Community Wildfire Protection Plan

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Community Wildfire Protection Plan MARIN COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN DECEMBER 2020 Marin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Prepared by Prepared for Tami L. Lavezzo Chief, Jason Weber Bryan M. Penfold Battalion Chief, Christie Neill ShihMing M. Huang Charles R. Scarborough Marin County Fire Department 33 Castle Rock Ave. Sonoma Technology Woodacre CA 94973 1450 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite 200 415.473.6717 Petaluma, CA 94954 marincounty.org/depts/fr Ph 707.665.9900 | F 707.665.9800 sonomatech.com December 2020 This document contains blank pages to accommodate two-sided printing. ● ● ● Contents Contents Figures ...........................................................................................................................................................................................v Tables ........................................................................................................................................................................................... vi 1. Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 1 2. Stakeholders and Collaboration .............................................................................................. 3 2.1 Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority .............................................................................................................. 4 2.1.1 Ecologically Sound Practices Partnership ..................................................................................... 4 2.2 FIRESafe MARIN ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Fire Agencies ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Land Management Agencies ............................................................................................................................ 5 2.5 Community Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................... 6 3. Accomplishments ........................................................................................................................ 9 4. County Overview ...................................................................................................................... 11 4.1 Marin’s Wildland Urban Interface ................................................................................................................. 12 4.2 Fire Agencies, Capabilities, and Preparedness ........................................................................................ 14 4.3 Agency Coordination ........................................................................................................................................ 19 4.4 Population and Housing .................................................................................................................................. 21 4.4.1 Tourism and Population Flux .......................................................................................................... 22 4.5 Land Ownership .................................................................................................................................................. 22 4.6 Natural Resources .............................................................................................................................................. 23 4.6.1 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................................ 23 4.6.2 Watersheds and Water Districts .................................................................................................... 25 4.7 Environmental Considerations ...................................................................................................................... 26 4.7.1 Environmental Compliance ............................................................................................................. 26 4.7.2 Post-Fire Recovery Planning ........................................................................................................... 27 4.8 Roadways and Streets ....................................................................................................................................... 28 4.8.1 Fire Road and Fuel Break Networks ............................................................................................. 29 5. Fire Environment ...................................................................................................................... 33 5.1 Weather .................................................................................................................................................................. 33 5.2 Vegetation and Fuels Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 36 5.2.1 2018 Updated Vegetation and Fuel Model Map .................................................................... 37 5.2.2 Vegetation Diseases and Infestations ......................................................................................... 40 5.3 Topography ........................................................................................................................................................... 41 5.4 Fire History ............................................................................................................................................................ 42 5.5 Ignition History .................................................................................................................................................... 44 5.6 Climate Variability ............................................................................................................................................... 45 ● ● ● iii ● ● ● Contents 6. County-Level Fire Hazard Assessment ................................................................................ 47 6.1 Assets at Risk ........................................................................................................................................................ 47 6.2 County-Level Fire Hazard Assessment ....................................................................................................... 50 6.2.1 County-Level Fire Hazard Assessment Methodology ........................................................... 52 6.3 Fire Hazard Assessment Results .................................................................................................................... 56 7. Parcel-Level Fire Hazard Assessment .................................................................................. 71 7.1 Parcel-Level Fire Hazard Assessment Methodology ............................................................................. 72 7.1.1 Step 1: Prepare the Building Footprint and Parcel Data for Analysis .............................. 73 7.1.2 Reclassify the Input Data Sets ........................................................................................................ 73 7.1.3 Calculate the Parcel-Level Hazard Rating for Each Parcel ................................................... 74 7.1.4 Results of Parcel-Level Fire Hazard Assessment ..................................................................... 75 8. Mitigation Measures and Strategies ................................................................................... 77 8.1 Public Education and Community Outreach ............................................................................................ 77 8.2 Wildfire Preparedness and Planning ........................................................................................................... 78 8.3 Reducing Structural Ignitability ..................................................................................................................... 79 8.4 Defensible Space ................................................................................................................................................ 85 8.4.1 Improve Defensible Space Around All Structures .................................................................. 85 8.5 Non-Residential Vegetation Management ............................................................................................... 92 8.5.1 Roadside Vegetation Management ............................................................................................. 93 8.5.2 Other Access/Egress Issues ............................................................................................................. 93 8.5.3 Open Space and Common Space Vegetation Management ............................................. 94 8.6 Evacuation Planning and Preparation ......................................................................................................... 96 8.6.1 Roadway Clearance and Roadside Vegetation ........................................................................ 97 8.6.2 Promote Integrated Alert and Warning Systems and Procedures ................................... 97 8.6.3 Increase Community Situational Awareness ............................................................................ 98 8.6.4 Promote Adoption of NOAA Alerting Weather Radios ....................................................... 98 8.6.5 Long Range Acoustic Devices
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