DRAFT County-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan covering Orange County, California April 2017 Areas within State Responsibility Areas are funded in whole by CAL FIRE SRA Fire Prevention Fund Grant #5GS14151 Additional areas are paid for by local funding sources i Prepared by Carol Rice -Wildland Res Mgt, Reno, NV Leonard Charles and Jacoba Charles – Leonard Charles and Associates, San Anselmo, CA Cheryl Miller- Cheryl Miller RLA, Oakland, CA Esther Mandeno - Digital Mapping Solutions, Santa Rosa, CA ii 1 1 These logos are from COAST, a supporter of this Community Wildfire Protection Plan iii ii Table of Contents Table of Contents i SIGNATURE PAGES v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 A. Requirements of a CWPP 1 B. Purpose of the CWPP 1 SECTION I: OVERVIEW OF COUNTY 3 A. Geography 3 B. Population 4 C. Major Transportation Arteries 4 D. Topography 5 E. Climate and Weather 6 F. Local Fire History 7 1. Fire Season 2. Ignitions G. Habitat Types 13 H. Protected Open Spaces and Roadside Rights-of-ways 13 1. Public Lands a. California Department of Fish and Wildlife b. California Department of Parks and Recreation c. California Department of Transportation d. Orange County Parks, Preserves, Right-of-Ways e. Orange County Transportation Authority f. Protected Lands within Incorporated Cities g. USDA Forest Service: Cleveland National Forest 2. Privately Owned and Managed Lands a. Audubon Starr Ranch b. Center for Natural Land Management c. Rancho Mission Viejo d. Trust for Public Lands e. The Wildlands Conservancy 3. Open Space Coordinating and Managing Entities a. Natural Communities Coalition b. Irvine Ranch Conservancy I. Delineation of the Wildland Urban Interface 21 1. Characteristics of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) 2. Methods of Delineation J. Community Base Map 22 i SECTION II: DESCRIPTION OF FIRE AGENCIES WITHIN THE CWPP AREA A. Orange County Fire Authority 25 1. Organization 2. 2016 Unit Strategic Fire Plan 3. Stations and Equipment 4. Cities Served by OCFA within the CWPP Area a. Aliso Viejo b. Dana Point c. Irvine d. Laguna Niguel e. Laguna Woods and Laguna Hills f. Lake Forest g. Mission Viejo h. Placentia i. Rancho Santa Margarita j. San Clemente k. San Juan Capistrano l. Tustin m. Villa Park n. Yorba Linda B. CAL FIRE 32 C. Anaheim Fire and Rescue 33 D. Laguna Beach Fire Department 35 E. Newport Beach Fire Department 36 F. USDA Forest Service 38 SECTION III: COLLABORATION 39 SECTION IV: VALUES A. VALUES AT RISK 44 B. COMMUNITIES 46 1. Unincorporated Communities within the CWPP boundary a. Orange Park Acres b. North Tustin c. The Santiago Canyons d. Coto de Caza e. Las Flores f. Ladera Ranch g. Rancho Mission Viejo h. Emerald Bay i. Ortega Communities j. El Cariso Village ii 2. Unincorporated Portions of Riverside and San Diego Counties within the CWPP Served by OCFA 3. Incorporated Cities with Jurisdiction within the CWPP Boundary a. Aliso Viejo b. Anaheim c. Dana Point d. Irvine e. Laguna Beach f. Laguna Niguel g. Laguna Hills h. Laguna Woods i. Lake Forest j. Mission Viejo k. Newport Beach l. Placentia m. Rancho Santa Margarita n. San Clemente o. San Juan Capistrano p. Tustin q. Villa Park r. Yorba Linda 4. Other Small Holdings Within the CWPP Boundary C. Projected Urbanization 56 D. Building Conditions 57 E. Structure Siting 58 G. Spatial Distribution of Risk 59 1. Definition of Risk 2. Distribution of Risk in Orange County SECTION V: PRE-FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES A. Organizational Influences 64 1. Major Homeowner Associations 2. FireSafe Councils a. Fire Safe Council East Orange County Canyons b. Foothills Community Association Fire Safe Council c. Greater Laguna Coast Fire Safe Council d. Carbon Canyon FireSafe Council B. Fire Management Plans/Programs of Landowners and/or Resource Managers 67 1. Southern Sub-Regional Wildland Fire Management Plan 2. Natural Communities Coalition (formerly Nature Reserve of Orange County) Fire Management Plan 3. Irvine Ranch Conservancy Wildland Fire Ignition Reduction Strategy 4. Cowan Heights - Peters Canyon Project 5. USDA Forest Service Wildland Fire Management Plan iii 6. Crystal Cove State Park Wildfire Management Plan 7. OCFA 2016 Unit Fire Plan C. LAND USE POLICIES 69 D. CODES 71 E. GUIDELINES 71 1. OCFA Vegetation Management Guidelines 2. City of Laguna Beach Landscape/Fuel Modification Guidelines 3. City of Anaheim Fuel Modification Plans 4. City of Newport Beach Landscape/Fuel Modification Guidelines and Maintenance Program F. HAZARD MITIGATION PLANS 76 G. OTHER RESPONSE AGREEMENT AND MOUS 77 H. OPERATING PLANS AND FIRE PREVENTION PLANS OF ENTITIES MANAGING INFRASTRUCTURE 77 SECTION VI: PROPOSED PROJECTS AND ACTION PLAN 72 A. PROPOSED PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 72 B. ACTION PLAN 74 1. Roles and Responsibilities 2. Funding Sources 3. Results of a Mini-Grant Workshop 4. Monitoring for Sustainability 5. CEQA Documentation for Projects 6. Update Process APPENDIX A: ACTION PLAN TABLES APPENDIX B: MINI GRANT WORKSHOP RECAP List of Tables Table 1. Fire History 1915- 2007 Table 2: Orange County Parks in CWPP (parks with more than 100 acres in the CWPP) Table 3: Amount of City Land in the CWPP Table 4: List of Communities at Risk List of Figures Figure 1: Orange County Wildfires Categorized by Area Burned between 1914 and 2008 Figure 2: Area of wildfires burned in Orange County between 1990-2000. Figure 3: Area of Wildfires in Orange County between 2000 – 2016 Figure 4. Open Space and Protected Areas in CWPP Boundary Figure 5: Community Base Map indicating CWPP boundary Figure 6: Location of Fire Stations in Orange County and OCFA Battalions Figure 7. Area of Homeowner Associations within the CWPP Figure 8. Map of Risk within the CWPP iv Figure 9. Area of Newport Beach that is classified as either a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone or a Hazard Reduction Zone. Figure 10. Map of NCCP/HCPs where environmental reivew is complete v SIGNATURE PAGE This County-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan covering Orange County This CWPP was initiated by OCFA’s Wildland Pre-Fire Management Section through a State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Fee grant, which funded all OCFA service areas and portions of 17 cities that either threaten or are threatened by State Responsibility Areas (SRA). The grant that funds the CWPP is only available to include such areas. The cost to include Cities outside this area were entirely funded by those Cities. The CWPP was prepared cooperatively through the County of Orange Area Safety Taskforce (COAST), participating Cities, and local fire safe councils and homeowner associations. Interested parties, Federal, State, City, and County agencies within the County have been consulted and are listed in the plan. Identifies and prioritizes pre-fire and post-fire management strategies and tactics meant to reduce the loss of values at risk within the County. Is intended for use as a planning and assessment tool only. It is the responsibility of those implementing the projects to ensure that all environmental compliance and permitting processes are met as necessary Jeff Bowman _____________________________ Fire Chief Date Orange County Fire Authority John R. Hawkins _____________________________ Unit Chief Date Riverside Unit CAL FIRE Michelle Steel _____________________________ Chair, Board of Supervisors Date Orange County Lori Smith _____________________________ Assistant Chief / Fire Marshal Date Orange County Fire Authority Brian Norton _____________________________ Battalion Chief /Deputy Fire Marshal Date Orange County Fire Authority George Ewan _____________________________ Wildland Resource Planner Date Orange County Fire Authority vi SIGNATURE PAGE This County-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan covering Orange County This CWPP was initiated by OCFA’s Wildland Pre-Fire Management Section through a State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Fee grant, which funded all OCFA service areas and portions of 17 cities that either threaten or are threatened by State Responsibility Areas (SRA). The grant that funds the CWPP is only available to include such areas. The cost to include Cities outside this area were entirely funded by those Cities. The CWPP was prepared cooperatively through the County of Orange Area Safety Taskforce (COAST), participating Cities, and local fire safe councils and homeowner associations. Interested parties, Federal, State, City, and County agencies within the County have been consulted and are listed in the plan. Identifies and prioritizes pre-fire and post-fire management strategies and tactics meant to reduce the loss of values at risk within the County. Is intended for use as a planning and assessment tool only. It is the responsibility of those implementing the projects to ensure that all environmental compliance and permitting processes are met as necessary Randy R. Bruegman _____________________________ Fire Chief Date City of Anaheim Rusty Coffelt _____________________________ Deputy Chief, Date Community Risk Reduction City of Anaheim Alan Hogue _____________________________ Deputy Fire Marshal Date City of Anaheim vii SIGNATURE PAGE This County-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan covering Orange County This CWPP was initiated by OCFA’s Wildland Pre-Fire Management Section through a State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Fee grant, which funded all OCFA service areas and portions of 17 cities that either threaten or are threatened by State Responsibility Areas (SRA). The grant that funds the CWPP is only available to include such areas. The cost to include Cities outside this area were entirely