Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
• 2020-2021
The CZU Lightning Complex Fire – Learn...or Burn? Board Oversight – An Obligation to our Community
⚠️ 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.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F19, F20, F21, F22, F23, F25
Findings and Recommendations 9 findings
F1
Residents are still concerned about response, evacuation, and future preparation in the aftermath of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. They are understandably irate. The supervisors, elected to their positions by our community, fail to recognize that they are responsible to adequately address these concerns.
Related Recommendations (4)
R1
In the next 30 days the Board of Supervisors should conduct an investigation to challenge Cal Fire on their preparation for future fire events, Cal Fire’s response to the CZU Complex Fire, and give satisfactory answers to all residents’ questions and concerns as documented in this report. (F1, F2, F3)
R2
In the next six months the Board of Supervisors should adopt a formal policy for handling and logging resident complaints and requests for information. (F1, F3)
R3
Within the next six months, the Board of Supervisors should require that Cal Fire produce timely after-action reports for all major incidents. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
R4
In the next 90 days the Board of Supervisors should direct staff to produce a lessons-learned document for the public summarizing their investigation of Cal Fire and an action plan detailing how preparation for future fire events and response will be improved. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
F2
There was a marked difference in content and depth of analysis between Cal Fire’s Virtual Community Meeting presentation given to San Mateo County and the two given to Santa Cruz County. The discrepancy is disappointing and not acceptable.
Related Recommendations (3)
R1
In the next 30 days the Board of Supervisors should conduct an investigation to challenge Cal Fire on their preparation for future fire events, Cal Fire’s response to the CZU Complex Fire, and give satisfactory answers to all residents’ questions and concerns as documented in this report. (F1, F2, F3)
R3
Within the next six months, the Board of Supervisors should require that Cal Fire produce timely after-action reports for all major incidents. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
R4
In the next 90 days the Board of Supervisors should direct staff to produce a lessons-learned document for the public summarizing their investigation of Cal Fire and an action plan detailing how preparation for future fire events and response will be improved. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
F3
The Board of Supervisors did not adequately respond to their constituents' concerns and questions.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
In the next 30 days the Board of Supervisors should conduct an investigation to challenge Cal Fire on their preparation for future fire events, Cal Fire’s response to the CZU Complex Fire, and give satisfactory answers to all residents’ questions and concerns as documented in this report. (F1, F2, F3)
R2
In the next six months the Board of Supervisors should adopt a formal policy for handling and logging resident complaints and requests for information. (F1, F3)
F4
The Board of Supervisors has not held Cal Fire accountable for their lack of analysis of their performance in the CZU Lightning Complex fire.
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
Within the next six months, the Board of Supervisors should require that Cal Fire produce timely after-action reports for all major incidents. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
R4
In the next 90 days the Board of Supervisors should direct staff to produce a lessons-learned document for the public summarizing their investigation of Cal Fire and an action plan detailing how preparation for future fire events and response will be improved. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
F5
No provision exists in the current contract between the county and Cal Fire to develop after-action reports during the non-fire season.
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
Within the next six months, the Board of Supervisors should require that Cal Fire produce timely after-action reports for all major incidents. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
R4
In the next 90 days the Board of Supervisors should direct staff to produce a lessons-learned document for the public summarizing their investigation of Cal Fire and an action plan detailing how preparation for future fire events and response will be improved. (F1, F2, F4, F5)
F6
The Board of Supervisors’ responses to the Findings and Recommendations of the 2020 Ready? Aim? Fire! report show a lack of engagement with the material and a lack of understanding of their role as advocates for the county.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The Board of Supervisors should revisit its responses to the Grand Jury’s 2020 Ready? Aim? Fire! Report, and rewrite their responses by December 31, 2021 in a document posted on their website to demonstrate hands-on engagement and better preparation for the next fire season. (F6)
F7
The adequacy of resources for firefighting in the future is questioned due to uncertainty of mutual aid assistance, deployment and management of volunteer companies, and availability of funding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
the Board of Supervisors should direct staff to advocate for additional funding for fire preparation and prevention resources from the state of California. (F7)
F24
The annual report to the County BoS X DISAGREE – The County Fire/CAL and the County Administrative Office by FIRE Chief gave a State of the State County Fire/CAL FIRE does not provide presentation to the Board during Budget data or analysis of resources, response Hearings, which provided both data and times, code enforcement, inspection, or analysis of resources, response times, education. This information is necessary code enforcement, inspection, and to show what gaps exist between current education. This is aligned with the budget performance and community needs in process. This presentation is also given to order for informed budget decisions to be the Fire Dept Advisory commission made. Without adequate background (FDAC), holds {sic} responsibility to information, the BoS is unable to hold provide oversite {sic} of these. CAL FIRE accountable for the specific responsibilities specified in their contract.
No recommendations for this finding
F26
Reporting data, statistics, and X AGREE formats utilized by fire agencies throughout the County are highly inconsistent, uncoordinated, and therefore not readily evaluated and compared. The standard Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating system would be useful to adopt. Response time data are not well described or consistently reported by the jurisdictions, making accurate assessment difficult, especially by other agencies or by the public. Report Recommendations BoS Responses
No recommendations for this finding
Additional Recommendations 2
These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.
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R9Each year, during the budget X REQUIRES FURTHER ANALYSIS – presentation, the County BoS should There is currently no funding for a require County Fire to provide a vegetation management plan for the vegetation management plan, including a County Fire Department. We currently priority list of projects and a timeframe for coordinate with CAL FIRE on a priority list their completion. of projects that have timeline {sic} related to available funding. In order to implement such and {sic} process will require additional analysis and potential funding.
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R17The County Office of Emergency X REQUIRES FURTHER ANALYSIS – Services should evaluate, quantify, and An after-action review is conducted after report to the County BoS on the specifics every major incident and disaster of the public state of preparedness for a response. Due to the CZU Lightning large-scale emergency such as wildfire by Complex Fire, these areas will also be June, 2021. addressed during the after-action review, identifying operational effectiveness as well as areas for improvement.
Commendations 1
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CM1C1. The County Office of Response, Recovery, & Resilience has done an excellent job of providing information and resources on the website. C2. The County Office of Response, Recovery, & Resilience has developed an excellent capability for expediting permitting and rebuilding.