The Santa Cruz City Manager called the Grand Jury office on the above date to confirm that the Santa Cruz City Council

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 AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Most of Santa Cruz County, in addition to the City of Santa Cruz with its large eucalyptus groves, are not being monitored by the ALERTWildfire Imaging Surveillance System and would be well served by the installation of cameras capable of monitoring coastal areas occupied by eucalyptus groves in areas harboring potential sources of ignition. AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The City of Santa Cruz Fire Departments agrees that a more robust coverage area for the ALERTWildfire Imaging Surveillance system would be beneficial. However the focus should not be relegated to eucalyptus groves as they are just one component within the overall wildland fire risk. Wildland risk is present wherever there is flammable vegetation and the installation of ALERTWildfire Imaging Surveillance system camera would be best suited for overall area surveillance, not just a particular species of tree or a specific area.

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. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): CodeRed is the latest version of a “reverse 9-1-1” system that has been used in the County. As these systems have been changed over the years due to technology becoming obsolete or needing to be upgraded the historical subscriber data has not followed with the upgrade. In the past 10 years a significant number of callers to 9-1-1 are via cell phone and not landlines. Cellular providers will not share their customer’s data so the number of registered users is dependent on self-registration, unlike land line data which is purchased from AT&T. The number of “17,000 accounts” does not take into account the landlines, VOIP, and other cellular accounts which is more than 150,000 accounts. Furthermore SCR 9-1-1 is a licensed FCC user for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) which can be used in an “imminent threat to life” situation. These alerts do not require registration and when issued will capture nearly 100% of the smart phones in the defined geographical area.

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 PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The Santa Cruz City Fire Department helped create the first FireWise community (Prospect Heights) in Santa Cruz County. Since then it has helped with the formation of two additional FireWise communities (Highland and Western) with additional outreach and education being done.

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. AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): There are myriad of resources easily available to educate property owners about vegetation management. Specific instances of property owner capability, financial resources, or desire in the County is beyond the scope of the City Fire Department.

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 countywide risk. AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The County of Santa Cruz is responsible for assuming a leadership role for mitigating hazards in the County.

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. AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The City of Santa Cruz Fire Department has specific evacuation and references for neighborhoods that are within our Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas. There are shared plans for the County that are accessible for all fire agencies. There are currently plans with the Santa Cruz County Fire Chiefs Association to refine these plans using current data and technology.

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 AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):