Sarah Melton Administrative Assistant Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District & Central Fire Protection District of

Vegetation/fuel management and abatement are not receiving the attention nor funding needed from the County of Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors, and therefore are not adhering to California Government Executive Order 1.8.19-EO- N-05-19. X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The Aptos/La Selva and Central Fire Protection Districts are not in a position to judge whether the County is adhering to California Government Executive Order 1.8.19-EO-N-05-19.

Santa Cruz County residents are at increased risk of fire danger due to the lack of risk management for wildfire. Specific risks are not formally identified, tracked, assessed for impact, nor is progress reported by fire departments in the County. Therefore, leaders responsible for budgets and accountability are left unprepared to manage risk, impact, or performance. X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The Aptos/La Selva and Central Fire Protection Districts are identifying, tracking, assessing for impact, and reporting progress on wildfire risk management to our respective Boards.

City and County officials have not collaborated with PG&E to identify the location of high risk PG&E electrical equipment, and so are left uninformed as to how to manage their responsibilities or how to instruct residents about potential danger due to proximity to this equipment. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Santa Cruz County would greatly benefit if steps were taken to implement the CAL FIRE, San Mateo - Santa Cruz Unit 2018 recommendation of developing detailed, site specific Community Wildfire Protection Plans for communities throughout the County. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Response time data for fire departments in Santa Cruz County is challenging to obtain. Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 previously reported response time data in their annual reports, but did not do so in the 2018 or 2019 annual reports. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Roadside vegetation in rural areas of the County is not being cleared consistently which could potentially increase emergency response time, putting life and property in unnecessary danger. Furthermore, evacuations could be restricted as there is no rule or program that mandates that roads, even critical evacuation routes, be kept cleared meeting defensible space requirements. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

There are only approximately 17,000 accounts for the Santa Cruz County opt-in CodeRED emergency system, which implies that a significant portion of the County may not receive emergency alert messages, which potentially reduces residents’ opportunity to take action in a timely, life-saving manner. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), have been deployed in other areas of the state and have proven effective tools in alerting residents in urban and rural areas to a wildfire. However, Santa Cruz County has no such devices, increasing the risk to County residents. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

High risk communities in the County are left unnecessarily vulnerable due to the lack of easily accessible, published information of refuge/assembly areas and structures. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Because the County does not publish a “shelter in place” plan, when a fire expands rapidly, residents cannot make informed decisions about whether to shelter in place or evacuate. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Unlike the City of Santa Cruz, the County does not publish emergency evacuation routes, purportedly to avoid having old or untimely information being followed in an emergency. The County therefore withholds revealing evacuation routes until an emergency is in progress, likely creating unnecessary risk and potential for chaos. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

In the Wildland Urban Interface zone, and in many town centers, traffic choke points exist, and in some instances have roadway obstacles to traffic flow such as overgrown vegetation, concrete medians, curbs, and lane reductions resulting in roads that are inadequate for mass evacuations. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Wildfire preparedness informational materials are well done and public education is attempted by fire departments in the County, but fails to sufficiently reach and motivate residents to act. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

The FireWise institution provides a valuable fire prevention program and, as of March 2020, there were eight FireWise communities registered in the County. Marin County, by contrast, with a similar population, has sixty registered communities, highlighting the need for more FireWise promotion and participation in Santa Cruz County. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

The County Office of Emergency Services and fire agencies in the County encourage residents to be prepared for an emergency, however the passive mechanisms such as web sites used to encourage preparedness are not proving to be sufficient. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Property owners in the County are responsible for their own vegetation management, yet they are often not sufficiently educated about vegetation management practices, or do not have the capability, financial resources, or desire to create defensible space. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

No single organization in the County is assuming a leadership role in Fire Hazard Mitigation. It is not clear whose responsibility it is to minimize this County wide risk. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

The annual report to the County Board of Supervisors and the County Administrative Office by County Fire/CAL FIRE does not provide data or analysis of resources, response times, code enforcement, inspection, or education. This information is necessary to show what gaps exist between current performance and community needs in order for informed budget decisions to be made. Without adequate background information, the Board of Supervisors is unable to hold CAL FIRE accountable for the specific responsibilities specified in their contract. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Reporting data, statistics, and 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. X PARTIALLY AGREE – explain the disputed portion Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The ISO rating system is one measure of fire protection in a community. It is developed by the insurance industry for their purposes, and is not a particularly comprehensive nor useful tool for assessing the overall effectiveness of a fire protection system. Local government agencies do not “adopt” the ISO rating system.

The 2015 County of Santa Cruz Emergency Operations Management plan does not adequately address evacuation, and references data too outdated to be useful, such as a population density map from the 2000 census. X AGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

The Grand Jury finds that formally specified baseline and target performance statements, in alignment with the Center for Public Safety Excellence Assessment Process, neither currently exist nor are they reported by fire departments in the County as required by best practice standards. There are no goals set or measures made of progress for review by the Board of Supervisors regarding County Fire/CAL FIRE performance. Other fire districts in the County are similarly remiss in reporting to their governing bodies. Appropriate goals would include progress on response times, vegetation management, and code inspection progress, all of which are necessary to properly quantify the budget and resources required for full-time, volunteer, and prison inmate workforces, in appropriate, affordable proportions. X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The Aptos/La Selva and Central Fire Protection Districts have adopted performance standards, and the respective Boards receive quarterly reports documenting performance relative to the standards.