WHO Fire/ Will Putout is Your Home Your Safe?*

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F12

Conclusions 23

• CL1 Page 15
  Because of the unique geography in Plumas County, regional economic centers exist: Almanor Basin, Blairsden-Graeagle, Eastern Plumas, Greenville, and Quincy. Each center has its own distinctive qualities and economies but all fall under the jurisdiction of the county.
• CL2 Page 15
  The Board of Supervisors has hired consultants and the General Plan update is moving toward completion in 2011. Yet Plumas County has not contracted with the current General Plan consultants to include the optional Economic Development Element.
• CL3 Page 16
  The City of Portola has an Economic Development Element in its General Plan, and the city documents the status of each implementation measure. However, there are measures listed for which no progress is shown.
• CL4 Page 16
  The Grand Jury saw little evidence in our investigation that Plumas County and the City of Portola have made an effort to collaborate on economic development.
• CL5 Page 16
  As defined by the Government Code, “Sphere of Influence” is a plan for the probable physical boundaries and service area of a local agency. The City of Portola is in the process of updating and redefining its Sphere of Influence and needs cooperation and support from the county to get this done.
• CL6 Page 32
  There are no fire protection services for one fifth of the homes and parcels in Plumas County. Is your property at risk? See Fire Services Section.
• CL7 Page 32
  Plumas County government leaders have failed to protect the citizens of Plumas County by not taking steps to remedy the lack of fire protection. See Board of Supervisors Section.
• CL8 Page 32
  There are no State fire fighting units in Plumas County. This situation has left us at risk for catastrophic fires. See Fire Services, CAL FIRE section.
• CL9 Page 32
  The Board of Supervisors has not acted on the advice of its own Emergency Services Advisory Committee. See Board of Supervisors Section.
• CL10 Page 32
  Plumas County government leaders have been approving land development without adequate fire fighting services and there are no assurances it will stop. See Development Section. The Grand Jury decided to organize and simplify this rather complex and lengthy report for the general public. We purposely left out many technical terms and inserted commonly known or easily understood names. 32 Fire Services Findings and Recommendations: Finding1: There are no fire protection services for 4,631 (19%) parcels in Plumas County. You can’t be guaranteed of any fire fighting response if you live outside of a Fire Protection District (FPD) or Community Services District (CSD). You may be billed for firefighting services if they are rendered (see table below). The 4,631 number is misleading. Each parcel could have many structures.
• CL11 Page 36
  Graeagle FPD 6. Plumas Eureka CSD
• CL12 Page 36
  Hamilton Branch FPD 7. West Almanor CSD
• CL13 Page 3
  Plumas County Emergency Services Advisory Committee
• CL14 Page 46
  All websites associated with the above agencies
• CL15 Page 46
  May 1 Power-Point Presentation made to Plumas County firefighters by Ray Zachau, Division Chief, Fire Marshal, South Lake Tahoe Fire Department: The 2007 Angora Fire & What Went Wrong Documents reviewed by the committee:  California Master Cooperative Wildland Fire Management and Stafford Act Response Agreement, March 28, 2008  Cooperative Fire Protection Agreement / Operating Plan (Between US Forest Service and … CAL FIRE) May 15, 2009  Plumas County Final Budget for 2009-2010 and previous years  Members of the Board of Supervisors concurrently serving as Directors of local CSD Boards, LAFCo Board of Directors, and as employers of critical County Department Administrative Officials  Multiple Large Scale GIS County Maps prepared by Planning Department Staff  Plumas County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission November 10, 2009, Workshop focused on the new County General Plan  California Association of Realtors®: STATEWIDE BUYER AND SELLER ADVISORY, SBSA Revised 4/07, page 4 (front and back) of 10 (e.g., standard form “disclosures”) 46  FIRE HAZARDS, FIRE HAZARD SEVERITY RATING, standard form published by the Director of the California Department of Forestry (CDF) that identifies “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones”  NATURAL HAZARD DISCLOSURE STATEMENT standard form “disclosure” document published by DISCLOSURESAVE, Austin, TX.  Plumas County Emergency Services Advisory Committee – Recommendations for Fire Protection Improvement Standards The Committee Interviewed:  Board President, Plumas County Fire Safe Council  County Planning Director and staff members  County Building Official  Members, Board of Supervisors  CAL FIRE Captain and Operations Officers  Local Fire Protection District Chief
• CL16 Page 36
  Prattville-Almanor FPD
• CL17 Page 36
  Sierra Valley FPD It is generally understood that there are two critically important elements to successfully protect structures from being destroyed by fire. The first is proximity to and services received from fire protection service providers. The hallmark descriptor is universally understood to be response time, or how long will it take emergency fire protection staff and equipment to arrive at an incident. The second essential necessity in the saving of persons’ property from structural fire is an immediately available emergency water supply. Current structural fire fighting vehicles here in Plumas County pump water at a rate of 1,000 gallons per minute and require sustained water flows approximating one hour to save a typical residential structure; that would amount to a sustained water supply of 60,000 gallons per pumper truck. There was consensus among fire experts providing testimony that Plumas County could support one to five fire emergency services districts. Those fire and emergency service providers are needed to protect all parcels and structures within the County. Clearly, increasing the number of districts is not what the experts have recommended, nor would it be cost effective. 36 Plumas County Fire Safe Council Individual wildland fires cause the most property destruction of all categories of fire emergencies. All Californians, as well as Plumas County residents, will not soon forget the Oakland Hills Inferno, the Malibu Canyons wildfires, or the very recent Angora Fire located in the South Lake Tahoe Basin that destroyed 309 residential and business structures. Etched in everyone’s memories are those vivid televised images of block after block of destroyed buildings. Wildland fires occur in what has been termed a community-at-risk (CAR). All Plumas County communities are communities-at-risk. Typically homeowners prize these zones as they represent the aesthetically attractive midpoint between the edge of suburbia and most typically beautiful forested areas. Hilly terrain offering premium vistas are frequently a distinct asset of a community-at-risk. Unfortunately, extreme fire hazards are commonly ignored by individuals purchasing property in these zones. Here in Plumas County one voluntary organization, the Fire Safe Council, has made tremendous strides by developing a model that mitigates the wildland fire danger inherent to all community-at-risk zones. The Grand Jury found that the use and enforcement of fire codes and standards varies depending on whether they are being applied to a structure (homes, outbuildings, and commercial buildings), to the area immediately surrounding a structure (defensible space, access roads, turnarounds, fuel tanks and emergency water for fighting fires) or to the nearby wildlands (national and private forests as well as grasslands). In Plumas County, responsibility for prevention and mitigation of hazardous fire conditions in forests next to family residences belongs to the US Forest Service, if the forest is a national forest. If the forest is privately owned, it is the responsibility of the landowner with the possibility of additional assistance from a private, nongovernmental organization, the Plumas County Fire Safe Council. Thousands of Plumas County residents’ homes are located in or next to forests, in what has been termed communities-at-risk. The overriding concern facing homeowners located in this environment is the threat of wildland fire. While the State of California has enacted legislation extending the defensible space perimeter requirement around homes from 30 to 100 feet, wildland fires represent an even greater threat than ever before to homeowners in forested areas. This is because most forests have not benefited from naturally occurring, periodic forest fires that consumed naturally occurring fuels. This hazardous situation has been compounded as the number of 37 homes being built in the forest interface has rapidly increased during the last 10 to 15 years. During the past several years the Plumas County Fire Safe Council (PCFSC) has developed grant funded projects that have served groups of homeowners, homeowners associations, and other groups in mitigating or reducing the quantity of wildland fire fuels on our forest floors. These projects thin forested areas, remove fire ladder vegetation that frequently leads to devastating crown fires in addition to removing combustible materials that result in healthier, safer and more attractive forested areas. In summary, these projects provide a responsible alternative to periodic wildfires. The Mission Statement of the PCFSC is: To reduce the loss of natural and manmade resources caused by wildfire through Firewise community programs and pre-fire activities. The Council maintains an informative webpage: Fire Services - CAL FIRE In round figures, two-thirds of the Plumas County land surface is part of the Plumas and Lassen National Forest. and Lassen Volcanic National Park; the remaining one-third is comprised of privately owned parcels of which a substantial majority are located in what California has designated as this county’s State Responsibility Area (SRA). Exceptions to this classification are parcels within Local Responsibility Areas (LRA) that include the lands within the City Limits of Portola, a relatively large area surrounding Chester, two small areas of several blocks each located in Quincy, and small areas near the fire houses in Graeagle, Whitehawk, Beckwourth, and Chilcoot. Plumas County’s SRA includes numerous approved subdivisions as well as privately owned forest production and agricultural parcels. The SRA and LRA designations were actually made by CAL FIRE on behalf of the State a number of years ago and every five years that agency is required to revisit and evaluate those classifications. Currently that every five-year evaluation is being implemented in this county. CAL FIRE is also fiscally responsible for protection from and prevention of wildland fires including forested and agricultural lands as well as structures. Superficially it would appear to be a “good thing” that a majority of Plumas County residents’ homes are located in designated SRA’s. Statewide CAL FIRE has an outstanding reputation for its emergency fire protection services. CAL FIRE’s presence in Plumas County is extremely limited. CAL FIRE does not employ any emergency responders, nor does it house any firefighting equipment within our county. The situation occurred almost 20 years ago in 1991 with the adoption of a “Cooperative Fire Management Agreement” (CFMA) between the US Forest Service and CAL FIRE. CAL FIRE traded off its Plumas County acreage emergency services responsibilities to the US Forest Service in exchange for acreage located somewhere else. The missions of the Federal and State agencies are quite different. The US Forest Service attempts to protect the national forests, while CAL FIRE protects forests and also provides structural fire protection in locales where it has an active presence. 38 CAL FIRE does maintain a small administrative presence in Quincy; however, the reality of having a SRA designation is essentially meaningless for our county residents. In designated SRA’s, CAL FIRE has the fiscal responsibility for provision of the following services:
• CL18 Page 62
  Describe your complaint (Briefly state action that is (was) dishonest, improper, illegal, inefficient, etc.)
• CL19 Page 62
  Set forth the facts upon which the complaint is based. (Describe in detail, include all names, dates, places, etc.)
• CL20 Page 62
  What other agencies, officials or persons have you contacted about this matter? What was (has been) their response to you? (Give names, addresses, phone numbers, contact dates and any other information you think is pertinent.
• CL21 Page 62
  Is the complaint involved in litigation? No Yes
• CL22 Page 62
  Should we contact any other agencies or persons? (Please give names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.)
• CL23 Page 62
  What action do you think the Grand Jury should take? Signature: IT IS A CRIME TO REPORT TO THE GRAND JURY THAT A CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED KNOWING THE REPORT TO BE FALSE. (Penal Code No. 148.5.d) ATTACH COPIES OF PERTINENT DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE (USE AND ATTACH ADDITIONAL SHEETS IF NECESSARY) The Grand Jury may also review and acknowledge all written, dated and signed citizen complaints. Within the time allowed by its established investigatory priorities, the Grand Jury may investigate complaints where appropriate. All complaints are treated confidentially. This applies to the written documents as well as the testimony of witnesses and participants. The complainant may be asked to appear as a witness. Note should be made that the sitting panel functions only as a civil Grand Jury and does not deal with criminal matters. If a complaint appears to involve the criminal court system, the matter is handed over to the office of the District Attorney for review and investigation. Citizen Complaint forms may be obtained on-line at the Grand Jury page of the Plumas County Website or by sending a written request to: Plumas County Grand Jury P.O. Box 784 Quincy, CA 95971 62 Appendix E - Note to Respondents/Requirements for Response As a result of Grand Jury investigation and reporting, certain agencies, entities, departments, districts, and functions of county government may be the subject of the final report which outlines findings and recommendations. Penal Code Sec. 933.05 outlines the requirements for those responding to the Grand Jury final report. For the assistance of all respondents, this Code is summarized as follows: The responding person or entity must, within time frames specified in Penal Code 933(c), respond in one of two ways:  That you agree with the finding;  That you disagree wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons for the disagreement.

No Responses Found 3

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.