Wildfires On The Horizon Solano Homes At Risk!

Solano County's Fire Protection Districts are critically understaffed, under-equipped, and underfunded to protect rural areas and adjacent cities from this season's wildfires and future wildfires. Commissioners Ron Rowlett, Chair • John Vasquez, Vice-Chair • Harry Price • Nancy Shopay • Jim Spering Alternate Commissioners Ron Kott • Mitch Mashburn Staff Rich Seithel, Executive Officer • Jeffrey Lum, Analyst II • P. Scott Browne, Legal Counsel LAFCO agrees: Although much of the wildland-urban interface area is within the state response area (SRA), individually, the four fire districts are understaffed, under-equipped, and underfunded to protect rural areas from wildfires.

While LAFCO is bringing expert advice to the table to determine the path forward to address the increasing danger from wildfires, the pace at which it is going is too slow to address immediate wildfire concerns. Response: LAFCO partially disagrees. Certainly, LAFCO agrees that the funding issue is immediate. However, by its nature, the MSR/Special Study process is not designed to make immediate inroads. The MSR/Special Study provides detailed information to make informed decisions. LAFCO initiated a special study to address these issues: 1. Standards of Coverage; 2. Needs assessment/deployment assessment; 3. Response mapping; 4. Auto and Mutual aid frequency; 5. Staffing model options; 6. Governance options; 7. NFPA 1720 compliance, and; 8. Revenue enhancements. This study required time due to significant “data-mining” with districts that have little or no administrative staff. Based on the information uncovered and Citygate’s' fire service expertise, LAFCO evaluated service alternatives, staffing models, and fiscal matters to determine a path forward. This effort included significant time working towards building consensus with four districts, two of which were reluctant.

Transitional financing is needed to equip the FPDs with new equipment and resilient firefighting techniques to adapt to the environmental changes now presented by the combined challenges of extreme heat, drought, and gale-force winds along with random power outages. LAFCO agrees. As identified in the Citygate and the LAFCO studies, the districts are financially hamstrung and cannot afford to purchase costly new equipment with their current revenue streams.