Orange County Grand Jury
• 2025-2026
• Agency Response
Response to:
Wildfires Hit Home
City of Villa Park*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 6 findings
F1
Page 1
More frequent and severe wildfires driven by increasingly hotter, drier, and windier conditions in the Orange County wildland-urban interface are escalating impacts on financial and non-financial resources. Among the financial costs are dramatic increase in homeowners' insurance premiums, non-renewals, and inabilities to obtain insurance. City Response: The City agrees with the finding. The City's response was developed after receiving input from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding this finding.
F2
Page 1
Actions that address conditions in the home ignition zone to significantly reduce ignition potential can prevent a community wildland-urban interface fire disaster or suburban conflagration. City Response: The City agrees with the finding. The City's response was developed after receiving input from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding this finding.
F3
Page 1
Expanded engagement with the community to raise awareness and provide support regarding home hardening and defensible space will increase effectiveness of wildfire risk mitigation and insurance risk reduction efforts. City Response: The City agrees with the finding. The City's response was developed after receiving input from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding this finding.
F4
Page 1
Achievement of community-level and property-level wildfire risk mitigation designations (such as Firewise USA Siter, Fire Risk Reduction Community or Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety certification) lessens wildfire risk and helps reduce insurance premium costs. City Response: The City agrees with the finding. The City's response was developed after receiving input from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding this finding. JORDAN WU, Mayor • ROBERT FRACKELTON, Mayor Pro Tem NICOL JONES, Councilmember • KELLY MCBRIDE, Councilmember • CRYSTAL MILES, Councilmember CITY OF VILLA PARK RESPONSE TO THE 2025-2026 ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT, "WILDFIRES HIT HOME" June 23, 2026
F5
Page 1
All county residents should be made aware that Safer from Wildfire regulation requires insurers to provide discounts to homeowners and communities that implement home hardening and defensible space measures regardless of whether a property is locates within a Fire Hazard Severity Zone. City Response: The City agrees with the finding. The City's response was developed after receiving input from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding this finding.
F6
Page 1
AB 888, California Safe Homes Grant Program, provides financial assistance to eligible homeowners, cities, counties, and special districts for home hardening and defensible space measures. Applying for and using these grant funds will reduce wildfire losses and improve insurability and resilience of vulnerable communities. City Response: The City agrees with the finding. The City's response was developed after receiving input from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding this finding.
Recommendations 3
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R2Page 1By December 31, 2026, cities and fire service agencies, including Orange County Fire Authority should commit to participation in a county-wide annual wildfire prevention fair planned by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to showcase wildfire prevention outreach programs. [F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6] City Response: The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but the City of Villa Park will actively support and participate if the County of Orange elects to move forward with the recommended County-wide annual wildfire prevention fair. The specific timeframe for implementation is dependent upon the timing established by the County of Orange.
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R3Page 1By December 31, 2026, cities, unincorporated areas, special districts, and fire service agencies in High and Very-High Fire Safety Hazard Severity Zones should initiate planning activities to achieve community-level wildfire risk mitigation designations and/or establish a local Fire Safe Councill within one year. [F4, F5, F6] City Response: The recommendation has been implemented in partnership with OCFA. On July 22, 2025, the Villa Park City Council adopted the 2025 California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps included within the City of Villa Park boundaries. Additionally, the City of Villa Park initially contracted with a consultant in late 2024 to complete an Update of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) for the City of Villa Park, which incorporates mandated consultation with local Fire Safety and First Responder personnel servicing the City. The LHMP Update is in the final stages of completion and will be ready for presentation to the City Council within the next 90 days.
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R4Page 1By December 31, 2026, to ensure city residents are engaged and aware of wildfire risk reduction resources, OCFA member and non-member cities should provide information, develop their own outreach program, and establish a direct contact person(s) for ~ 2 ~ CITY OF VILLA PARK RESPONSE TO THE 2025-2026 ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT, "WILDFIRES HIT HOME" June 23, 2026 their residents. This is in addition to whatever referrals or references made to OCFA outreach programs. [F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6] City Response: The recommendation has been implemented in partnership with OCFA. Every effort is m to uphold and enhance recommended educational outreach efforts. Most recently, the City of Villa Park City Council initiated and hosted two Town-Halls on Emergency Preparedness in September and October of 2025 for residents. OCFA, the Orange County Sheriff, and the Red Cross participated in the preparation and presentation of educational materials presented in the two Town Halls. Related educational material was subsequently posted on a revamped and updated Emergency Preparedness page on the City of Villa Park website. The Town Halls were taped and remain available for viewing at individual discretion on the City's website. OCFA remains the central point of contact for the City of Villa Park regarding wildfire risk reduction, however the City's Building Department and Building Inspector actively distribute educational material and provide information to residents and contractors working within the City. Sincerely, THE CITY OF VILLA PARK Mandille Jordan Wu Mayor ~ 3 ~
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.