US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region Fire and Aviation Management

1. US Forest ServicePacific Southwest RegionFire and Aviation Management Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

2. Introduction Given the climate, vegetation, and potential for ignitions – both natural and as a result of human activities – wildfire will continue to be a part of landscape in California Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

3. Discussion Items • What is a Fuels Modification Program? • Forest Service Vegetation Management and Fuels Modification Programs and barriers to implementation • Federal, state, and local cooperation, assistance, coordination, and support • Building codes, planning, and land use • Unique issues and recommendations Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

4. What is a Fuels Modification Program? Bob Martin Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

5. Vegetation Management & Fuels Modification Programs:An Integrated Approach Bernie Weingardt Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

6. The agency is at a Crossroad • Institutional shift for vegetation and hazardous fuels treatments • From initial attack (IA) to landscape scale fire behavior • From individual property and structures to entire communities and towns • From protection of forest resources to restoration of ecological process Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

7. We recognize this shift both regionally and nationally • Focus work in the Wildland Urban Intermix (WUI) environment • Fire Regimes that are characterized by short return intervals • Ecological Condition Class of the those Fire Regimes have departed the most from their historical condition Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

8. Fuels Project Objectives 1. Improve environment for suppression effectiveness: • Reduced risk to firefighters • Reduced loss of life and property • Increased production capability • Reduced threat of stand replacement fires 2. Restore fire-adapted ecosystems: • Reduction in damaging effects to watersheds • Reduced loss of other natural resources • Reintroduction of fire in a safe, effective manner Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

9. Condition Class Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

10. Outside WUI (~19 million acres) Condition Class 1 = 21 % Condition Class 2 = 35% Condition Class 3 = 44% Inside WUI (~ 4 million acres) Condition Class 1 = 18 % Condition Class 2 = 38% Condition Class 3 = 44% Current SituationUSFS Protection in California Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

11. Retooling of the programs • Hazardous fuels treatments are being accomplished in a strategic manner that is designed to reduce wildland fire intensity and spread • Vegetation management through “silvicultural prescriptions” will restore forest structure that will move those stands toward ecological restoration and condition class change Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

12. In the near term… This integrated program will focus on protection and reducing the effects of large damaging wildland fires • less exposure to the public, private property, and fire fighters when fires are kept small • smaller fires are less expensive • less resource damage • lower rehabilitation costs Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

13. In the long term… • Restoration of condition class • Moving from 3 to 2 and 1 over time • Changing landscape fire behavior • Providing our suppression resources every opportunity during these “mega” fire events • Mechanical treatments on Mt Laguna provided an anchor point when the winds shifted on the Cedar Fire and prescribed burns on the Palomar Ranger District assisted in perimeter control on the Paradise Fire to name a few… Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

14. Wildland Fire Specialist and Silviculturalists will work together: • Develop prescriptions that change fire behavior, make vegetation and forests more resilient to damage from wildland fire, pests, and drought, by • modifying structure and species composition consistent with restoring condition class • arranging these treatments to be strategic and interrupt potential fire spread Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

15. Holding on to what we have… • Maintenance treatments • Taking advantage of all the good work currently out there and building from it • Wildland fire use • Allowing fire to meet resource benefits where and when the opportunity presents • Effective initial attack • Having an adequate suppression organization and response to accomplish this work Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

16. Barriers to Accomplishment • Cultural Issues: both internal and external, • Threatened and Endangered Species • In terms of metrics – habitats and condition class are in conflict • Appeals and Litigation • Fire suppression, fuels projects, large fire restoration projects, Fire Management Plan • Biomass opportunities are limited • Long Term Investment Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

17. Federal, State, and Local Cooperation, Assistance, Coordination, and Support Ron Raley Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

18. Co-op Fire andState and Private Forestry Includes: • State Fire Assistance • Volunteer Fire Assistance • Economic Action Programs • Community Protection • Forest Health Management • Cooperative Forestry • Stewardship, Legacy, and Urban and community Forestry, Forest Land Enhancement • Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

19. State Fire Assistance • Assist State Foresters in the reduction of losses due to rural and wildland fire • 50/50 matching grants • $1.1 mm to CDF (Fire Safe councils, fire academy upgrades, fire fighter safety studies) • $11.5 mm to mortality affected counties (Lewis) • $4.9 mm to mortality affected counties (FS earmark) • $1.3 mm for 13 special WUI projects (Fuelbreaks, chipping, education, Rx fire, fuel reduction) Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

20. Volunteer Fire Assistance • Pass through state foresters to rural areas (less than 10,000 people) • 50/50 matching grants • $955,000 available • To organize, train and equip approximately 210 rural fire departments • $1 million additional funding from Lewis to affected rural fire department in So. Cal. Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

21. Economic Action Program • $5.75 million available (Lewis) • $350,000 to fund forest utilization specialists for up to three years • Remaining funds to address forest product utilization issues associated with removal of infested and dying trees • No additional Forest Service funds Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

22. Community Protection • Program implemented in adjacent nonfederal lands to protect communities when hazard reduction activities (prescribed fire projects) are planned on national forest system lands that have the potential to place such communities at risk • $2 million Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

23. Forest Health Management • Provide rapid response to new introductions of non-native or invasive pests and increased suppression capability to protect forest stands • $10 million on Federal lands • $4.5 million on non-Federal lands (significant increase in Fy04 funds due to situation in So. Cal. ) • Additional $25 million earmark for So. Cal. still to be allocated Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

24. Cooperative Forestry • 4 broad programs – to provide technical and financial assistance for private land owners • Forest Stewardship • Forest Legacy Program • Urban and Community Forestry • Forest Land Enhancement Program • “Connecting Forestry to People in 2004” Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

25. Co-op Fire andState and Private Forestry Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

26. Co-op Fire andState and Private Forestry Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

27. Federal Excess Personal Property • Forest Service administers program to allow state and local government to acquire on a loan basis excess federal property • Includes military equipment, helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, and numerous other equipment • $215 million worth of equipment on loan in California Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

28. Program Delivery Includes: • FIREWISE • California Fire Alliance • Firesafe Council (discussed by Bruce Turbieville) Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

29. FIREWISE Program • Primary focus on community workshops, land use planning, hazard mitigation, FIREWISE construction and landscaping techniques • Stakeholders including NFPA, Wildland Agencies and Industry working together to reduce losses in the rural wildland areas • Forest Service has been a major supporter since inception in 1986 Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

30. Completed 2003 Kern River Valley Chico Lake Tahoe Napa Redlands Arrowhead East Bay Fortuna San Luis Obispo El Dorado San Diego FIREWISE Community Workshops Pending 2004 Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

31. What is the California Fire Alliance? The Alliance is a cooperative membership dedicated to the support of pre-fire principles and activities ensuring that prefire management provides for public and community safety, minimizes costs and losses, and maintains and improves the quality of the environment (1997) Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

32. California Fire Alliance Agencies working together on pre-fire iIssues in California with the following goals: • Working w/ communities to development leadership for fire loss mitigation plans • Assist communities in developing fire loss mitigation projects • Provide outreach to communities to increase awareness of program opportunities • Develop, modify and maintain the list of “communities at risk” Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

33. California Fire Alliance Action Items Including: • Develop coordinated media releases • Identify and develop communications tools and briefing materials (Resource Guide) • Develop and carry out a series of workshops • Develop interactive website • “One Stop Shopping” Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

34. Building Codes, Planning and Land Use Patrick Pagni Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

35. Lessons Learned from 1991 Oakland Hills Conflagration Patrick J. Pagni Professor Emeritus of Fire Safety Engineering Science Department of Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of California Berkeley, CA 94720-1740 pjpagni@me.berkeley.edu Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

36. Outline • What Happened? • Why did it happen? • When will the next major fire occur? • What can we do before then? • Conclusions Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

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40. Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

41. Wind velocity vectors recorded at the Chabot Observatory are plotted here for 19 and 20 October 1991. The wind direction is indicated by the compass rose. The wind speed is given by the length of the velocity arrow, with the arrow in the compass rose corresponding to 5 m/s. The thickness of the arrow indicates the temperature: thin < 25ºC; thick > 25ºC. The color of the arrow indicates the relative humidity: white > 10%; black < 10%. The 19 October data show a typical coastal pattern with light on-shore winds midday and light off-shore winds morning and evening. Hot, dry, fast Diablo Winds began pouring over the hills, nearly normal to the ridgeline, at 06.00 on 20 October and continued unabated until 20.00. The five-hour pre-fire desiccation period on the morning of 20 October may indicate that an early warning interval exists during which local communities can prepare for the consequences of these rare weather condition. Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

42. This is an elevation looking NW perpendicular to the wind trajectory in previous page. The lower solid line is the hill topography. The upper dashed line is the top of the 20 October inversion layer. The speckled areas indicate the fire plumes on 19 and 20 of October. Heavy vegetal and structural fuel load existed prior to the fire from 0 to 1200m downwind of the fire origin. Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

43. Oakland Hills Conflagrations 1923 City of Berkeley 1945 Large Grass Fire 1970 Fish Ranch Fire 1991 Tunnel Fire 2013 ? ? ? There is a 100% chance of another conflagration, probably in 2013. Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

44. Fire Harden Structures at the Urban/Wildland Interface 1. Strict codes and enforcement 2. Class A roofs only 3. No shingles or shakes 4. Double pane windows 5. Shutters on windows and vents 6. Cover eaves – no “nooks and crannies” 7. Interior sprinkler systems 8. Exterior sprinkler systems Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

45. Conclusions There will be future major conflagrations. How bad they are depends on how we prepare. Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

46. Issues and Recommendations Ray Quintanar Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

47. Issues The issues we face are in three broad areas: • Suppression and Organizational Readiness • Hazardous Fuels Mitigation • Landuse and Zoning in Wildland Urban Interface Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

48. Recommendations Accelerate the use of available technology to provide timely accurate information to the fire fighter on the ground and decision makers as well as involved publics Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

49. Recommendations Use of military aircraft with IR equipment and downlink capability to give the firefighter and decision maker 24/7 situational awareness Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004

50. Recommendations Provide grants to fire departments to increase Wildland Fire Interface (WUI) firefighting capability by adding: • Radios to bridge the high band/low band issue • Foam capability to increase effectiveness in the WUI environment • Training for those departments with little to no experience in the WUI environment Blue Ribbon Fire Commission January 7, 2004