7d93a3-2cc8-410e-826a-22d3e7e97721/embed\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A KQED investigation found homes and buildings in rural parts of Northern California, in some of the state's most fire-prone areas, are rarely inspected for brush and grass that can ignite and put whole neighborhoods in jeopardy.",
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"description": "A KQED investigation found homes and buildings in rural parts of Northern California, in some of the state's most fire-prone areas, are rarely inspected for brush and grass that can ignite and put whole neighborhoods in jeopardy.",
"title": "Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One | KQED",
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"headline": "Who’s Checking Your Neighborhood for Flammable Brush? Maybe No One",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s one of the most confounding sights of California’s recent firestorms: One home is completely destroyed, and another right next door is still standing, even untouched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "Cal Fire inspected just 17% of properties in 2018 in areas where the agency is responsible for checking defensible space, according to a KQED analysis of almost a half-million inspection records. That is just over half of the agency’s 33% goal.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Might be luck. Or it could be because that homeowner took care of the property’s “defensible space,” an area around the building where flammable brush and grass have been cut back, depriving the fire of fuel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say even a few homes surrounded by too much growth can put an entire neighborhood at risk. So in many parts of the state, inspectors go door to door, checking a home’s defensible space and issuing citations for violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a KQED investigation has found homes and buildings in Northern California, in some of the most at-risk fire areas in the state, are rarely inspected \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by Cal Fire, the state firefighting agency responsible for checking defensible space in much of California\u003c/span>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one Cal Fire region in the Sierra Nevada, just 6% of properties were inspected in 2018. In the Bay Area, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties in its jurisdiction that includes Napa and Sonoma counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in Southern California coastal counties, county fire departments are checking homes at much higher rates, with some counties looking at 100% of properties and sending homeowners multiple reminders to make their houses safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be doing more, doing better,” said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension, after reviewing the findings. “We need to have more people aware they live on a fire-prone landscape and taking action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cal Fire, for its part, says it’s struggling to meet its inspection goals due to a lack of inspectors and resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many Californians, a defensible space inspection will be the only exposure to wildfire planning they get.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not too many other ways people will learn about the vulnerability of their own home other than having an inspector or firefighter at their property,” Moritz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lake County: Many Fires, Few Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One place struggling to enforce defensible space is also one of the hardest hit by wildfires in recent years: Lake County, just north of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cal Fire unit that covers Lake County inspected just 12% of properties in its overall region in 2018. Local fire departments have also tried to do inspections, but have been busy with the catastrophic fires of recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, the \u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1226\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Valley Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> burned almost 2,000 homes and structures in the county. Then came the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1390\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clayton Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2016, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1876\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulphur Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2017 and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6073/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mendocino Complex\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2018. That four-county blaze was the largest in state history, scorching 717 square miles, a bigger area than is taken up by the cities of Houston or Phoenix.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1943083\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_190607C.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve burned up about 45 percent of our county land mass,” said Willie Sapeta, fire chief for the Lake County Fire Protection District. “Lake County as a whole is suffering from PTSD just because everyone is so traumatized by it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sapeta has seen first-hand the difference that maintaining defensible space can make. In 2015, the Clayton Fire was racing through tall grass and brush on the outskirts of the town of Lower Lake. But it slowed down when it approached the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum; there, the grasses had been mowed within 100 feet of the wooden building, creating a buffer. The shrubs around the museum also had large gaps between them, another important defensible space tactic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The museum, and the buildings behind it, were left untouched by the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Definitely a big part of Lower Lake was saved by having that defensible space in place,” Sapeta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the hills remain covered with dead, blackened trees, but the undergrowth has sprung back, fed by this winter’s abundant rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the scars of wildfire still visible, Sapeta says, many homeowners still haven’t cleared their defensible space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Life happens,” he said. “They’ve got kids. They’ve got jobs. And then all of a sudden they don’t realize we’re in June and all that brush is right up against their home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighters in Sapeta’s fire district, one of several covering the county, try to make defensible space inspections when they can. But mostly they’re responding to emergency calls like fires, car crashes and heart attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943085\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943085\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-800x752.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-768x722.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county-1020x959.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/lake-county.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake County, where Willie Sapeta leads the fire protection district, passed a defensible space ordinance for the first time this year. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To really educate homeowners and enforce the rules, Sapeta says, he needs dedicated inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to have a fire prevention program where I’ve got a staff of six or eight people,” he said. “Nothing more in the world I’d love, to be able to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the funds, however, aren’t there. “It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake County’s Board of Supervisors passed its first defensible space ordinance earlier this year, despite the opposition of some members of the public concerned about the cost of clearing their properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even without additional funding, inspectors are visiting homes for the first time. To do that, the planning department is temporarily pulling building inspectors off their jobs to focus on vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Other counties are in the same boat, particularly like Butte and Shasta counties,” said Mary Jane Montana, Lake County’s chief building official. “None of us have a lot money, and we’re faced with the same thing. So, we kind of just had to say, ‘We’re doing it this year.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Everybody Wants to Save Their Community’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire safety is very different in other parts of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It takes everything we have just to keep our doors open. The small rural counties just don’t have the resources.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“All these homes have chimneys,” said Charles Butler, code enforcement officer for San Diego Fire-Rescue, squinting at a row of suburban homes. “Another thing I look for is tree canopy up over the chimney. That is a violation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler enters the information on an iPad, something he does at thousands of homes every year. He’s one of five inspectors responsible for about 45,000 homes in San Diego’s wildland-urban interface, where houses are nestled against open space or rugged canyons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he finds dead brush or tall weeds, he leaves the homeowner a notice about what to fix, with several weeks to comply. The city then does another inspection, and if the work still isn’t complete, follows up a third time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If problems persist, the city hires a contractor to clear the brush. The owner is then on the hook for the cost, and a lien is put on their property. The city has to resort to this process, called “forced abatement,” on a few dozen properties each year, often at \u003ca href=\"https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/science-environment/this-company-will-clear-fire-hazards-from-your-property-whether-you-asked-it-to-or-not/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">considerable cost \u003c/a>to the owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people who don’t follow the rules are elderly or financially burdened, says Marcy Garcia\u003cstrong>,\u003c/strong> San Diego Fire-Rescue’s code compliance supervisor. In those cases, the city tries to connect violators with local fire-safe councils, the community-led groups that have \u003ca href=\"http://firesafesdcounty.org/dsap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grants or have other resources\u003c/a> available to help get the work done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943081\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943081\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-800x714.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-160x143.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-768x685.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire-1020x910.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/san-diego-fire.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego code enforcement officer Charles Butler enters defensible space inspection data. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Garcia says the overall compliance rate is high because the city provides crucial reminders to homeowners who may care about fire safety but haven’t gotten around to fixing their property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially in the areas where there have been fires before, they’re very receptive to it,” said Garcia. “Everybody wants to save their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cal Fire Struggling\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to local governments, Cal Fire is also responsible for enforcing defensible space regulations, for more than 750,000 homes and buildings within 31 million acres that fall outside city and town limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But across that territory, Cal Fire is struggling to meet its inspection goals, especially in rural Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A defensible space law, passed in 2005, \u003ca href=\"http://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requires a 100-foot buffer\u003c/a> around homes in fire zones. From zero to 30 feet, homeowners must create a “lean and green” zone by trimming trees so they don’t hang over roofs and clearing dead grass and brush. Between 30 and 100 feet, they must keep shrubs spaced apart and grasses mowed to 4 inches or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our goal is to inspect every property in our responsibility area every three years,” said Steven Hawks, deputy chief for Cal Fire’s wildland fire-prevention engineering program. “Defensible space is a critical component to a home surviving a wildland fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire reports it’s close to its goal. From July 2017 through June 2018, it completed 217,666 inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But doesn’t mean Cal Fire visited 217,666 properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED analysis of almost a half- million inspection records shows the agency’s inspection rate was just 17% of properties in 2018, far below the agency’s 33% goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason for the discrepancy is that Cal Fire includes multiple trips to the same properties that failed a first inspection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also includes visits in areas where responsibility for inspections has been handed to county fire departments. And those rates are dramatically higher than Cal Fire’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Orange County and Ventura County fire departments each inspect 100% of properties in risky fire zones every year. The Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County fire departments get to around 60%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Cal Fire sends money to those counties, as well as Marin and Kern, because they do their own firefighting, it generally doesn’t cover the costs of their entire defensible space programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943088\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 750px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1943088\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/KQEDScience_Defensible_SideBar_190607B-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s defensible space law requires managing vegetation 100 feet around structures. \u003ccite>(Teodros Hailye/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Achieving those high inspection rates takes substantial county investment. Some county fire departments have dedicated teams of year-round inspectors, while others rely on firefighting engine crews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does take resources and commitment, but we do it because it’s one of the most important programs in the department,” says Ventura County Fire Marshal Massoud Araghi. “This is what we believe will save structures and will help our firefighters be safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Araghi estimated a 99.9% compliance rate from the county’s homeowners, something he attributes to annual inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very important the time period is consistent,” he said. “Everyone knows they have to have it clean by a certain time. If you have long periods of time in between, you won’t be successful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Resources Lacking\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some high-risk fire areas where Cal Fire does inspections, properties receive dramatically few inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the low end, just 6% of properties received inspections in 2018 by the Cal Fire unit that covers the Sierra Nevada counties of Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento and Alpine. At that rate, which has remained mostly consistent since 2010, each property would be visited about once every 16 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same pattern is found in the nearby rural counties of Nevada, Yuba, Placer, Sierra and Sutter, where 7% of properties were inspected in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties, where recent fires have been historically devastating, Cal Fire inspected just 12% of properties last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire gives several reasons for the low numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, the agency hires between four and six defensible space inspectors in each of its 21 units throughout the state, but those inspectors are only funded to work three months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in 2011, that money came from a $152 annual fee on homeowners within Cal Fire’s jurisdiction\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>But the levy was opposed by many in rural counties who saw it as an added tax, and in 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to suspend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Cal Fire’s defensible space funding has come from revenue generated by the state’s cap-and-trade program, designed to lower carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without more funding, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Hawks says, it will be tough to increase the inspection rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another issue is that inspectors are not distributed in proportion to the number of properties in each region. A Cal Fire unit that covers 35,000 properties has four seasonal inspectors, for example, but one with double that number has just six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1943091\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1943091\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-800x657.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-160x131.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-768x630.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited-1020x837.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/Cal-fire-edited.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire firefighter Tony Kochis discusses defensible space with a homeowner in Yountville, California in 2014. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We should look at the numbers like you’re looking at them,” Hawks told KQED. “We may have some units that have a larger number of parcels than others, and they should get more of the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has the power to hire contractors to clean up properties when homeowners don’t comply, but it’s not something the agency currently does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t really have the staff to accomplish that mission,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, Hawks says, Cal Fire hasn’t been able to hire enough people to take care of its defensible space responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not been able to fill our defensible space inspectors in every unit every year,” he said. “So having enough qualified people on the list to fill our positions is important.” Hawks could not provide numbers for how many positions have gone unfilled or the reasons why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, some inspections are done by the agency’s firefighters during down times. But with fire seasons getting longer and more intense, there hasn’t been much of that in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s difficult with the fire seasons being the way they’ve been,” Hawks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Doubling Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers in Sacramento are now considering a bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 1516\u003c/a>, that mandates Cal Fire do inspections at a rate double what it does now. The bill requires the agency to inspect properties once every three years, beginning in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to change the way that we think about clearing the foliage off of private property,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale. “Having one property that’s badly out of compliance can put an entire neighborhood at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would also create new defensible space rules specifically for the zone within five feet of a building, something many defensible space experts recommend. Cal Fire would be responsible for identifying which kinds of plants homeowners aren’t allowed to grow in that zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say absolutely the zero-to-5 feet is the most important place to focus on,” said Alexandra Syphard, chief scientist at Sage Underwriters, a company that evaluates the fire risk of homes for the insurance industry. “The things that tend to be the most important are those things that are right up against the house: trees overhanging your roof, vegetation that’s touching the structure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many homes are ignited by embers that are blown ahead of a wildfire as opposed to actually being lit by flames. If a tree or bush next to a house catches fire that way, it can spread to the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defensible space can reduce that risk and also give firefighters the necessary space to maneuver and defend a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t have to be drastic,” said Syphard. “You can still have a lot of vegetation on your property, but reducing it by at least 20% is a critical threshold where you do significantly improve survival chances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she cautions that there’s no guarantee a home will be spared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of homes with more defensible space than is even required are still destroyed by fires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With many Californians struggling to get fire insurance policies, there’s also a push for insurance companies to consider the maintenance of defensible space when setting rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to look at how do we allow Californians to get maybe a discount for mitigating wildfire risk, for hardening their home … similar to what we give in terms of discounts for good drivers,” said Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner. “We’re pushing insurance companies now, and surprisingly they’re coming to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire has not said what doubling inspections would cost, but if AB 1516 passes, the agency would request the funding as part of its annual budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do need more resources for Cal Fire,” said Assemblymember Friedman. “I do believe that Governor Newsom is very serious about investing to make our communities more resilient to fire and he’ll see the wisdom in investing in these kinds of programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"780\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://kqednews.carto.com/builder/eb7d93a3-2cc8-410e-826a-22d3e7e97721/embed\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em; float: left; line-height: 0.733em; padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0; font-family: times, serif, georgia;\">A\u003c/span>s California wildfires scar more lives and char more property year after year, residents must now grapple with the distinct possibility of opening their front door one day to the sight of a raging inferno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be sure, fire has always been a part of life in the state, and it always will — many landscapes are actually unhealthy without periodic blazes. What’s new is the increasing scale of catastrophe and the corresponding toll on human life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fires of 2017 were the worst on record, that is, until the fires of 2018. Of the \u003ca href=\"http://fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/top20_destruction.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">top 20\u003c/a> most destructive California wildfires, 10 have occured since 2015. Of the top 10, seven have burned over the last four years. (See sidebar.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\"]Why Are Wildfires Getting Worse?\u003cbr>\n\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/06/GettyImages-591627312.jpg\">\u003cbr>\nThe threat from wildfire comes partly from weak building codes, a lack of fire breaks, and poorly thought out evacuation routes, and partly from a history of logging big trees, which were replaced with those that are smaller and more flammable. More than a century of fire suppression has also resulted in the accumulation of scrub vegetation and other fuels that cover the forest floor and contribute to hotter, more destructive flames. And climate change has altered fire behavior, making it more unpredictable.[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does It Have to Be This way?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the great question,” said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley, before thinking for a moment. “No. In a lot of ways, it could be better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation can’t be fixed easily or quickly, not even in the next decade or two, Stephens says. “But you can change the trajectory of where we’re headed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians could have safer homes, healthier forests, cleaner air and a drastically reduced risk of catastrophic fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this future requires sweeping changes in fire management, state and local policy, and individual behavior, California has a history of making bold changes and coming out the better. Stephens thinks the state can do it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this became a priority for health, for our kids, our grandkids and everybody else, it would just happen. It’s not like something that’s impossible,” he said. “It’s going to take time, but we really need to think about this and move a little bit decisively.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, in eight stories, we examine some of the issues Californians will need to grapple with if we’re going to adapt to the increasing wildfire threat. We’re calling the series “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Living With Wildfire: California Reimagined\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can We Make Sure It Never Happens Again?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"small\"]10 Most Destructive Fires in California\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Camp Fire, Nov. 2018; 85 deaths; 18,804 structures destroyed; 153,336 acres burned in Butte County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Tubbs, Oct. 2017; 22 deaths; 5,636 structures; 36,807 acres; Napa and Sonoma counties\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Tunnel, Oct. 1991; 25 deaths; 2,900 structures; 1,600 acres; Alameda County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cedar, Oct. 2003; 15 deaths; 2,820 structures; 273,246 acres; San Diego County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Valley, Sept. 2015; 4 deaths; 1,955 structures; 76,067 acres; Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Witch, Oct. 2007; 2 deaths; 1,650 structures; 197,990 acres; San Diego County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Woolsey, Nov. 2018; 3 deaths; 1,643 structures; 96,949 acres; Ventura County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Carr, July 2018; 8 deaths; 1,614 structures; 229,651 acres; Shasta, Trinity counties\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>CZU August Complex, Aug. 2020; 1 death; 1,490 structures; 85,467 acres; Santa Cruz County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>LNU Lightning Complex, Aug. 2020; 5 deaths; 1,457 structures; 375,209 acres; Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo & Solano counties\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[/pullquote]The Camp Fire that ripped through the communities of Paradise and Concow last November was the deadliest blaze anywhere in the United States in 100 years. It killed 85 people, more than the Loma Prieta earthquake, and left a path of ash and ruin that stunned people across the state. The devastation was so severe, the obvious question is:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can we prevent it from happening again?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many may think a California constantly aflame is the state’s inevitable future. But it seems worth remembering that transformations around public safety rarely come easily or unprompted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Americans were in a similar moment in 1912, after the sinking of the Titanic. It wasn’t the first time a ship had gone down, but the disaster was so high-profile, so shocking, that the public demanded immediate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the moment the ship sank, it became clear that there hadn’t been provision to save everybody’s life on the ship,” said Steven Biel, a Harvard Historian and author of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1426951.Down_with_the_Old_Canoe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Down with the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1941412\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1941412 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Sto%CC%88wer_Titanic-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sinking of the Titanic prompted swift safety overhauls for the shipping industry. Untergang der Titanic (“Sinking of the Titanic”) by Willy Stöwer, 1912\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The shipbuilders, from their perspective, took safety seriously. In fact, they’d installed more than the required number of lifeboats on board. But that number was based on a vessel’s tonnage, not on how many people it carried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so there was a huge outcry about this,” Biel said. “And that’s really what led to change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within two years, new safety regulations were adopted worldwide, a common — and not unreasonable — reaction to catastrophes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things about the story of disasters is that we don’t want them to be meaningless,” said Biel. “We want some good to have come from this … so that supposedly this kind of thing, whatever the disaster is, will never happen again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Collective Safety Versus Personal Freedom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If California is to do all it can to prevent disasters like the 2018 Camp Fire, it will mean working through some contentious issues. Are there some locations where we shouldn’t rebuild? Should we fine homeowners who don’t clear vegetation? Can we agree on how to manage forests?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grappling with these questions will call on Californians to evaluate competing priorities. In some cases, personal freedom and property rights may be pitted against collective safety and the common good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That debate also played out during the years the country came to grips with its cigarette problem. The first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 identified smoking as a cause of lung cancer. The first major studies demonstrating a link between second-hand smoke and lung cancer were published in 1981. Yet, smoking in public places such as restaurants persisted for many years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People simply took it for granted that the indoor spaces were going to be contaminated with tobacco smoke,” said James Repace, an anti-smoking advocate who helped pass some of the first nonsmoking bills in New England in the late 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1941870 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-1020x1294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"440\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-1020x1294.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-160x203.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-800x1015.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-768x974.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-946x1200.jpg 946w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\">“At the time, the thought of telling people they couldn’t smoke wherever they liked was unthinkable,” Repace said. That started to shift when public information campaigns taught people about the dangers of breathing tobacco smoke. “You know, you might have the right to smoke, but you don’t have a right to let your smoke make other people sick.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grassroots pressure and the political will to change led to prioritizing public health over individual desire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So it did take a generation,” said Repace. “But with respect to climate issues, we don’t have a generation. Time is running out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California state Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://sd03.senate.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Dodd\u003c/a>, whose district includes areas burned during the 2017 Wine Country fires, already sees an attitude change among his constituents. Dodd says the once unpalatable idea of fining homeowners who don’t maintain what fire officials call “\u003ca href=\"https://calfire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/DefensibleSpaceFlyer.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defensible space\u003c/a>” around their homes is seeming more reasonable to those who lived through recent conflagrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of government intrusion in their life,” said Dodd, characterizing the public’s change of thinking, “this is something where we all have to work together to protect not only your land, but your neighbor’s land as well, because if you don’t, that puts your neighbor in harm’s way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Americans have made great strides toward solving a host of problems. The air used to be dirtier, rivers more polluted, food-safety regulations nonexistent. Acid rain once fell from the sky and the ozone hole continually grew. These issues, if not totally behind us, are vastly improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is hope for our ecosystems to be more fire resilient, better adapted to climate change,” Scott Stephens said. “So there really is hope, a way to step forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does It Have to Be This way?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the great question,” said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley, before thinking for a moment. “No. In a lot of ways, it could be better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation can’t be fixed easily or quickly, not even in the next decade or two, Stephens says. “But you can change the trajectory of where we’re headed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians could have safer homes, healthier forests, cleaner air and a drastically reduced risk of catastrophic fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this future requires sweeping changes in fire management, state and local policy, and individual behavior, California has a history of making bold changes and coming out the better. Stephens thinks the state can do it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this became a priority for health, for our kids, our grandkids and everybody else, it would just happen. It’s not like something that’s impossible,” he said. “It’s going to take time, but we really need to think about this and move a little bit decisively.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, in eight stories, we examine some of the issues Californians will need to grapple with if we’re going to adapt to the increasing wildfire threat. We’re calling the series “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Living With Wildfire: California Reimagined\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can We Make Sure It Never Happens Again?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "10 Most Destructive Fires in California\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Camp Fire, Nov. 2018; 85 deaths; 18,804 structures destroyed; 153,336 acres burned in Butte County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Tubbs, Oct. 2017; 22 deaths; 5,636 structures; 36,807 acres; Napa and Sonoma counties\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Tunnel, Oct. 1991; 25 deaths; 2,900 structures; 1,600 acres; Alameda County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cedar, Oct. 2003; 15 deaths; 2,820 structures; 273,246 acres; San Diego County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Valley, Sept. 2015; 4 deaths; 1,955 structures; 76,067 acres; Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Witch, Oct. 2007; 2 deaths; 1,650 structures; 197,990 acres; San Diego County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Woolsey, Nov. 2018; 3 deaths; 1,643 structures; 96,949 acres; Ventura County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Carr, July 2018; 8 deaths; 1,614 structures; 229,651 acres; Shasta, Trinity counties\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>CZU August Complex, Aug. 2020; 1 death; 1,490 structures; 85,467 acres; Santa Cruz County\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>LNU Lightning Complex, Aug. 2020; 5 deaths; 1,457 structures; 375,209 acres; Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo & Solano counties\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Camp Fire that ripped through the communities of Paradise and Concow last November was the deadliest blaze anywhere in the United States in 100 years. It killed 85 people, more than the Loma Prieta earthquake, and left a path of ash and ruin that stunned people across the state. The devastation was so severe, the obvious question is:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can we prevent it from happening again?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many may think a California constantly aflame is the state’s inevitable future. But it seems worth remembering that transformations around public safety rarely come easily or unprompted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Americans were in a similar moment in 1912, after the sinking of the Titanic. It wasn’t the first time a ship had gone down, but the disaster was so high-profile, so shocking, that the public demanded immediate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the moment the ship sank, it became clear that there hadn’t been provision to save everybody’s life on the ship,” said Steven Biel, a Harvard Historian and author of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1426951.Down_with_the_Old_Canoe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Down with the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1941412\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1941412 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Sto%CC%88wer_Titanic-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/05/20120507201420Stöwer_Titanic.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sinking of the Titanic prompted swift safety overhauls for the shipping industry. Untergang der Titanic (“Sinking of the Titanic”) by Willy Stöwer, 1912\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The shipbuilders, from their perspective, took safety seriously. In fact, they’d installed more than the required number of lifeboats on board. But that number was based on a vessel’s tonnage, not on how many people it carried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so there was a huge outcry about this,” Biel said. “And that’s really what led to change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within two years, new safety regulations were adopted worldwide, a common — and not unreasonable — reaction to catastrophes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things about the story of disasters is that we don’t want them to be meaningless,” said Biel. “We want some good to have come from this … so that supposedly this kind of thing, whatever the disaster is, will never happen again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Collective Safety Versus Personal Freedom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If California is to do all it can to prevent disasters like the 2018 Camp Fire, it will mean working through some contentious issues. Are there some locations where we shouldn’t rebuild? Should we fine homeowners who don’t clear vegetation? Can we agree on how to manage forests?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grappling with these questions will call on Californians to evaluate competing priorities. In some cases, personal freedom and property rights may be pitted against collective safety and the common good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That debate also played out during the years the country came to grips with its cigarette problem. The first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 identified smoking as a cause of lung cancer. The first major studies demonstrating a link between second-hand smoke and lung cancer were published in 1981. Yet, smoking in public places such as restaurants persisted for many years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People simply took it for granted that the indoor spaces were going to be contaminated with tobacco smoke,” said James Repace, an anti-smoking advocate who helped pass some of the first nonsmoking bills in New England in the late 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1941870 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-1020x1294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"440\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-1020x1294.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-160x203.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-800x1015.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-768x974.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09-946x1200.jpg 946w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/babies_09.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\">“At the time, the thought of telling people they couldn’t smoke wherever they liked was unthinkable,” Repace said. That started to shift when public information campaigns taught people about the dangers of breathing tobacco smoke. “You know, you might have the right to smoke, but you don’t have a right to let your smoke make other people sick.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grassroots pressure and the political will to change led to prioritizing public health over individual desire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So it did take a generation,” said Repace. “But with respect to climate issues, we don’t have a generation. Time is running out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California state Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://sd03.senate.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Dodd\u003c/a>, whose district includes areas burned during the 2017 Wine Country fires, already sees an attitude change among his constituents. Dodd says the once unpalatable idea of fining homeowners who don’t maintain what fire officials call “\u003ca href=\"https://calfire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/DefensibleSpaceFlyer.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defensible space\u003c/a>” around their homes is seeming more reasonable to those who lived through recent conflagrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of government intrusion in their life,” said Dodd, characterizing the public’s change of thinking, “this is something where we all have to work together to protect not only your land, but your neighbor’s land as well, because if you don’t, that puts your neighbor in harm’s way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Americans have made great strides toward solving a host of problems. The air used to be dirtier, rivers more polluted, food-safety regulations nonexistent. Acid rain once fell from the sky and the ozone hole continually grew. These issues, if not totally behind us, are vastly improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is hope for our ecosystems to be more fire resilient, better adapted to climate change,” Scott Stephens said. “So there really is hope, a way to step forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "In the Age of Fast-Moving Fires, What's the Best Way to Get People Out?",
"headTitle": "In the Age of Fast-Moving Fires, What’s the Best Way to Get People Out? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em; float: left; line-height: 0.733em; padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0; font-family: times, serif, georgia;\">F\u003c/span>oresthill Road, which extends from Interstate 80 deep into the Tahoe National Forest, is a beautiful drive. Well-paved and scenic, it takes you across the North Fork American River over the breathtaking Foresthill Bridge, one of the tallest spans in the country. As you move farther from the highway and closer to the Sierra Nevada Foothills, it’s the density of the growing number of trees lining each side of the roadway that claims your attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\"]New ideas on how to protect residents when the entire community is engulfed in flames include ditching a single ‘this way out’ evacuation route.[/pullquote]The road’s 5-star \u003ca href=\"https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32396-d113865-r275617274-Foresthill_Divide-Foresthill_California.html\">TripAdvisor rating\u003c/a> makes sense; it’s the kind of drive you take for fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, it’s also the source of considerable anxiety for Foresthill, a community of around 1,500 residents. That’s because there’s only a single main route in and out of town, and Foresthill Road, with one narrow lane going and one narrow lane coming, is it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Potential Disaster\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a wildfire, you could imagine, the roads would clutter with the cars of panicking people all trying to make it out of town one step ahead of the flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s something Gary Kirk thinks about. A lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A single ingress-egress is not good for a community,” said Kirk, a volunteer firefighter for decades who worked his way up to captain at the Foresthill Fire Protection District. He’s retired now and spends his time as director of the Foresthill Fire Safe Council, a nonprofit group working to keep residents prepared for wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knows this community inside and out — what makes it prone to wildfire danger and what makes it a beautiful place to live. He’s hunted and fished in the area for years, and he loves living in the forest. But in the event of a wildfire, he said, Foresthill Road could be disastrous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know Paradise. I’ve been there several times. And Skyway was just like Foresthill Road,” he said, referring to the main route out of the town that last year became \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/paradise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">synonymous\u003c/a> with lethal California fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compared to Paradise, according to a USA Today-California Network \u003ca href=\"https://www.apnews.com/6f621c1c54734d0b95d374556c2cf5c0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis\u003c/a> of wildfire evacuation routes, Foresthill actually has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190504/few-ways-out-escape-routes-limited-in-california-towns-at-risk-from-fires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">worse population-to-lane ratio\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kirk’s not the only one who worries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s a big concern for most of the people here,” said Shonne Elgin, a resident since 1989.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942699\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942699\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-800x546.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-800x546.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-768x524.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-1020x696.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-1200x819.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Foresthill Road in Foresthill, California is the only main route in and out of town. \u003ccite>(Lindsey Moore/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘The Fire Was Outrunning Us’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Camp Fire swept through Paradise in November 2018, residents took to Skyway en masse, and 27,000 people, with flames bearing down, were caught in gridlock. Some residents abandoned their cars to flee on foot. Others were found dead in their vehicles. For some who made it out, it took up to 10 hours to get to an evacuation center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fire was outrunning us, in terms of our ability to notify people, get evacuations done, before we even knew we were in a race.” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">told\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">KQED\u003c/a> in the aftermath of the catastrophe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are there better ways to notify people? Are there better ways to conduct evacuations? Those are all things that I want to look at, perhaps have studies done, to determine if there are lessons to be learned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Honea said, nothing could have prepared Butte County and Paradise for the disaster of the Camp Fire. The town and county indeed had an \u003ca href=\"https://www.townofparadise.com/index.php/residents/emergency-services-information\">evacuation\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.townofparadise.com/index.php/residents/emergency-services-information\">plan\u003c/a>, one that included dividing the town into 14 zones, the creation of assembly areas, and even a fire drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The systems that the county put in place helped to get tens of thousands of people to safety, Honea said, but they still couldn’t defend against the speed of the Camp Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is the system perfect?” he said. “There’s no system that is ever perfect.”\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rethinking Evacuations\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many other towns living under the threat of wildfire don’t have a plan, perfect or not. A recent USA Today California Network \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article229547244.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">survey\u003c/a> found that just 22 percent of at-risk communities have robust evacuation plans available to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Placer County, which would oversee an evacuation of Foresthill, is working on its own blueprint for leaving town during a wildfire, and officials hope to have it finished this summer. But it’s not necessarily one you might expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think that we’re going to come up with a specific evacuation route — that this is the way you have to go out. And that’s just not the case, because the fire’s going to predict how we’re going to do the evacuation,” said Ty Conners, a sergeant with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, who works as the station commander for Colfax and Foresthill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conners was a first responder during the Camp Fire and saw for himself what happens when an entire community tries to leave on one road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had a very good evacuation plan,” Conners said. “Only thing is, that fire was moving so fast that even if you have the best plan, you can’t beat the fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing the devastation in Butte County has caused Conners to re-examine town evacuations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Giving people an evacuation route, trying to get them out— yeah, it’s important,” he said. “But if you’re not going to be able to do it … divert people to these temporary safe refuge areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is that if you have a fast-moving fire and only one way out, residents would be directed to somewhere in town with defensible space and fewer trees, making it safe to take shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Foresthill, Conners said, that could be the local high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Foresthill High School has a huge area of clear-cut,” he said. “That’s a place that’s a temporary safe refuge for people to congregate and go while the actual fire front pushes through, and then you can evacuate them out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Simulating Disaster\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temporary refuge could indeed be the answer when there’s a fast-moving fire and limited escape routes, says Dapeng Li, an assistant professor of geography at South Dakota State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many places we can use as the shelters,” Li said. “For example, places like high schools, where there are a lot of open spaces, or other facilities in town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Li studies wildfire evacuations by overlaying fire progression models with traffic simulations to see how incoming flames can influence exit plans, making them dynamic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could use a traffic simulation model to estimate how much time we would need for the community to evacuate,” he said. “If we don’t have enough lead time, we might need to ask them to go to those shelters or to shelter in place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using this modeling technique, Li said, a community can virtually explore an infinite number of evacuation scenarios when it comes to how a wildfire progresses. For example, officials might see what would happen when a fire is spreading from a particular direction and shutting down a specific portion of roadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can also do simulations [for] if we build a new evacuation route,” Li said. “That could be used for planning and transportation purposes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is that if emergency managers were to model different wildfire situations, they could devise multiple plans from which to choose when disaster strikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California counties could make use of similar models in order to create contingency evacuation plans, Li said, but it would take time, resources and a lot of training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we are to make an evacuation plan, we need to consider different scenarios,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942701\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942701\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Kirk, Foresthill Firesafe Council director, outside of the Foresthill fire station, May 20, 2019. \u003ccite>(Lindsey Moore/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It Starts With an Alert\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if a community has foolproof and adaptable evacuation protocols in place, there’s still the matter of letting residents know there’s a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During both the Camp Fire and the North Bay fires of 2017, county officials came under scrutiny for using so-called “opt-in” alert systems, which only sent emergency notifications to people if they’d signed up for the service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Butte County, that emergency system is called “\u003ca href=\"https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/BFA19C579EA5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Code Red\u003c/a>.” In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, many residents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">told\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">KQED\u003c/a> they didn’t learn about the fire from officials, but rather through word of mouth, media reports, or actually seeing or smelling flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services released statewide \u003ca href=\"http://calalerts.org/documents/2019-CA-Alert-Warning-Guidelines.pdf\">guidelines\u003c/a> for counties on how to issue emergency alerts. The 85-page document suggests a number of ways communities can better prepare for disasters, including using Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEA, a system run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that allows geo-targeted notifications to be sent, much like an amber alert, to every cellphone in a given area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The guidelines provide “consistency across all of our 58 counties and jurisdictions,” said Cal OES director Mark Ghilarducci. While the suggested protocols stop short of requiring use of WEA, Ghilarducci hopes they’ll push communities in the right direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without establishing a mandate, [we] recommend the use of WEA and the expectation [is] that all of the counties would use WEA,” he said. “And this guideline was put together as a collaborative effort with our local government partners, and every indication is that that will become the standard bearer in the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials in Placer County are prepared to use WEA in the event of a devastating fire in Foresthill, according to Holly Powers, the county’s assistant director of emergency services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our alerting protocol is across the board,” she said, noting that in some remote areas WEA may not be enough to reach every resident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something that a lot of people may not realize is that WEA is based on cell towers and cell data,” Powers said. “So if you have a fire that burns down a cell tower, even if I sent a WEA alert, it’s not going to be able to go through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Be Prepared’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For isolated areas like Foresthill, where cell service could be an issue, it’s important for people to know one another and to stay informed, says Gary Kirk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where his Fire Safe Council comes in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This time of the year is when we start really ramping up to get this information out to people,” Kirk said. “We do hold meetings once a month, and we get the community together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also communities in the area certified by the National Fire Protection Association’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Firewise USA program\u003c/a>, Kirk said. The program teaches wildfire preparedness and fire safety initiatives, such as brush clearing. Kirk said these communities could potentially serve as temporary refuge during a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the entire town isn’t showing up to Kirk’s monthly meetings. But the idea is that if you get some people informed, they’ll spread the word about what to do in the event of a fire, until eventually everyone is living and breathing fire safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a chain reaction that we try to create,” he said. “And it works.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, for a community like Foresthill, there’s no real formula for an evacuation where everything goes just right. If you’re living in an isolated and fire-prone area, the most important thing is:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Always be ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=pfbEcMeYFFA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "During the Camp Fire, residents of Paradise, California took to the one main road out of town, and it quickly became a parking lot. So some communities and academics are looking at new ways to evacuate during a fast-moving blaze.",
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"description": "During the Camp Fire, residents of Paradise, California took to the one main road out of town, and it quickly became a parking lot. So some communities and academics are looking at new ways to evacuate during a fast-moving blaze.",
"title": "In the Age of Fast-Moving Fires, What's the Best Way to Get People Out? | KQED",
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"headline": "In the Age of Fast-Moving Fires, What's the Best Way to Get People Out?",
"datePublished": "2019-06-03T00:01:34-07:00",
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"slug": "in-the-age-of-the-crazy-fast-fire-a-good-evacuation-plan-may-not-be-enough",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em; float: left; line-height: 0.733em; padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0; font-family: times, serif, georgia;\">F\u003c/span>oresthill Road, which extends from Interstate 80 deep into the Tahoe National Forest, is a beautiful drive. Well-paved and scenic, it takes you across the North Fork American River over the breathtaking Foresthill Bridge, one of the tallest spans in the country. As you move farther from the highway and closer to the Sierra Nevada Foothills, it’s the density of the growing number of trees lining each side of the roadway that claims your attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "New ideas on how to protect residents when the entire community is engulfed in flames include ditching a single ‘this way out’ evacuation route.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The road’s 5-star \u003ca href=\"https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32396-d113865-r275617274-Foresthill_Divide-Foresthill_California.html\">TripAdvisor rating\u003c/a> makes sense; it’s the kind of drive you take for fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, it’s also the source of considerable anxiety for Foresthill, a community of around 1,500 residents. That’s because there’s only a single main route in and out of town, and Foresthill Road, with one narrow lane going and one narrow lane coming, is it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Potential Disaster\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a wildfire, you could imagine, the roads would clutter with the cars of panicking people all trying to make it out of town one step ahead of the flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s something Gary Kirk thinks about. A lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A single ingress-egress is not good for a community,” said Kirk, a volunteer firefighter for decades who worked his way up to captain at the Foresthill Fire Protection District. He’s retired now and spends his time as director of the Foresthill Fire Safe Council, a nonprofit group working to keep residents prepared for wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knows this community inside and out — what makes it prone to wildfire danger and what makes it a beautiful place to live. He’s hunted and fished in the area for years, and he loves living in the forest. But in the event of a wildfire, he said, Foresthill Road could be disastrous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know Paradise. I’ve been there several times. And Skyway was just like Foresthill Road,” he said, referring to the main route out of the town that last year became \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/paradise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">synonymous\u003c/a> with lethal California fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compared to Paradise, according to a USA Today-California Network \u003ca href=\"https://www.apnews.com/6f621c1c54734d0b95d374556c2cf5c0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis\u003c/a> of wildfire evacuation routes, Foresthill actually has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190504/few-ways-out-escape-routes-limited-in-california-towns-at-risk-from-fires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">worse population-to-lane ratio\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kirk’s not the only one who worries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s a big concern for most of the people here,” said Shonne Elgin, a resident since 1989.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942699\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942699\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-800x546.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-800x546.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-768x524.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-1020x696.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire-1200x819.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-Wildfire.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Foresthill Road in Foresthill, California is the only main route in and out of town. \u003ccite>(Lindsey Moore/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘The Fire Was Outrunning Us’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Camp Fire swept through Paradise in November 2018, residents took to Skyway en masse, and 27,000 people, with flames bearing down, were caught in gridlock. Some residents abandoned their cars to flee on foot. Others were found dead in their vehicles. For some who made it out, it took up to 10 hours to get to an evacuation center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fire was outrunning us, in terms of our ability to notify people, get evacuations done, before we even knew we were in a race.” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">told\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">KQED\u003c/a> in the aftermath of the catastrophe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are there better ways to notify people? Are there better ways to conduct evacuations? Those are all things that I want to look at, perhaps have studies done, to determine if there are lessons to be learned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Honea said, nothing could have prepared Butte County and Paradise for the disaster of the Camp Fire. The town and county indeed had an \u003ca href=\"https://www.townofparadise.com/index.php/residents/emergency-services-information\">evacuation\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.townofparadise.com/index.php/residents/emergency-services-information\">plan\u003c/a>, one that included dividing the town into 14 zones, the creation of assembly areas, and even a fire drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The systems that the county put in place helped to get tens of thousands of people to safety, Honea said, but they still couldn’t defend against the speed of the Camp Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is the system perfect?” he said. “There’s no system that is ever perfect.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rethinking Evacuations\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many other towns living under the threat of wildfire don’t have a plan, perfect or not. A recent USA Today California Network \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article229547244.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">survey\u003c/a> found that just 22 percent of at-risk communities have robust evacuation plans available to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Placer County, which would oversee an evacuation of Foresthill, is working on its own blueprint for leaving town during a wildfire, and officials hope to have it finished this summer. But it’s not necessarily one you might expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think that we’re going to come up with a specific evacuation route — that this is the way you have to go out. And that’s just not the case, because the fire’s going to predict how we’re going to do the evacuation,” said Ty Conners, a sergeant with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, who works as the station commander for Colfax and Foresthill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conners was a first responder during the Camp Fire and saw for himself what happens when an entire community tries to leave on one road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had a very good evacuation plan,” Conners said. “Only thing is, that fire was moving so fast that even if you have the best plan, you can’t beat the fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing the devastation in Butte County has caused Conners to re-examine town evacuations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Giving people an evacuation route, trying to get them out— yeah, it’s important,” he said. “But if you’re not going to be able to do it … divert people to these temporary safe refuge areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is that if you have a fast-moving fire and only one way out, residents would be directed to somewhere in town with defensible space and fewer trees, making it safe to take shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Foresthill, Conners said, that could be the local high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Foresthill High School has a huge area of clear-cut,” he said. “That’s a place that’s a temporary safe refuge for people to congregate and go while the actual fire front pushes through, and then you can evacuate them out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Simulating Disaster\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temporary refuge could indeed be the answer when there’s a fast-moving fire and limited escape routes, says Dapeng Li, an assistant professor of geography at South Dakota State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many places we can use as the shelters,” Li said. “For example, places like high schools, where there are a lot of open spaces, or other facilities in town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Li studies wildfire evacuations by overlaying fire progression models with traffic simulations to see how incoming flames can influence exit plans, making them dynamic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could use a traffic simulation model to estimate how much time we would need for the community to evacuate,” he said. “If we don’t have enough lead time, we might need to ask them to go to those shelters or to shelter in place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using this modeling technique, Li said, a community can virtually explore an infinite number of evacuation scenarios when it comes to how a wildfire progresses. For example, officials might see what would happen when a fire is spreading from a particular direction and shutting down a specific portion of roadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can also do simulations [for] if we build a new evacuation route,” Li said. “That could be used for planning and transportation purposes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is that if emergency managers were to model different wildfire situations, they could devise multiple plans from which to choose when disaster strikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California counties could make use of similar models in order to create contingency evacuation plans, Li said, but it would take time, resources and a lot of training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we are to make an evacuation plan, we need to consider different scenarios,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942701\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942701\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Foresthill-evacuations-wildfire.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Kirk, Foresthill Firesafe Council director, outside of the Foresthill fire station, May 20, 2019. \u003ccite>(Lindsey Moore/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It Starts With an Alert\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if a community has foolproof and adaptable evacuation protocols in place, there’s still the matter of letting residents know there’s a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During both the Camp Fire and the North Bay fires of 2017, county officials came under scrutiny for using so-called “opt-in” alert systems, which only sent emergency notifications to people if they’d signed up for the service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Butte County, that emergency system is called “\u003ca href=\"https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/BFA19C579EA5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Code Red\u003c/a>.” In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, many residents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">told\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11711175/butte-county-to-reassess-emergency-alert-system-in-aftermath-of-camp-fire\">KQED\u003c/a> they didn’t learn about the fire from officials, but rather through word of mouth, media reports, or actually seeing or smelling flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services released statewide \u003ca href=\"http://calalerts.org/documents/2019-CA-Alert-Warning-Guidelines.pdf\">guidelines\u003c/a> for counties on how to issue emergency alerts. The 85-page document suggests a number of ways communities can better prepare for disasters, including using Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEA, a system run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that allows geo-targeted notifications to be sent, much like an amber alert, to every cellphone in a given area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The guidelines provide “consistency across all of our 58 counties and jurisdictions,” said Cal OES director Mark Ghilarducci. While the suggested protocols stop short of requiring use of WEA, Ghilarducci hopes they’ll push communities in the right direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without establishing a mandate, [we] recommend the use of WEA and the expectation [is] that all of the counties would use WEA,” he said. “And this guideline was put together as a collaborative effort with our local government partners, and every indication is that that will become the standard bearer in the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials in Placer County are prepared to use WEA in the event of a devastating fire in Foresthill, according to Holly Powers, the county’s assistant director of emergency services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our alerting protocol is across the board,” she said, noting that in some remote areas WEA may not be enough to reach every resident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something that a lot of people may not realize is that WEA is based on cell towers and cell data,” Powers said. “So if you have a fire that burns down a cell tower, even if I sent a WEA alert, it’s not going to be able to go through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Be Prepared’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For isolated areas like Foresthill, where cell service could be an issue, it’s important for people to know one another and to stay informed, says Gary Kirk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where his Fire Safe Council comes in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This time of the year is when we start really ramping up to get this information out to people,” Kirk said. “We do hold meetings once a month, and we get the community together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also communities in the area certified by the National Fire Protection Association’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Firewise USA program\u003c/a>, Kirk said. The program teaches wildfire preparedness and fire safety initiatives, such as brush clearing. Kirk said these communities could potentially serve as temporary refuge during a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the entire town isn’t showing up to Kirk’s monthly meetings. But the idea is that if you get some people informed, they’ll spread the word about what to do in the event of a fire, until eventually everyone is living and breathing fire safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a chain reaction that we try to create,” he said. “And it works.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, for a community like Foresthill, there’s no real formula for an evacuation where everything goes just right. If you’re living in an isolated and fire-prone area, the most important thing is:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Always be ready.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pfbEcMeYFFA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pfbEcMeYFFA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Town Unites Against Federal Mismanagement to Save Forest",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em; float: left; line-height: 0.733em; padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0; font-family: times, serif, georgia;\">T\u003c/span>he forest once tore this town apart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the northwest corner of California, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildview?wid=611\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trinity Alps\u003c/a> tumble down to Weaverville, a community of around 3,600 people. Below the subalpine mountains, the basin has a more Mediterranean climate, and summers are dry as a bone. Most of Trinity County is federal land, including two national forests. Their complex landscape of oak woodland is thick with manzanita brush, mixed with chaparral and dense, creeping pines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\"]In the northwest corner of California, residents assumed local control of the forest through an agreement with the federal government. ‘We assume it’s someone else’s responsibility at our peril,” said Nick Goulette, director of a local land stewardship group. ‘We have to save ourselves.’[/pullquote]Tensions over clear-cut logging and the fate of spotted owls once turned the county into a battleground, sharpening a sprawling argument to a fine point in the 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You either wanted to exploit the forest or protect it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things have changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As trees across the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers national forests have become drought-stressed and overcrowded, basically all but asking to burn, it’s the forest that has brought people back together. Now, a locally driven partnership forged to make a small community forest healthier is kindling a wider push for resilience and reducing fire risk across the entire county. Community members say a key \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1927354/controlled-burns-can-help-solve-californias-fire-problem-so-why-arent-there-more-of-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">strategy\u003c/a> will be preventing what are often high-intensity wildfires by implementing lower-intensity prescribed burns to eradicate chip-dry tinder and grasses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There will be fire on this entire landscape. Do we want it to be controlled or do we want it to be out of control?” said Alex Cousins, a lifelong county resident. “We need to leave these forests ready to accept fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After Prescribed Burn, Wildfire ‘Just Laid Down’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preparing for fire has already helped suppress one near Weaverville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forested slopes bear the scars of five wildfires, which threatened the community over the last two decades. In August 2014, a spark from a boat that had come off its trailer hit Highway 299 and lifted into the tree crowns. The resulting flames, which turned into the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/145826/california-wildfire-roundup-blaze-burns-close-to-weaverville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oregon Fire\u003c/a>, raced across the tight canopy, forcing evacuations and threatening the high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine months before, however, federal and local partners removed some trees and thinned brush in an area called Five Cent Gulch. They then lit a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3815317.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prescribed fire\u003c/a> to burn away remaining brush, logs, snags and forest debris. So when the Oregon Fire came along to threaten the area, the lack of heavy fuel on the land slowed it down, enabling crews and tanker planes to catch up and gain control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942718\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 320px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-1200x899.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"479\" class=\"size-complete_open_graph wp-image-1942718\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-1200x899.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dylan Sheedy, a ‘burn boss’ with The Watershed Center in Trinity County, torches piles of manzanita brusch cleared from private land in Hayfork, California.\u003cbr> \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The fire ran head on into this thinned and burned unit, and the fire just laid down,” said Nick Goulette, who directs the Watershed Center, a local land stewardship group. “My home was evacuated as a part of that fire, so I was very thankful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five Cent Gulch is located within the \u003ca href=\"https://tcrcd.net/wcf/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Weaverville Community Forest\u003c/a>, made up of some 13,000 acres \u003ca href=\"https://www.tcrcd.net/wcf/pdf/WCF_Master_Stewardship_Agreement_USFS_2019_Signed.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">governed\u003c/a> by one of the first federal master stewardship agreements in the country. Authorized by Congress in 2003, these arrangements permit communities and other interested parties to support and fund restoration projects on forest land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing more and more collaboratives not only be formed but also be effective in terms of trying to deal with forest health issues,” said Al Olson, who directs ecosystem services for the U.S. Forest Service across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing fire risk through active management has been a goal of the community forest since its inception, says Kelly Sheen, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tcrcd.net/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trinity County Resource Conservation District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>Not\u003c/em> managing it is not an effective tool for managing the forest,” Sheen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing fuels by thinning the understory, removing trees to open up canopy, and burning what’s left on the ground is the strategy that scientists and policymakers say California forests need. Last year, Cal Fire announced it intended to triple the amount of land it treats in order to reduce risk. The U.S. Forest Service says its goal in 2019 is to treat 250,000 acres by either reducing and rearranging vegetation or with prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Weaverville, working with the federal government to utilize more fire on the Trinity County landscape has been a huge shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Common Foe\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 1980s and ‘90s, the heat of the Timber Wars poured into every public space in the area, says Bob Morris, a 45-year Trinity County resident and environmentalist. In a small town, there’s no place to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was terrible,” Morris said. “Death threats were common. People were arming themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It got so bad, parents told their children not to walk in front of windows at night. Morris’ neighbor, a logger named Clarence Rose, became, literally, his enemy, and Rose felt the same way about him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, a common foe emerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What got people talking again was what Morris calls the “dysfunctionality” of federal forest management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Environmentalists saw it, industry saw it, and that was our first unifying ‘we have something in common,’ that was the first thing that we saw.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942719\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Trinity River Lumber Mill, the last mill open in the county, has been modified since the ‘Timber Wars’ of the 1990s to handle small- to medium-sized logs, the kind that are cut through ecologically responsible thinning. \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Morris and Rose shared a growing concern about decisions made by the U.S. Forest Service in Shasta -Trinity. Then, in 1999, the Bureau of Land Management \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/us/controlled-blaze-that-wasn-t-haunts-firefighters-in-california.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost control\u003c/a> of a prescribed fire, which accidentally destroyed 23 homes in Lewiston. Around the same time, BLM proposed a land swap with a private timber company of nearly 1,000 acres near Weaverville, a trade that would have likely clear-cut trees out of some of the best views in town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That proposal galvanized local concern for the forest. After years of negotiations, those BLM acres became the first patch of the Weaverville Community Forest. Ever since, the former enemies, environmentalist Bob Morris and ex-logger Clarence Rose, have served as two of the land’s informal stewards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once you find areas of agreement, you can make huge progress,” said Morris. “Dissimilar interests finding common ground and working together, it’s been huge, a huge change after 40 years of polarization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the start, the community has stuck to certain values: fire reduction, preserving views and recreational access, and responsible timber harvesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m proud of it, actually,” Morris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he and the other stewards hope their community forest is only the beginning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ecologically Responsible Thinning\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his boyhood, Kelly Sheen says, the forest was just a playground, the place where he ate from invasive blackberry plants and roamed off undermaintained trails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I took it for granted,” Sheen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" citation=\"Alex Cousins, Trinity County Collaborative\"]‘We’re tired of living in smoke.’[/pullquote]Now, as chief local steward for the Weaverville Community Forest, he has mapped its every inch. Timber sales and restoration projects have improved the forest’s health, and there’s a new understanding of the benefits that prescribed burns can bring to the ecology of the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larger and more deadly blazes like the Carr Fire only amplify the risk of a catastrophe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have started thinking about things on a much more holistic level and across the landscape,” Sheen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing the community forest as a success, he and other stewards take part in the Trinity County Collaborative, a group formed to expand the application of local values to a wider swath of forest whose health is mixed, at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, some forest stands are \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/core/lw/2.0/html/tileshop_pmc/tileshop_pmc_inline.html?title=Click%20on%20image%20to%20zoom&p=PMC3&id=4321274_pnas.1410186112fig02.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">five times as dense\u003c/a> as in the past. Oaks and conifers increasingly compete for nutrients and water, while invasive beetles threaten pines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire scientists generally \u003ca href=\"https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/files/research/projects/WildfireCommonGround.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agree\u003c/a> on what might help forest lands in Trinity County and Northern California. But while “brush-crushing” and removal of some trees make sense, these practices alone don’t make a forest healthier. That’s why locals here say adding fire back to the landscape has to be the linchpin of any restoration strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Weaverville Community Forest, three timber sales have yielded funds, called “retained receipts,” that have helped pay for restoration initiatives, including the one at Five Cent Gulch. Several members of the Trinity County Collaborative say this model could work across Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers national forests, as well as throughout the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates like Sheen, Goulette and Morris, who represent different factions and priorities on forest issues, are united in distinguishing ecologically responsible thinning from the logging practices of the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of this isn’t just based on what we want, it’s based on science,” said Alex Cousins, another collaborative member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cousins used to have Sheen’s job running the Weaverville Community Forest. Now he sells timber for the Trinity River Lumber Company, the last of what was once 14 mills in the county and the area’s largest private employer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sustainable, restoration-focused local economy is a collaborative goal, too, Cousins says. “We’ve got all of our eggs in this basket,” he said. “We want to see these forests managed, we want to see this mill as a part of that, not as a sole reason for that. And we’re tired of living in smoke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Trinity County, the choice to use the forest or protect it no longer seems binary. Among forest stewards, the idea now is to do a bit of both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Federal Underfunding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all the change in local values, the federal government still controls most of the county’s land, and federal budgets still don’t reflect the vision that’s taken root in Weaverville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data compiled by the nonprofit news organization Climate Central shows that across California, the U.S. Forest Service spends more than five times as much on suppressing fires as it does on prescribed burns and preparing for fire’s inevitable return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, most fires on federal land are still uncontrolled, and they’re often high-intensity. Planned burns are used on only about a tenth as much land as the U.S. Forest Service says it wants to actively manage for fire risk each year. Meanwhile, in that same time period, wildfires have burned 10 times as many acres in California’s federal forests as were treated in prescribed fires, according to an analysis of the Climate Central data by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why people here aren’t waiting for the federal government or state authorities. Or, for that matter, the local fire department. The Watershed Center’s Nick Goulette says those agencies and institutions won’t save us. If a community wants to protect its values and its land, the message from Weaverville is clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We assume it’s someone else’s responsibility at our peril,” Goulette says. “We have to save ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "In the northwest corner of California, residents assumed local control of the forest through an agreement with the federal government. ‘We assume it’s someone else’s responsibility at our peril,” said Nick Goulette, director of a local land stewardship group. ‘We have to save ourselves.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Tensions over clear-cut logging and the fate of spotted owls once turned the county into a battleground, sharpening a sprawling argument to a fine point in the 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You either wanted to exploit the forest or protect it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things have changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As trees across the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers national forests have become drought-stressed and overcrowded, basically all but asking to burn, it’s the forest that has brought people back together. Now, a locally driven partnership forged to make a small community forest healthier is kindling a wider push for resilience and reducing fire risk across the entire county. Community members say a key \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1927354/controlled-burns-can-help-solve-californias-fire-problem-so-why-arent-there-more-of-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">strategy\u003c/a> will be preventing what are often high-intensity wildfires by implementing lower-intensity prescribed burns to eradicate chip-dry tinder and grasses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There will be fire on this entire landscape. Do we want it to be controlled or do we want it to be out of control?” said Alex Cousins, a lifelong county resident. “We need to leave these forests ready to accept fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After Prescribed Burn, Wildfire ‘Just Laid Down’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preparing for fire has already helped suppress one near Weaverville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forested slopes bear the scars of five wildfires, which threatened the community over the last two decades. In August 2014, a spark from a boat that had come off its trailer hit Highway 299 and lifted into the tree crowns. The resulting flames, which turned into the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/145826/california-wildfire-roundup-blaze-burns-close-to-weaverville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oregon Fire\u003c/a>, raced across the tight canopy, forcing evacuations and threatening the high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine months before, however, federal and local partners removed some trees and thinned brush in an area called Five Cent Gulch. They then lit a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3815317.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prescribed fire\u003c/a> to burn away remaining brush, logs, snags and forest debris. So when the Oregon Fire came along to threaten the area, the lack of heavy fuel on the land slowed it down, enabling crews and tanker planes to catch up and gain control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942718\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 320px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-1200x899.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"479\" class=\"size-complete_open_graph wp-image-1942718\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-1200x899.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-controlled-burn.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dylan Sheedy, a ‘burn boss’ with The Watershed Center in Trinity County, torches piles of manzanita brusch cleared from private land in Hayfork, California.\u003cbr> \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The fire ran head on into this thinned and burned unit, and the fire just laid down,” said Nick Goulette, who directs the Watershed Center, a local land stewardship group. “My home was evacuated as a part of that fire, so I was very thankful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five Cent Gulch is located within the \u003ca href=\"https://tcrcd.net/wcf/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Weaverville Community Forest\u003c/a>, made up of some 13,000 acres \u003ca href=\"https://www.tcrcd.net/wcf/pdf/WCF_Master_Stewardship_Agreement_USFS_2019_Signed.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">governed\u003c/a> by one of the first federal master stewardship agreements in the country. Authorized by Congress in 2003, these arrangements permit communities and other interested parties to support and fund restoration projects on forest land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing more and more collaboratives not only be formed but also be effective in terms of trying to deal with forest health issues,” said Al Olson, who directs ecosystem services for the U.S. Forest Service across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing fire risk through active management has been a goal of the community forest since its inception, says Kelly Sheen, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tcrcd.net/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trinity County Resource Conservation District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>Not\u003c/em> managing it is not an effective tool for managing the forest,” Sheen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing fuels by thinning the understory, removing trees to open up canopy, and burning what’s left on the ground is the strategy that scientists and policymakers say California forests need. Last year, Cal Fire announced it intended to triple the amount of land it treats in order to reduce risk. The U.S. Forest Service says its goal in 2019 is to treat 250,000 acres by either reducing and rearranging vegetation or with prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Weaverville, working with the federal government to utilize more fire on the Trinity County landscape has been a huge shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Common Foe\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 1980s and ‘90s, the heat of the Timber Wars poured into every public space in the area, says Bob Morris, a 45-year Trinity County resident and environmentalist. In a small town, there’s no place to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was terrible,” Morris said. “Death threats were common. People were arming themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It got so bad, parents told their children not to walk in front of windows at night. Morris’ neighbor, a logger named Clarence Rose, became, literally, his enemy, and Rose felt the same way about him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, a common foe emerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What got people talking again was what Morris calls the “dysfunctionality” of federal forest management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Environmentalists saw it, industry saw it, and that was our first unifying ‘we have something in common,’ that was the first thing that we saw.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942719\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Weaverville-logging.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Trinity River Lumber Mill, the last mill open in the county, has been modified since the ‘Timber Wars’ of the 1990s to handle small- to medium-sized logs, the kind that are cut through ecologically responsible thinning. \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Morris and Rose shared a growing concern about decisions made by the U.S. Forest Service in Shasta -Trinity. Then, in 1999, the Bureau of Land Management \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/us/controlled-blaze-that-wasn-t-haunts-firefighters-in-california.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost control\u003c/a> of a prescribed fire, which accidentally destroyed 23 homes in Lewiston. Around the same time, BLM proposed a land swap with a private timber company of nearly 1,000 acres near Weaverville, a trade that would have likely clear-cut trees out of some of the best views in town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That proposal galvanized local concern for the forest. After years of negotiations, those BLM acres became the first patch of the Weaverville Community Forest. Ever since, the former enemies, environmentalist Bob Morris and ex-logger Clarence Rose, have served as two of the land’s informal stewards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once you find areas of agreement, you can make huge progress,” said Morris. “Dissimilar interests finding common ground and working together, it’s been huge, a huge change after 40 years of polarization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the start, the community has stuck to certain values: fire reduction, preserving views and recreational access, and responsible timber harvesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m proud of it, actually,” Morris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he and the other stewards hope their community forest is only the beginning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ecologically Responsible Thinning\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his boyhood, Kelly Sheen says, the forest was just a playground, the place where he ate from invasive blackberry plants and roamed off undermaintained trails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I took it for granted,” Sheen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now, as chief local steward for the Weaverville Community Forest, he has mapped its every inch. Timber sales and restoration projects have improved the forest’s health, and there’s a new understanding of the benefits that prescribed burns can bring to the ecology of the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larger and more deadly blazes like the Carr Fire only amplify the risk of a catastrophe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have started thinking about things on a much more holistic level and across the landscape,” Sheen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing the community forest as a success, he and other stewards take part in the Trinity County Collaborative, a group formed to expand the application of local values to a wider swath of forest whose health is mixed, at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, some forest stands are \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/core/lw/2.0/html/tileshop_pmc/tileshop_pmc_inline.html?title=Click%20on%20image%20to%20zoom&p=PMC3&id=4321274_pnas.1410186112fig02.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">five times as dense\u003c/a> as in the past. Oaks and conifers increasingly compete for nutrients and water, while invasive beetles threaten pines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire scientists generally \u003ca href=\"https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/files/research/projects/WildfireCommonGround.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agree\u003c/a> on what might help forest lands in Trinity County and Northern California. But while “brush-crushing” and removal of some trees make sense, these practices alone don’t make a forest healthier. That’s why locals here say adding fire back to the landscape has to be the linchpin of any restoration strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Weaverville Community Forest, three timber sales have yielded funds, called “retained receipts,” that have helped pay for restoration initiatives, including the one at Five Cent Gulch. Several members of the Trinity County Collaborative say this model could work across Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers national forests, as well as throughout the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates like Sheen, Goulette and Morris, who represent different factions and priorities on forest issues, are united in distinguishing ecologically responsible thinning from the logging practices of the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of this isn’t just based on what we want, it’s based on science,” said Alex Cousins, another collaborative member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cousins used to have Sheen’s job running the Weaverville Community Forest. Now he sells timber for the Trinity River Lumber Company, the last of what was once 14 mills in the county and the area’s largest private employer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sustainable, restoration-focused local economy is a collaborative goal, too, Cousins says. “We’ve got all of our eggs in this basket,” he said. “We want to see these forests managed, we want to see this mill as a part of that, not as a sole reason for that. And we’re tired of living in smoke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Trinity County, the choice to use the forest or protect it no longer seems binary. Among forest stewards, the idea now is to do a bit of both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Federal Underfunding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all the change in local values, the federal government still controls most of the county’s land, and federal budgets still don’t reflect the vision that’s taken root in Weaverville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data compiled by the nonprofit news organization Climate Central shows that across California, the U.S. Forest Service spends more than five times as much on suppressing fires as it does on prescribed burns and preparing for fire’s inevitable return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, most fires on federal land are still uncontrolled, and they’re often high-intensity. Planned burns are used on only about a tenth as much land as the U.S. Forest Service says it wants to actively manage for fire risk each year. Meanwhile, in that same time period, wildfires have burned 10 times as many acres in California’s federal forests as were treated in prescribed fires, according to an analysis of the Climate Central data by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why people here aren’t waiting for the federal government or state authorities. Or, for that matter, the local fire department. The Watershed Center’s Nick Goulette says those agencies and institutions won’t save us. If a community wants to protect its values and its land, the message from Weaverville is clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We assume it’s someone else’s responsibility at our peril,” Goulette says. “We have to save ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "This California Neighborhood Was Built to Survive a Wildfire. And It Worked",
"headTitle": "This California Neighborhood Was Built to Survive a Wildfire. And It Worked | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em; float: left; line-height: 0.733em; padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0; font-family: times, serif, georgia;\">I\u003c/span>n California, it’s a scene all too familiar: a late October day, the winds pick up, and a few sparks explode into a megafire, rapidly overtaking a community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2007, it was Rancho Santa Fe’s turn. It’s not a place you’d want to fight a fire — hundreds of homes sitting on rolling hillsides, surrounded by the scrubby chaparral common to northern San Diego County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"small\" citation=\"Erwin Willis, former Rancho Santa Fe fire chief\"]‘The same communities burn over and over and over again. How many times has Malibu burned? How many times has Santa Barbara burned? So if we don’t learn how to build in those areas, we’re going to keep losing lives and homes.’[/pullquote]“It doesn’t get any worse than this,” said Rancho Santa Fe Fire Chief Fred Cox, looking out at the tidy subdivisions from a hilltop. “This is about as steep as it comes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rancho Santa Fe, like so many other California communities, sits on the vulnerable border between development and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firefighters have a name for this: the wildland-urban interface. Essentially, it means things you don’t want to burn, like houses, have been built next to something that’s supposed to, the ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 21, 2007, the Santa Ana winds carried the \u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=225\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Witch Fire\u003c/a> into town, the flames funneled through low valleys or “avenues of fire,” as Cox calls them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was like raining fire,” he said. “I remember going down some streets down here, La Breccia, and it’s like, man, if I go down there, I don’t know if I’m going to make it back out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the fire actually hit, Cox had a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fire wasn’t even close, but we had homes burning,” he said. “I would drive down the road and it was, like: How did that house catch on fire?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942427\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1942427 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fire chief Fred Cox and forester Conor Lenehan look over the steep hillsides of Rancho Santa Fe. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The answer was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1917346/wildfires-can-attack-your-house-from-the-inside-heres-how-to-prevent-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">embers\u003c/a>, blown far ahead of the fire front. They’d land on a wood roof or leaf-filled gutter, or even get sucked into an attic vent. In many fires, the majority of homes are ignited this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cox and his crew rushed around the evacuated neighborhoods, trying to stop the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then they got to one subdivision that was, surprisingly, calm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The only thing we had to do was put out a couple palm trees and the plastic trash cans that were burning,” Cox said. “The houses were perfectly OK. It was amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The neighborhood had been designed and built with wildfire in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Built to Burn\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The transformation of Rancho Santa Fe into a fire-aware town had begun more than a decade earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I came into Rancho Santa Fe, I saw a community that was built to burn,” said Erwin Willis, who moved there to become fire chief in 1993 and has since retired. “It had large homes with shake roofs, narrow, windey roads, not a good water supply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" citation=\"Fred Cox, Rancho Santa Fe fire chief\"]‘We have a couple of inspectors, that’s all they do is check weeds and hazards, and it’s year-round … They get hammered every day until something happens, and then when something happens the people are really gracious.’[/pullquote]At the time, Rancho Santa Fe was growing, with new homes pushing farther into open space. Willis knew the risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The same communities burn over and over and over again,” he said. “How many times has Malibu burned? How many times has Santa Barbara burned? So if we don’t learn how to build in those areas, we’re going to keep losing lives and homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Willis started drafting \u003ca href=\"https://www.rsf-fire.org/new-construction/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new building codes\u003c/a> for his district, requiring installations proven to protect homes, like noncombustible roofs, noncombustible siding, fire sprinklers and double-pane windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea was far from mainstream at the time. It’s often more expensive to build homes with those features, and developers were concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 1996, fires broke out all over Southern California, including one in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942429\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1942429 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-1200x676.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2.jpg 1476w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes in Rancho Santa Fe have noncombustible roofs and siding. There’s also no street parking on narrow roads. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s generally much easier to get codes passed right after a fire,” Willis said. “So I took this code to our board right after that fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire district’s board voted to adopt the new building codes. But the first real test didn’t come until 11 years later, with the Witch Fire. Willis watched it approach from a fire station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I was just hoping it was going to work,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it did. No houses were lost in the newly built neighborhoods, while the older part of town lost about 50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long after, California passed similar building codes for all new homes built in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1917374/map-see-if-you-live-in-a-high-risk-fire-zone-and-what-that-means\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fire-hazard zones\u003c/a>, as designated by statewide Cal Fire maps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Year-Round Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, even fire-resistant homes become less safe over time, because individual residents make small decisions that collectively put the entire community at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Rancho Santa Fe has tried to change how residents think about fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some neighborhoods, street parking isn’t allowed in front of homes, since it would impede fire trucks on narrow roads. It’s not a popular rule when people want to throw a party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire district also strictly enforces state regulations governing weeds and brush. Californians in high fire-risk zones are required to manage vegetation within 100 feet of their homes, with the toughest requirements within 30 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That area is known as “\u003ca href=\"https://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defensible space\u003c/a>,” and meeting the requirements for maintaining it means clearing out dead leaves and brush, mowing weeds or grasses and establishing gaps between trees and shrubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enforcement of these rules is lax in some parts of the state, but not in Rancho Santa Fe. The fire district checks around 29,000 properties for compliance annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a couple of inspectors, that’s all they do is check weeds and hazards, and it’s year-round,” Cox said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire district has even \u003ca href=\"https://www.rsf-fire.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/116-Landscape_Plan_Check_Form.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed its own rules\u003c/a> above and beyond the state’s. No palm, pine or cypress trees are allowed within 30 feet of a home, because they’re too flammable. Mulch cannot be applied within 12 inches of a house, since it easily catches fire. Next year, the district expects to extend the mulch-free zone to 5 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If homeowners don’t comply with the rules, the district will hire a contractor to clear the vegetation, and the homeowner will get the bill. If they don’t pay, a lien can be put on their home to recoup the cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inspectors get a lot of pushback, Cox says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They get hammered every day until something happens, and then when something happens the people are really gracious,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942436\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-1200x676.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Northern Rancho Bernardo, hit by the 2007 Witch Fire. Homes are often ignited by embers that travel far ahead of wildfires, so while those homes burn, other homes can be left standing, even if they’re right next to each other. \u003ccite>(Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hardening Homes\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if a community takes all these steps to protect itself, there are no guarantees. Cal Fire says wildfires are becoming more unpredictable. The 2018 Carr Fire created a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1928143/reddings-firenado-was-not-your-garden-variety-fire-whirl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fire tornado\u003c/a> that lasted nearly an hour. And climate change is making fires more extreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no such thing as a truly fire-safe community,” Cox said. “They can be safer, but in the environment we live in, nothing’s truly safe, 100% safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some worry that having tougher codes will encourage the building of new housing developments in risky fire areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The argument for their approval is that they will use materials, up to the latest fire-safe building codes, and that they’ll have defensible space and great evacuation routes,” said Alexandra Syphard, a fire scientist with SAGE Underwriters. “Many of the homes that burned in the recent years in California had all of those features, and they still burned because the fire was burning under unbelievable wind conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rancho Santa Fe’s fire programs also require financial resources, something that’s easier to come by in a higher-income community. The fire district is funded by local taxes on the town’s multimillion dollar homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I get concerned … the only people that will be able to afford to live in natural environments will be the very wealthy,” said Chris Dicus, professor of wildland fire at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “They’ll be the ones who can afford getting through the planning process, the actual building, etc.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent fires have shown that California’s wildfire building codes have helped \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1940012/newer-houses-much-less-damaged-in-camp-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">save homes\u003c/a>. But the vast majority of houses at risk from wildfire were built before the 2008 regulations were put in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have communities like Paradise all up and down the Sierras that were built a long time ago,” Dicus said. “So those homes are at extreme risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Older homes can be retrofitted with fire-safe roofs or siding. Less expensive retrofits, such as covering attic vents with a fine mesh screen, can also make a difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, state lawmakers had been considering \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 38\u003c/a>, a bill that would have created a $1 billion fund to help homeowners make these improvements with low-interest loans or rebates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after the money wasn’t included in the May revision of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state budget, lawmakers removed the $1 billion amount. The legislation now creates the fund but without a specific number of dollars attached. It the bill passes, lawmakers will have to decide how much to fund it with in next year’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hardening homes is profoundly important,” Newsom said in May. “I look forward to working with the Legislature to see if we can identify money along the lines of what we do for earthquake retrofitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dicus says that to really make California safer, everyone at risk from fire will have to work consistently to prevent it, whether it’s clearing vegetation, fixing homes or preparing evacuation plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not going to be easy, but if we want to enjoy the quality of life here in California,” he said, “we’re going to have to make that a decision as a society to do so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As the 2007 Witch Fire engulfed the small town of Rancho Santa Fe in flames, some neighborhoods managed to escape burning. How did they do it? ",
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"description": "As the 2007 Witch Fire engulfed the small town of Rancho Santa Fe in flames, some neighborhoods managed to escape burning. How did they do it? ",
"title": "This California Neighborhood Was Built to Survive a Wildfire. And It Worked | KQED",
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"content": "‘The same communities burn over and over and over again. How many times has Malibu burned? How many times has Santa Barbara burned? So if we don’t learn how to build in those areas, we’re going to keep losing lives and homes.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It doesn’t get any worse than this,” said Rancho Santa Fe Fire Chief Fred Cox, looking out at the tidy subdivisions from a hilltop. “This is about as steep as it comes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rancho Santa Fe, like so many other California communities, sits on the vulnerable border between development and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firefighters have a name for this: the wildland-urban interface. Essentially, it means things you don’t want to burn, like houses, have been built next to something that’s supposed to, the ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 21, 2007, the Santa Ana winds carried the \u003ca href=\"http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=225\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Witch Fire\u003c/a> into town, the flames funneled through low valleys or “avenues of fire,” as Cox calls them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was like raining fire,” he said. “I remember going down some streets down here, La Breccia, and it’s like, man, if I go down there, I don’t know if I’m going to make it back out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the fire actually hit, Cox had a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fire wasn’t even close, but we had homes burning,” he said. “I would drive down the road and it was, like: How did that house catch on fire?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942427\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1942427 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fire chief Fred Cox and forester Conor Lenehan look over the steep hillsides of Rancho Santa Fe. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The answer was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1917346/wildfires-can-attack-your-house-from-the-inside-heres-how-to-prevent-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">embers\u003c/a>, blown far ahead of the fire front. They’d land on a wood roof or leaf-filled gutter, or even get sucked into an attic vent. In many fires, the majority of homes are ignited this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cox and his crew rushed around the evacuated neighborhoods, trying to stop the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then they got to one subdivision that was, surprisingly, calm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The only thing we had to do was put out a couple palm trees and the plastic trash cans that were burning,” Cox said. “The houses were perfectly OK. It was amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The neighborhood had been designed and built with wildfire in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Built to Burn\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The transformation of Rancho Santa Fe into a fire-aware town had begun more than a decade earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I came into Rancho Santa Fe, I saw a community that was built to burn,” said Erwin Willis, who moved there to become fire chief in 1993 and has since retired. “It had large homes with shake roofs, narrow, windey roads, not a good water supply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the time, Rancho Santa Fe was growing, with new homes pushing farther into open space. Willis knew the risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The same communities burn over and over and over again,” he said. “How many times has Malibu burned? How many times has Santa Barbara burned? So if we don’t learn how to build in those areas, we’re going to keep losing lives and homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Willis started drafting \u003ca href=\"https://www.rsf-fire.org/new-construction/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new building codes\u003c/a> for his district, requiring installations proven to protect homes, like noncombustible roofs, noncombustible siding, fire sprinklers and double-pane windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea was far from mainstream at the time. It’s often more expensive to build homes with those features, and developers were concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 1996, fires broke out all over Southern California, including one in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942429\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1942429 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2-1200x676.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/Rancho-santa-fe2.jpg 1476w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes in Rancho Santa Fe have noncombustible roofs and siding. There’s also no street parking on narrow roads. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s generally much easier to get codes passed right after a fire,” Willis said. “So I took this code to our board right after that fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire district’s board voted to adopt the new building codes. But the first real test didn’t come until 11 years later, with the Witch Fire. Willis watched it approach from a fire station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I was just hoping it was going to work,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it did. No houses were lost in the newly built neighborhoods, while the older part of town lost about 50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long after, California passed similar building codes for all new homes built in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1917374/map-see-if-you-live-in-a-high-risk-fire-zone-and-what-that-means\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fire-hazard zones\u003c/a>, as designated by statewide Cal Fire maps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Year-Round Inspections\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, even fire-resistant homes become less safe over time, because individual residents make small decisions that collectively put the entire community at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Rancho Santa Fe has tried to change how residents think about fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some neighborhoods, street parking isn’t allowed in front of homes, since it would impede fire trucks on narrow roads. It’s not a popular rule when people want to throw a party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire district also strictly enforces state regulations governing weeds and brush. Californians in high fire-risk zones are required to manage vegetation within 100 feet of their homes, with the toughest requirements within 30 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That area is known as “\u003ca href=\"https://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defensible space\u003c/a>,” and meeting the requirements for maintaining it means clearing out dead leaves and brush, mowing weeds or grasses and establishing gaps between trees and shrubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enforcement of these rules is lax in some parts of the state, but not in Rancho Santa Fe. The fire district checks around 29,000 properties for compliance annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a couple of inspectors, that’s all they do is check weeds and hazards, and it’s year-round,” Cox said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire district has even \u003ca href=\"https://www.rsf-fire.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/116-Landscape_Plan_Check_Form.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed its own rules\u003c/a> above and beyond the state’s. No palm, pine or cypress trees are allowed within 30 feet of a home, because they’re too flammable. Mulch cannot be applied within 12 inches of a house, since it easily catches fire. Next year, the district expects to extend the mulch-free zone to 5 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If homeowners don’t comply with the rules, the district will hire a contractor to clear the vegetation, and the homeowner will get the bill. If they don’t pay, a lien can be put on their home to recoup the cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inspectors get a lot of pushback, Cox says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They get hammered every day until something happens, and then when something happens the people are really gracious,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1942436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1942436\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited-1200x676.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2029/05/GettyImages-77479367-edited.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Northern Rancho Bernardo, hit by the 2007 Witch Fire. Homes are often ignited by embers that travel far ahead of wildfires, so while those homes burn, other homes can be left standing, even if they’re right next to each other. \u003ccite>(Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hardening Homes\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if a community takes all these steps to protect itself, there are no guarantees. Cal Fire says wildfires are becoming more unpredictable. The 2018 Carr Fire created a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1928143/reddings-firenado-was-not-your-garden-variety-fire-whirl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fire tornado\u003c/a> that lasted nearly an hour. And climate change is making fires more extreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no such thing as a truly fire-safe community,” Cox said. “They can be safer, but in the environment we live in, nothing’s truly safe, 100% safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some worry that having tougher codes will encourage the building of new housing developments in risky fire areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The argument for their approval is that they will use materials, up to the latest fire-safe building codes, and that they’ll have defensible space and great evacuation routes,” said Alexandra Syphard, a fire scientist with SAGE Underwriters. “Many of the homes that burned in the recent years in California had all of those features, and they still burned because the fire was burning under unbelievable wind conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rancho Santa Fe’s fire programs also require financial resources, something that’s easier to come by in a higher-income community. The fire district is funded by local taxes on the town’s multimillion dollar homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I get concerned … the only people that will be able to afford to live in natural environments will be the very wealthy,” said Chris Dicus, professor of wildland fire at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “They’ll be the ones who can afford getting through the planning process, the actual building, etc.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent fires have shown that California’s wildfire building codes have helped \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1940012/newer-houses-much-less-damaged-in-camp-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">save homes\u003c/a>. But the vast majority of houses at risk from wildfire were built before the 2008 regulations were put in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have communities like Paradise all up and down the Sierras that were built a long time ago,” Dicus said. “So those homes are at extreme risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Older homes can be retrofitted with fire-safe roofs or siding. Less expensive retrofits, such as covering attic vents with a fine mesh screen, can also make a difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, state lawmakers had been considering \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 38\u003c/a>, a bill that would have created a $1 billion fund to help homeowners make these improvements with low-interest loans or rebates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after the money wasn’t included in the May revision of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state budget, lawmakers removed the $1 billion amount. The legislation now creates the fund but without a specific number of dollars attached. It the bill passes, lawmakers will have to decide how much to fund it with in next year’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hardening homes is profoundly important,” Newsom said in May. “I look forward to working with the Legislature to see if we can identify money along the lines of what we do for earthquake retrofitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dicus says that to really make California safer, everyone at risk from fire will have to work consistently to prevent it, whether it’s clearing vegetation, fixing homes or preparing evacuation plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not going to be easy, but if we want to enjoy the quality of life here in California,” he said, “we’re going to have to make that a decision as a society to do so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"order": 9
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"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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