Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
August 16, 2006 Edition
Table of Contents August 2006 Edition Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan FSC DRAFT PLAN – March 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY………………………………………………………………… ES-1
HUMBOLDT COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN………CWPP-1
1. INTRODUCTION...... 1-1 1.1 Fire Plan Guidelines, Uses and Content...... 1-1 1.2 Fire Plan Development & Planning Process ...... 1-2 1.3 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan Goals & Objectives ...... 1-5 1.4 Federal & State Fire Planning ...... 1-6 1.5 Local Fire Organizations & Service Areas...... 1-9 1.6 Fire Planning Tools ...... 1-12
2. COUNTY FIRE ENVIRONMENT & AGENCY ROLES IN FIRE PLANNING & EDUCATION ...... 2-1 2.1 County History, Population, & Economics...... 2-1 2.2 Humboldt County Fire Environment & Assets at Risk...... 2-5 2.3 County Government’s Role in Fire Safe Planning...... 2-9 2.4 Federal, State &Local Roles in Fire Safe Planning...... 2-17 2.5 Federal, State & Local Roles in Fire Education & Prevention Programs ...... 2-34
3. RISK ASSESSMENT & MITIGATION STRATEGIES (RAMS) MODELING FOR WILDLAND FIRES...... 3-1 3.1 RAMS Methodology...... 3-1 3.2 RAMS Results by Planning Compartment...... 3-13 3.2.1 Lower Klamath ...... 3-16 3.2.2 East Klamath ...... 3-18 3.2.3 Trinity...... 3-20 3.2.4 Redwood Park ...... 3-22 3.2.5 Trinidad ...... 3-24 3.2.6 Humboldt Bay ...... 3-26
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3.2.7 Upper Redwood Creek ...... 3-28 3.2.8 Mad-Van Duzen ...... 3-30 3.2.9 Main Eel ...... 3-32 3.2.10 South Eel ...... 3-34 3.2.11 Mattole-Lost Coast...... 3-36
4. COUNTYWIDE EMERGENCY RESPONSE...... 4-1 4.1 Organizations Delivering Emergency Services...... 4-1 4.2 Emergency Services Delivered ...... 4-4 4.3 2004 Level of Emergency Service (LOS) ...... 4-11
5. PUBLIC OUTREACH PROCESS AND FINDINGS...... 5-1 5.1 Community Meeting Process ...... 5-1 5.1.1 Meeting Locations and Schedule...... 5-2 5.1.2 Meeting Agenda ...... 5-4 5.1.3 Mapping Exercise ...... 5-5 5.1.4 Project Prioritization ...... 5-5 5.2 Publicly Identified Fire Protection Issues ...... 5-5 5.2.1 Findings...... 5-6 5.2.2 Recommendations ...... 5-7 5.3 Community-Identified Priority Projects...... 5-7 5.3.1 Fire Protection Capability ...... 5-7 5.3.2 Fire Safe Education...... 5-9 5.3.3 Risk and Hazard Assessment ...... 5-10 5.3.4 Risk Reduction and Management ...... 5-10 5.3.5 Community Preparedness and Response ...... 5-12 5.3.6 Fiscal Issues ...... 5-13 5.3.7 Other...... 5-14 5.4 Community-Generated Maps ...... 5-14
6. FIRE SAFE COUNCIL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 6-1 6.1 Fire Protection Capability ...... 6-2 6.2 Fire Safe Education ...... 6-4 6.3 Risk and Hazard Assessment ...... 6-6 6.4 Risk Reduction & Management ...... 6-7 6.5 Community Preparedness & Response ...... 6-9 6.6 Fiscal Issues...... 6-10
TOC-2 Table of Contents August 2006 Edition 7. HUMBOLDT COUNTY 2025 GENERAL PLAN POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 7-1 7.1 Fire Protection Capability ...... 7-1 7.2 Fire Safe Education ...... 7-3 7.3 Risk & Hazard Assessment...... 7-3 7.4 Risk Reduction & Management ...... 7-3 7.5 Community Preparedness & Response ...... 7-4 7.6 Fiscal Issues...... 7-4
8. IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES ...... 8-1 8.1 Fire Protection Capability ...... 8-3 8.2 Fire Safe Education ...... 8-12 8.3 Risk Reduction & Management ...... 8-15 8.4 Community Preparedness & Response ...... 8-21 8.5 Fiscal Issues...... 8-28
GLOSSARY...... Glossary-1
LIST 0F ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS...... Acronyms-1
RESOURCES ...... Resources-1
APPENDICES Appendix A: Funding For Fire Safety and Services ...... A-1 Appendix B: Fire Organization Survey Summaries...... B-1 Appendix C: RAMS Risk/Hazard Rating Factors and Background Data by Compartment...... C-1 Appendix D: Emergency Response Time and Coverage...... D-1 Appendix E: Community Outreach Meetings Process...... E-1 Appendix F: Community Outreach Meeting Information...... F-1 Appendix G: Community Identified Values, Protection Resources, Risks and Hazards and Projects ...... G-1 Appendix H: Community Outreach Meetings Feedback Forms...... H-1
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LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1 Summary of Fire Planning Tools...... 1-12 Table 2-1 Six Rivers National Forest hazardous Fuels Treatment...... 2-21 Table 2-2 Arcata BLM Hazardous Fuels Treatments ...... 2-24 Table 2-3 Humboldt County Communities at Risk...... 2-29 Table 3-1 Fire Planning Compartment Reference Matrix...... 3-3 Table 3-2 Planning Compartment Risk Assessment Results ...... 3-13 Table 4-1 Fire Organization Categories...... 4-2 Table 4-2 Local Fire Department Staffing and Fire Engine and Station Capability...... 4-5 Table 4-3 Fortuna Interagency Command Center Recorded Activity for Fire and Medical Aid ...... 4-12 Table 4-4 Fortuna Interagency Command Center Recorded Activity for Miscellaneous Calls ...... 4-12 Table 4-5 ISO PPC Rating Points Range for Each Rating Class...... 4-28 Table 4-6 Potential Insurance Savings with ISO Ratings Change ...... 4-28 Table 4-6 Current Humboldt County Fire Protection Organization ISO PPC Ratings...... 4-30 Table 5-1 Humboldt County Fire Planning Compartments and Community Outreach Meetings...... 5-2 Table 5-2 Fire Planning Meeting Schedule: ...... 5-4
TOC-4 Table of Contents August 2006 Edition LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Humboldt County Population Density...... 1-10 Figure 1.2 Local Fire Organization Response Areas ...... 1-11 Figure 2.1 Humboldt County Wildland Fire History ...... 2-3 Figure 2.2 BLM King Range Fuelbreak...... 2-24 Figure 2.3 Fire Safe Council Areas of Operation...... 2-35 Figure 3.1 Humboldt County Fire Planning Compartments ...... 3-4 Figure 3.2 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Fuels) ...... 3-5 Figure 3.3 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Elevation)..3-6 Figure 3.4 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Aspect)...... 3-7 Figure 3.5 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor Slope) ...... 3-8 Figure 3.6 Type of Data Used to Determine the Resources and Economic Assets Risk/Hazard Rating Factor...... 3-9 Figure 3.7 Type of Data Used to Determine the Wildland Ignition Risk/Hazard Rating Factor...... 3-10 Figure 3.8 Type of Data Used to Determine the Wildland Fire History Risk/Hazard Rating Factor ...... 3-11 Figure 3.9 Type of Data Used to Determine the Catastrophic Fire and Fire Protection Capability Risk/Hazard Rating Factor...... 3-12 Figure 3.10 RAMS Compartment Composite Risk ...... 3-14 Figure 3.11 Lower Klamath Fire Planning Compartment...... 3-17 Figure 3.12 East Klamath Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-19 Figure 3.13 Trinity Fire Planning Compartment...... 3-21 Figure 3.14 Redwood Park Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-23 Figure 3.15 Trinidad Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-25 Figure 3.16 Humboldt Bay Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-27 Figure 3.17 Upper Redwood Creek Fire Planning Compartment...... 3-29 Figure 3.18 Mad-Van Duzen Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-31 Figure 3.19 Main Eel Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-33 Figure 3.20 South Eel Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-35 Figure 3.21 Mattole Fire Planning Compartment ...... 3-37 Figure 4.1 Federal and State Fire Protection...... 4-16 Figure 4.2 Local Fire Organization Modeled Response Times...... 4-23 Figure 4.3 Fire Protection Gaps ...... 4-25 Figure 4.4 Medical Aids and Traffic Collisions...... 4-29 Figure 5.1 Community Outreach Meeting Locations...... 5-3 Figure 5.2 Lower Klamath Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects.5-16 Figure 5.3 East Klamath Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects.....5-17 Figure 5.4 Trinity Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ...... 5-18 Figure 5.5 Redwood Park Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ..5-19
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Figure 5.6 Trinidad Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ...... 5-20 Figure 5.7 Humboldt Bay Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ..5-21 Figure 5.8 Upper Redwood Creek Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ...... 5-22 Figure 5.9 Mad-Van Duzen Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects5-23 Figure 5.10 Main Eel Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ...... 5-24 Figure 5.11 South Eel Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects...... 5-25 Figure 5.12 Mattole-Lost Coast Fire Planning Compartment with Community Identified Projects ...... 5-26
TOC-6 Executive Summary August 2006 Edition Executive Summary
In November of 2002, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (the Board) formed the Humboldt County Fire Safe Council (HCFSC) to oversee the preparation of a Master Fire Protection Plan (MFPP). The HCFSC membership consists of individuals representing different groups in the fire service community. In forming the Council, the Board recognized that: “community-based fire plans are a concept born out of the statewide Fire Safe Council, whose goal is to preserve California’s natural and structural resources by mobilizing all Californians to make their homes, neighborhoods and communities fire safe.” This MFPP was prepared to acknowledge the individuals and organizations that deliver essential fire services, to focus on their needs, and to support them in their efforts to maintain and improve the delivery of these services to communities throughout the County. Additionally, because the County of Humboldt does have a responsibility to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare, it has played a key role in the preparation of the MFPP. In recognition of the County’s responsibility to the safety of its citizens and to insure the success of the MFPP, the HCFSC recommends that the County continue to have a significant role in the implementation of the plan.
The MFPP is intended to serve as the guiding document for reducing the risk of fire to Humboldt County communities. Policy recommendations from the MFPP will supplement the Natural Resources and Hazards Report that supports the preparation of the Humboldt County General Plan, thus influencing future development patterns. Additionally, the MFPP is designed to meet Healthy Forest Restoration Act criteria for Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) by engaging in a collaborative process, prioritizing fuel reduction activities, and recommending treatments for reducing structural ignitability.
The Board selected consultants Planwest Partners, RNB Spatial Data, Incorporated, and ForEverGreen Forestry to assist the HCFSC and County Planning staff in preparing the Fire Plan, with a Scope-of-Work that focused on:
x Creating a community-based planning process x Coordinating the plans, efforts and fire risk reduction programs of all local, state, and federal fire protection organizations x Using state-of-the-art Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping to spatially display community assets, fire risks, protection capabilities and fuel treatment projects x Encouraging the formation of local volunteer Fire Safe Councils to create fire defensible communities.
In implementing this Scope-of-Work, the HCFSC, Consultants, and Planning staff conducted extensive studies and meetings with all of the 42 local, state, and federal organizations that deliver emergency response services within Humboldt County. In completing this work, the HCFSC found a group of highly dedicated professionals and volunteers who are doing a remarkable job with extremely limited resources.
The HCFSC also found that volunteers with varying degrees of experience, training and equipment are primarily responsible for delivering emergency response services, that there is a
ES-1 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan lack of comprehensive county-wide planning or coordination, that several communities have been identified as being at risk for catastrophic fire, that access to services is more limited in rural areas, and that over 40% of the land area in the County currently has no fire department with a formal commitment to deliver these services on a year round basis. Additionally, many areas receive fire protection services on a “good will” basis from local district fire departments even though they are not located within the department’s area of jurisdictional responsibility.
Local agencies and volunteer fire departments are formed to provide fire protection and emergency medical response services throughout the county. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) is responsible for vegetation fires in State Responsibility Areas (SRA). Federal land management agencies are responsible for providing wildland fire protection for federal lands within the county, and the Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribes provide funding, equipment, and facilities for volunteer fire departments in their respective reservations.
In addition to the agencies and organizations that provide fire protection services, seven local Fire Safe Councils (FSCs) are active in Humboldt County and involved with public fire safe education and fire prevention programs in their communities. These seven FSCs are the: Lower Mattole, Orleans/Somes Bar, Southern Humboldt, Fruitland Ridge, Van Duzen Watershed, Cathey Road, and Willow Creek. Similar to the fire departments, local FSCs depend on volunteers and operate with minimal revenue. Their greatest challenges include sustaining local support and participation and securing enough funding to continue fire prevention efforts.
The MFPP incorporates the work of the FSCs and provides background on the County Fire environment and agency roles in fire planning and education, in the context of overall emergency response service delivery in the County.
Key recommendations in the MFPP include:
x Establishing minimum levels of emergency response services and making landowners aware of these levels of protection. x Working with the Humboldt County Fire Chief’s association to develop on-going funding for these services, such as revenue exchange agreements, benefit assessments, mitigation and user fees. x Identifying a reliable funding source or combination of funding mechanisms that will support the efforts of local Fire Safe Councils. x Establishing regional fire training facilities in appropriate locations. x Improving communication and coordination between local fire departments, CDF and federal fire protection services. x Providing fire safety education to homeowners and to homebuilding, real estate, and building supply industries. x Supporting volunteer fire department recruiting and training efforts. x Incorporating wildland fire safety measures, fire hazard mitigations, accessible roads data, emergency water supply locations, flammable vegetation clearance for defensible space techniques, and other fire safety techniques, into local community planning. x Updating Humboldt County Fire Safe Standards to identify specific hazard zones and improve fire safe measures.
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x Emphasizing increased countywide coordination of fuel modification projects by all involved agencies and organizations.
Findings and recommendations are linked to implementation measures in extensive tables contained in the text of the Plan.
An efficient and effective fire protection service can provide significant economic benefits. Fire protection has a direct relationship to the availability and cost of fire insurance. For example, much of Humboldt County’s population base is located in areas with an Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating of 9. Lowering the rating of 9 to an 8 (a better rating) could in some instances result in up to a 21% reduction (approximately $290 per year) in fire insurance rates for a $200,000 home. Higher savings may be realized for property with commercial or other improvements of greater value.
Beyond the economic benefits of improving fire protection services, maintaining and improving the delivery of emergency response services and fire prevention programs within Humboldt County is essential to the well being of the people who live here. Additionally, these programs and services are vital to the protection of the rich variety of highly valued resources and assets found on the private and public lands of the County. This MFPP will enable communities and the organizations that serve them to continue to take positive steps toward making their communities fire safe.
ES-3 Introduction August 2006 Edition
1 Introduction
This Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan (MFPP) has been prepared at the direction of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, with funding provided by the USDA Forest Service Economic Action Program (EAP) and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act of 2000, Title III. Humboldt County directed the preparation of the MFPP as part of the Humboldt County 2025 General Plan (General Plan) update process. The County also directed Planning staff to prepare the MFPP in accordance with the funding requirements of the EAP and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
To assist in the preparation of the General Plan, the MFPP has identified areas of the County at greatest risk to wildfire, programs available to reduce wildfire hazard, agencies and resources within the county that are responsible to combat and manage wildfire as well as provide structure fire protection, and issues that affect wildfire response and emergency service capabilities. The MFPP also makes significant findings and recommendations relating to fire protection capability, fire safe education, fire risk and hazard assessment, fire risk reduction and management, community preparedness and response, and fiscal issues relating to fire protection. Policies from the MFPP supplement the Natural Resources and Hazards Report that supports the preparation of the General Plan.
The MFPP contains the following eight chapters:
1. Introduction 2. County Fire Environment and Agency Roles in Fire Planning and Education 3. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling For Wildland Fires 4. Countywide Emergency Response 5. Public Outreach Process and Findings 6. Fire Safe Council Findings and Recommendations 7. Humboldt County2025 General Plan Policy Recommendations 8. Implementation Measures
1.1 FIRE PLAN GUIDELINES, USES AND CONTENT
The MFPP is intended to serve as the guiding document for reducing the risk of fire to Humboldt County communities, and to serve the following uses: x Promote fire safety; x Build capacity of local fire organizations; x Coordinate local activities of the federal and state agencies charged with fire protection and management responsibilities; x Incorporate planning for fire safe communities into the County land use planning process; x Provide planning tools for fire safe communities; and
1-1 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan x Identify funding sources to support local organizations that provide fire prevention and protection services.
Humboldt County identified multiple technical fire planning guidelines and fire plan content subjects in the design and development of the MFPP. A summary of these items and guidelines follows: x Develop fire planning techniques and practices that facilitate the evaluation and decision making process for the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, Humboldt County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the Humboldt County Fire Safe Council (HCFSC), and the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association (HCFCA). As part of plan implementation, these organizations will continue to analyze and assess the current and future emergency service requirements of the County’s emergency service system. x To the greatest degree possible, collect, analyze, process, and store fire planning information in a computer-based data format. x Catalogue the existing wildfire mitigation projects being implemented by local Fire Safe Councils (local FSCs) throughout Humboldt County, as well as future projects as they are planned and implemented. x Meet Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Management Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) planning criteria for wildland fire risk, hazard, and mitigation analysis. x Meet Healthy Forest Restoration Act criteria for Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) by engaging in a collaborative process, prioritizing fuel reduction activities, and recommending treatments for reducing structural ignitability. x Reference detailed surveys, questionnaires, and existing fire planning documents, maps, data, fire history, fire environment assessments, fieldwork, interviews, and stakeholder contacts, where appropriate. x Encourage and facilitate public participation through a coordinated, and active public review process. x Follow the November 2003 State of California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research General Plan Criteria for Wildfire Hazard Assessment & Mitigation Planning.
1.2 FIRE PLAN DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING PROCESS The Humboldt County Community Development Services Planning Division served as the lead County agency for the development of the MFPP. The County selected the consultant team of Planwest Partners and RNB Spatial Data Inc. to assist in the preparation of the MFPP. Additionally, the County selected ForEverGreen Forestry as a consultant resource for facilitating public outreach and assistance with the completion of the MFPP.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE SAFE COUNCIL In November of 2002, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors formed the HCFSC, an ad- hoc committee charged with overseeing preparation of the MFPP and facilitating community
1-2 Introduction August 2006 Edition input. To ensure that the HCFSC had a broad based membership inclusive of representatives from agencies and local organizations, the County conducted a publicized recruitment and nomination process. Following the recruitment process, the County appointed ten members to the HCFSC.
The original HCFSC membership consisted of individuals representing different groups in the fire service and fire management community. Five members serve as community representatives (local FSCs and non-agency fire services); four members serve as fire service and management representatives (local, Tribal, state, and federal fire agencies), and one member serves as ex officio (i.e. by virtue of office) liaison between the HCFSC and the County Board of Supervisors. The liaison (the County Planning Director or designee) is a non-voting member. During the first phase of the planning process a Planwest Partners representative served as the Fire Safe Council Coordinator.
During its initial planning phase the HCFSC was responsible for providing planning oversight and review. It also served as a forum for sharing fire safety information, assessing fire risk, and setting fire protection priorities. The second phase of the planning process focused on community outreach and refinement of implementation measures. To broaden the scope of the process during this second phase, the County Board of Supervisors expanded HCFSC membership to fourteen members to include the insurance industry, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services, and increased representation from local FSCs. Ultimately, the HCFSC recommends the MFPP for adoption by the Board of Supervisors.
The HCFSC enhanced the customary level of fire planning undertaken by the County by expanding the content of the MFPP to include wildland fire risk assessment, and implementation measures to reduce the risk of wildfire to Humboldt County communities. The HCFSC also added other appropriate fire protection planning components that make this plan an important supporting document for the General Plan. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION & INPUT Reflective of the collaborative nature of the MFPP planning process, a public and stakeholder input and review process was conducted. Additionally, the planning process solicited participation and contribution from Humboldt County’s fire departments, fire districts, local FSCs, state and federal agencies, stakeholders, citizens, and interested non-governmental and volunteer organizations. To maximize input, up-to-date fire planning tools and supporting technology were utilized to prepare information for public and stakeholder review and comment.
MEETINGS Three different types of meetings were conducted as part of the collaborative fire planning process. The first type was the HCFSC meetings. These were generally held at the Six Rivers National Forest conference room in Eureka. These meetings were held on a monthly basis as the plan outline was developed, and on a quarterly basis following the commencement of the community planning process. Agendas and meeting notes for HCFSC meetings can be found on
1-3 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan the Humboldt County Community Development Services Department web page at: http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/fire_safe_council/fsc_default.asp
Secondly, a series of 24 public community meetings were held between September 2004 and March 2005 in locations throughout Humboldt County. The purpose of these meetings was to share the Draft MFPP with the public and to receive their input. These meetings also functioned as a venue to gather local detailed information to further refine the data analysis being generated by consultants and staff as described in Chapter 3, and to identify priority fuel reduction treatments. A discussion of these meetings and findings is found in Chapter 5, with supporting data and documentation in Appendices E, F, G, and H.
Finally, the preparation of the MFPP was also discussed at fire organization meetings of the Southern Humboldt Fire Chiefs’ Association, Avenue of the Giants Fire Chiefs, Lower Mattole FSC, Orleans-Somes Bar FSC, Southern Humboldt FSC, Avenue of the Giants FSC, and the quarterly meetings of the HCFCA. The HCFCA also assisted greatly in developing the survey forms (described below), providing local fire department contact information, and identifying issues of concern.
Additionally, individual meetings were held with local fire organizations as well as State and Federal fire and resource management agencies in order to gather further information. However, with 42 local fire- related districts, departments, and volunteer brigades/companies spread across approximately 3,600 square miles, holding individual meetings with all departments was not possible. Therefore, each department’s capabilities, needs, and issues were solicited through individual surveys.
FIRE ORGANIZATION SURVEYS During the planning process two surveys were sent to each fire department in the County. The first survey provided an opportunity for local departments to give in depth responses to questions relating to service gaps, apparatus capabilities and needs, and inter-departmental agreements. The second survey largely used multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions relating to training and equipment capabilities, while providing considerable room for longer responses. Most departments responded to both surveys. Summaries of survey responses can be found in Appendix B.
MUNICIPAL SERVICE REVIEWS As required by State LAFCo law, Municipal Service Reviews (MSRs) are prepared for all local Fire Protection Districts. MSR reports can be found on the Humboldt County Community Development Services website as they are completed at: http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/lafco/. Meetings were held with Fire District personnel to clarify service capabilities and gather detailed data on District boundaries, service areas, areas of mutual aide, assets at risk, infrastructure, constraints, and response times. The information gathered during these meetings was applied to the development of the MFPP and the MSRs, as well as used to prepare the Geographic Information System (GIS) maps that are included in the
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MSRs. These meetings were also used as an additional opportunity to discuss the preparation and future application of the MFPP.
INFORMATION SOURCES Information regarding fire protection capabilities, needs, fire risks, as well as community assets and priorities, was gathered through a variety of sources and organizations. Principal sources of information included the members of the HCFSC and local FSCs, the HCFCA, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) Humboldt-Del Norte Unit, and the many local organizations that participated via the survey process. These organizations served as sounding boards for plan development.
1.3 HUMBOLDT COUNTY MASTER FIRE PROTECTION PLAN GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Early in the process the HCFSC developed MFPP Goals and Objectives. These goals and core objectives are listed below. Many of the objectives developed by the HCFSC have been formulated into policies, and are included in Chapter 7. The MFPP Goals are also the basis upon which MFPP community identified projects, Findings and Recommendations, Policy Recommendations, and Implementation Measures were organized.
MFPP GOALS Goal 1. Fire Protection Capability – Assure adequate fire protection for people, property, and communities.
Goal 2. Fire Safe Education – Promote local fire safe planning, fire safe standards, fire education programs addressing fire risk in rural areas, and measures that local communities can implement to be fire safe.
Goal 3. Risk and Hazard Assessment – Encourage effective and risk-based allocation of fire prevention and suppression services.
Goal 4. Risk Reduction and Management – Encourage countywide efforts to reduce or modify fuel loads for community protection and fire prevention.
Goal 5. Community Preparedness and Response – Support efforts of local fire organizations and Fire Safe Councils to maintain adequate staffing levels and to serve as public safety agents, and monitor these efforts.
Goal 6. Fiscal Issues – Support fire prevention and resource protection efforts of local communities, Fire Safe Councils, special districts with fire safety responsibilities, fire organizations, and Joint Powers Authority (JPA) cooperative services (dispatching, hazmat, training and other cooperative opportunities).
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MFPP OBJECTIVES Objectives are statements of desired future conditions that will assist in achieving planning goals and in guiding policy development. The Fire Safe Council developed a comprehensive list of objectives early in the MFPP process. The core objectives are listed below, and the remaining objectives have been adapted as policies in Chapter 7. x Adequate fire protection service available to all Humboldt County communities; x Adequate funding for fire protection organizations; x Clearly mapped community assets, wildfire risks, and fire protection resources; x Inter-agency agreements that facilitate fuels reduction, renewable resource utilization, and prescribed burning; x Local, state and federal agencies cooperating to provide community fire education; and x Cooperation between landowners, community-based organizations, and government to protect communities.
1.4 FEDERAL & STATE FIRE PLANNING Federal and State agencies are generally responsible for fire planning and services on their respective lands. Both the federal government and the state government have existing fire plans. Federal and State planning documents and the agencies providing fire protection services are briefly described below. A more in-depth discussion of the roles played by the federal and state agencies in fire planning and services can be found in chapters 2 and 4.
FEDERAL FIRE PLANNING DOCUMENTS AND AGENCIES The federal government engages in fire planning at the national level, and mandates certain federal agencies (listed below) to provide fire services and engage in fire management activities.
NATIONAL FIRE POLICY AND PLAN Federal fire policy is derived principally from three sources: the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy, the Western Governor’s Association Ten-Year Comprehensive Strategy: A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment (August 2001), and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (2003). These documents call for a single comprehensive federal fire policy for the Interior and Agriculture Departments (the agencies utilizing federal fire management resources). All three mandate community-based collaboration in reducing risks from wildfire. The National Fire Plan, completed in 2001, was developed based on the National Fire Policy. A major aspect of the National Fire Plan is joint risk reduction planning and implementation, carried out by Federal, State, and local agencies and communities. (Chapter 2 of this document contains more detailed discussion on this topic.)
FEDERAL AGENCIES WITH FIRE PLANNING RESPONSIBILITES USDA Forest Service Six Rivers National Forest – The USDA Forest Service role in wildfire management is primarily focused on National Forest lands. However, Forest Service personnel will respond to wildland and structural fires on adjacent lands through mutual aid agreements, when crews and equipment are available. Forest Service fire stations are un-staffed outside of
1-6 Introduction August 2006 Edition fire season. Chapter 4 contains a more in-depth description of the Six Rivers National Forest fire response capabilities including a map of their direct protection areas and resources (Figure 4-1).
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – BLM funds and coordinates wildland fire management programs and structural fire management and prevention on BLM lands. BLM works closely with the USDA Forest Service and state and local governments to coordinate and prioritize fire safety activity. The Interagency Fire Coordination Center in Boise, Idaho serves as the nerve center for this effort.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) – The BIA’s Fire and Aviation Management–National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) provides wildland fire protection, fire use and hazardous fuels management, and emergency rehabilitation on Indian forest and range lands held in trust by the United States, based on fire management plans approved by the appropriate Indian Tribe.
National Park Service (NPS), Redwood National Park – The NPS provides wildland and structure fire protection, and conducts wildland fire management within the NPS units. These activities are guided by the National Park Service Fire Management Plan.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – The USFWS fire management strategy supports resource management decisions. The strategy employs prescribed fire to maintain early successional fire-adapted grasslands and other ecological communities throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Federally Recognized Indian Tribes –Tribes in Humboldt County have a role in both structure and wildland fire protection. The Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribes provide funding, equipment, and facilities for volunteer fire departments that protect their respective reservations. The Hoopa Valley Tribe also operates a wildland fire department that responds to fires on Hoopa Valley Tribal Trust lands and to other wildland fires through mutual aid agreements. The Yurok and Karuk Tribes have staff and resources that provide contract fire protection services through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Some Rancherias within Humboldt County have provided some funding to volunteer fire departments that provide fire protection services to their lands.
STATE FIRE PLANNING DOCUMENTS AND AGENCIES The California Fire Plan – The State Board of Forestry and the CDF have prepared a comprehensive update of the state fire plan for wildland fire protection in California. The planning process includes defining a level of service measurement; considering assets at risk; incorporating the cooperative interdependent relationships of wildland fire protection providers; providing for public stakeholder involvement; and creating a fiscal framework for policy analysis. The California Fire Plan’s overall goal is to reduce total costs and losses from wildland fire in the state by protecting assets at risk through pre-fire management and by reducing the spread of fire through more successful initial response. The California Fire Plan is currently undergoing a collaborative review and revision process.
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STATE AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS WITH FIRE PLANNING RESPONSIBILITIES California Fire Safe Council – In 1993, the statewide Fire Safe Council, consisting of private and public membership, was formed to educate and encourage Californians to plan and prepare for wildfires by reducing the risk of fire to property, communities, and natural/structural resources. In 2002, this group created a nonprofit organization and board of directors, called the California Fire Safe Council (CFSC). The CFSC works closely with the California Fire Alliance to facilitate the distribution of National Fire Plan grants used for wildfire risk reduction and education through their Grants Clearinghouse (www.grants.firesafecouncil.org).
The CFSC provides assistance to local FSCs through: the CFSC website (www.firesafecouncil.org), the distribution of educational materials, and technical assistance-- primarily through their regional representatives. More than 130 local FSCs have formed in California so far. More continue to form throughout the state, working to plan, coordinate, and implement fire prevention activities.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), Humboldt/Del Norte Unit – CDF has responsibility for wildfires in areas of the county that are not under the jurisdiction of the USDA Forest Service or a local fire organization, including lands designated as State Responsibility Areas. Additionally CDF responds to medical emergencies and traffic collisions when necessary and resources are available.
CDF also has fire protection responsibilities by contract and mutual aid agreements. For example, under Amador Plan agreements with certain local government agencies (Public Resources Code §4144), CDF provides year-round fire protection. Per these agreements, CDF provides local structural and wildland fire protection or dispatch services to a specific community and maintains a level of staffing that would normally only be available during fire season. The local entity then pays the additional cost of the year-round service.
In Humboldt County, the Board of Supervisors has an Amador Plan agreement with CDF that provides structure fire protection to County Service Area No. 4 (Freshwater Lagoon south to Crannell Road, not including the City of Trinidad), and fire emergency dispatch to 29 fire and emergency medical service entities countywide. Previously CDF provided a similar service along the Avenue of the Giants but due to funding constraints, the agreement has not been continued.
In addition, the CDF Humboldt/Del Norte Unit Chief serves as the Humboldt County Fire Warden to assist local agencies. The Board of Supervisors created the position of Humboldt County Fire Warden in 2001. The Fire Warden reports to the Board of Supervisors on fire related issues and may also pursue fire related grant opportunities on behalf of the County. An additional responsibility of the CDF Unit Chief is to serve as the Office of Emergency Services (OES) operational area coordinator for fire and rescue services. In this capacity, the CDF Unit Chief coordinates the mutual aid system throughout the County.
California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) – State Parks manages portions of the California’s coastline including coastal wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dune systems. The State Parks Resources Management Division has limited wildland fire protection resources
1-8 Introduction August 2006 Edition available to suppress fires on State Park lands. State Parks does not operate a fire station in Humboldt County and relies on CDF as the primary wildfire protection resource for the lands under their management. State Parks cooperates with CDF and Redwood National Park on prescribed burns, and can provide limited mutual aid.
State Office of Emergency Service (OES) – The OES Fire and Rescue Branch administers the California Fire Service and Rescue Emergency Mutual Aid Plan. In addition, OES provides guidance and procedures for agencies developing emergency operations plans, as well as training and technical support, primarily to overall emergency service organizations and urban search and rescue teams.
Technical Support Agencies – There are also federal and State agencies that provide technical support to fire agencies/organizations. For example, the U.S. Fire Administration, which is a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), provides leadership, advocacy, coordination, and support for fire agencies and organizations. The Office of the State Fire Marshal is a division of CDF and has a wide variety of fire safety and training responsibilities.
1.5 LOCAL FIRE PROTECTION ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICE AREAS Within Humboldt County, the responsibility for providing fire protection and services is spread among local agencies (Districts), in addition to the Federal and State entities described above. Where no District provides fire services, volunteer fire companies have assumed responsibility for protecting their communities. In general, structural fire protection is the responsibility of Districts and volunteer fire companies, and wildland fire protection is the responsibility of Federal and State agencies.
In addition to their community fire protection responsibilities, local fire service entities respond to a growing number of medical emergencies throughout the county. According to one of Humboldt County’s largest emergency dispatch centers, between the years 2000 and 2003, calls for medical emergencies and traffic collisions increased by 33%. Much of the time, personnel from local fire departments or companies are the first on the scene and play a vital role in stabilizing victims until more advanced life support services arrive.
Districts involved in emergency response in Humboldt County include one County Service Area (CSA), five Community Service Districts (CSDs), 16 Fire Protection Districts (FPDs), one Resort Improvement District (RID), and two city fire departments. There are also 18 volunteer fire companies (VFCs) not associated with a District that protect their own communities. A more in-depth discussion of local roles in fire planning and services can be found in Chapters 2 and 4.
Most local fire organization capabilities and service areas are directly proportional to the distribution and density of the population they serve. This relationship between population density and service area distribution is illustrated by Figures 1.1 and 1.2. Figure 1.1 shows population distribution and density for Humboldt County while Figure 1.2 shows the areas
1-9 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan served by local Districts and VFCs. Figure 1.2 also shows public lands and areas for which there is no dedicated local fire response1.
The “Out of District” response areas shown in Figure 1.2 illustrate the common practice of Districts to provide emergency service to areas outside of their designated jurisdictional boundaries. This means that some areas of the County that are designated as “protected” (within the response area of a local fire organization) may have long response times associated with them and may only receive service if there are available, unobligated resources. Additionally, taxpaying citizens within the District’s boundary may question why the services they pay for are benefiting out of district residents. These Out of District response areas are commonly referred to as “goodwill service areas”. More detailed fire department response capabilities mapping data is available through Humboldt County Community Development Services GIS division.
1 The map in Figure 1-2 only illustrates the year-round availability of local resources and does not reflect the seasonal availability of state and federal resources.
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Figure 1.1 Humboldt County Population Density E DEL NORTE COUNTY 101 North to Crescent City
Prairie Creek N
Humboldt Redwoods K A l a SISKIYOU COUNTY m State Park a E t h
R C iv e ! r (!96 O County
Six Rivers
Orleans
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Orick ut101 !
!
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! h t
a
169 Redwood (! m ut101 K la
!
National Park
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R
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d w
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o d Hoopa Valley
C
r e Hoopa Indian Reservation e
k T r i n ! ! i t y
R Westhaven Trinidad ! i 2000 Population v
e r
! ut101 Six Rivers 96 (!
Density
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville !
Hil le r Pa rk ! 299 !( Willow Creek Fieldbrook Mad River County Park !
Ma d R iv e r 299 ! !(
299 La n p h e r e !( Legend Du n e s 299 !( E
Arcata ! Blue Lake ! ! 299 East to
Manila ! ! Redding Arcata !
Bay Census 2000 Blocks
Samoa C !
!
I t101 Indianola u Persons per Square Mile Eureka F ! Somoa! Ai rport
I Six Rivers
! Kneeland Maple Creek 0 C Humboldt BayHumboldt ! ! Bay National Forest
! A Fields Landing !
! 1
So u th Elk River P Bay ut101 1 - 3
!! K n e ! e Loleta la n 3 - 6 Ee ! d l R Headwaters R ive o r Forest Reserve a d !! 6 - 11 M ! 211 Fortuna a (! ! d Ferndale R ! iv 11 - 21 e ! r Hydesville ! Alton !V a !Carlotta 21 - 43 n Du ze n Rive Va ut101 r n D 36 uz ! (! en 43 - 140 ! Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY ! ! (!36 Dinsmore Scotia ! 140 - 450 ! !Cape Mendocino Stafford ! Bridgeville (!254 450+ ! Holmes ! ut101 Redcrest ! (!254 South Fork Population density is based on Census 2000 Block Level data. ! Petrolia S R! o Weott McCann iver Humboldt Redwoods !u ! This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise le th a tt o F !Sequoia M o measurement or navigation. State Park rk Ee !Eel Rock l R ! Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) iv Myers Flat ! e Honeydew r for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. ! E Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] el Miranda Riv ! er Phillipsville Fort Seward ! !
L King
o s ! Range t
Alderpoint
National C Ettersburg ! o a s Conservation Redway t ! Area ! ! Briceland Garberville ! Benbow Recreation Area ! Benbow : ! Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California ut101 101 South to E San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 5 2.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Miles RF 1:650,000
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Figure 1.2 Local Fire Organizations Response Areas E DEL NORTE COUNTY 101 North to Crescent City Humboldt Prairie Creek N
Redwoods K A l a SISKIYOU COUNTY m State Park a E t h
R i C v County e r (!96 O
Six Rivers Orleans
National Forest
Orick ut101
Orick Orleans
Orick CSD
r e v
i Yurok
R
h t
a 169 Redwood ! m ut101 ( a K l
National Park
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CSA #4 FPD R
e
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d Hoopa Valley
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R Trinidad Westhaven i v Local Fire e Westhaven r
CSA #4 FPD
ut101 Six Rivers 96 (!
Organizations
National Forest
Fieldbrook McKinleyville
Blue Lake CSD Response Areas 299 Fieldbrook !( Willow Creek
Arcata Willow Creek
Ma d R iv e FPD r 299 !( FPD 299
Lan ph er e !( Dunes 299 !( Willow Creek E
Arcata Blue Lake
299 East to Blue Lake Manila
Redding Arc ata FPD
Bay Legend
Samoa C
I t101 Arcata u
Eureka F Som oa A i rp ort Local Fire Organizations Eureka
Samoa FPD I Six Rivers
FPD Humboldt C Humboldt BayHumboldt Maple Creek Bay National Forest Response Areas
#1 Kneeland FPD A Fields Landing
FPD Kneeland South Elk River P District Bay ut101 Out of District * K n e e Loleta la n Ee Loleta FPD d l R Headwaters R Non-Tax * ive o r Forest Reserve a d
M 211 Fortuna a No Local Response (! d Ferndale Fortuna FPD R iv Ferndale e r Public Lands FPD Hydesville Alton V a Carlotta n Du zen Rive Va ut101 Carlottar CSD n D Ferndale 36 u (! zen Ri Rio Dell Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Scotia FPD (! Scotia Carlotta Response Area boundaries are based on Fire Organization Surveys, Cape Mendocino Stafford Bridgeville 2003-2004. District boundaries were initially created using Tax Rate Areas. (!254 Holmes Data was compiled by HCCDS, 2002-2004. Redcrest ut101 Redcrest * "Out of District" response areas are areas outside of district boundaries that fire departments currently respond to. Fire departments do not receive funding for (!254 "Out of District" areas and are not legally obligated to respond. "Non-Tax" South Fork Weott response areas are covered by Non-Governmental Organizations, usually fire Petrolia S departments or companies not associated with a District. Such organizations o Weott McCann Riv FPD u do not receive tax based funding. le er Humboldt Redwoods t o h a tt F Sequoia M Petrolia FPD o State Park r k Fruitland This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise E e Eel Rock Myers Flat l R Ridge measurement or navigation. Prosper i Myers Flat ve Ridge Honeydew r FPD Ee Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) Miranda l R Salmon ive for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. Miranda FPD r Honeydew Creek Fort Seward Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] L Phillipsville King Alderpoint o s Phillipsville
t Range
C National o Ettersburg a s Telegraph t Conservation Redway Ridge Redway FPD Area FPD Beginnings Garberville FPD Briceland Garberville
BenbowGarberville Recreation Area : Shelter Cove Benbow RID Whitethorn Richard son Grove Palo Verde Shelter Cove Whitethorn State Park California FPD Sprowelut101 Whale Gulch Creek 101 South to E San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 5 2.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Miles RF 1:650,000
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1.6 FIRE PLANING TOOLS
A key feature of the MFPP is the identification of fire planning tools that are available to the County and other local agencies and organizations. Tools identified in this section include techniques for assessing fire risk and emergency response capabilities, programs from Federal and State agencies, funding sources, GIS fire planning maps, Fire District MSRs and fire organization surveys.
The following Table summarizes the fire planning tools that were used in developing the MFPP:
Table 1-1 Summary of Fire Planning Tools Planning Tool How tool was used in Best use of tool For use by this plan RAMS The RAMS model RAMS outputs can be used to determine Federal, state and assessed fire hazard priority allocation of resources and to local public safety The RAMS analysis and risk based on fire recommend strategies to decrease community personnel, land can be found in environment wildfire vulnerability at the County level. managers, Chapter 3 characteristics (fuel, community and topography, ignition Can be used as a starting point for the regional FSCs and risk, fire protection identification of specific community-level County Planners capability) within hazard zones and provides the supporting data regional planning for improving fire safe measures in compartments. community planning areas (see the fire plan implementation measure 8.4-2 and 8.4-3). Countywide Used to enumerate the Use to identify gaps in service and educate Federal, state and Emergency federal, state, and local the public about availability and scope of local public safety Response organizations involved services. personnel, land Assessment in fire protection managers, LAFCO, throughout the County, Use to improve communication and Local FSCs and including coordination between service providers (see County Planners organizational the fire plan implementation measure 8.1-4). The Countywide characteristics, inter- Emergency departmental Use as a foundation from which the process Response relationships, of determining a minimum level of service Assessment can be capabilities (personnel, can begin (see the fire plan implementation found in Chapter 4 equipment, training, measure 8.1-1). and funding), responsibilities, and Use to inform an evaluation of regional needs. training needs (see the fire plan implementation measure 8.1-2).
Fire Organization Used for the Use as background data to carry out the Fire Public safety Surveys #1 and #2 development of the Protection Capability implementation personnel, land Fire Capability measures in 8.1-1 through 8.1-4 managers, LAFCo, A summary of both Assessment and the Local FSCs and surveys can be MSRs. Use as a survey template for other areas county planners found in Appendix B Used as a tool to collect spatial data for the GIS mapping.
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Table 1-1 Summary of Fire Planning Tools (continued) Fire Planning How tool was used in Best Use of Tool For Use By Tools this plan MSRs Used as supporting Use to better understand Fire Protection District service Federal, state and documents to the capabilities, service area, challenges, needs and plans for local public safety MSRs are Emergency Services the future. Can be coupled with fire risk and hazard personnel, available at the Capability Assessment information to identify priority locations for fire safety (particularly Fire following website projects. Protection (as they are Districts), LAFCo, completed): Use as background data to carry out the Fire Protection Local FSCs, and http://www.co.hu Capability implementation measures in 8.1-1 through county planners mboldt.ca.us/ 8.1-4. planning/lafco/
MSRs are also discussed further in 2.3 GIS Maps Used to illustrate the Use as the basis for the determination of effective and Federal, state and (illustrating fire RAMS modeling, the appropriate hazard mitigation activities. To aid in the local public safety risk, fire response time identification of fire hazard/risk, resources at risk and personnel, land protection modeling, the ISO fuels reduction projects. (See the fire plan managers, LAFCO, capabilities and ratings, and the implementation measures 8.4-2 and 8.4-3). community and resources at risk) emergency response regional FSCs and capabilities Use by fire departments to modernize run-books, county planners GIS assessment. educate community members about fire protection maps can be capabilities, and improve ISO ratings. found in the Appendices and Use to spatially illustrate gaps in fire protection service throughout this and to help plan for the appropriate location of new document facilities or expansion of existing departments. Community- Used to refine Use to identify priority projects at community scale. Federal, state, and Generated Map features and projects Use by FSCs to show priority projects for National Fire local fire planning Data data at local level. Plan funding. agencies, FSC, and Use by County to update and/or ground truth GIS other community database. organizations. Funding Sources Used to position the Use as a resource for developing reliable sources of Local fire need for improved funding for fire protection and prevention efforts. (See departments and fire protection the fire plan implementation measures 8.5-1 through 8.5- FSCs, the HCFSC Funding sources services and wildfire 4). and County are discussed in prevention efforts into Planning Chapter 4 and in the context of existing Appendix A. funding sources and additional funding availability. MFPP Document The findings in this document can be used to support Local fire depts. funding applications for projects designed to mitigate and FSCs, the community fire risk. The MFPP’s recognition as a HCFSC and County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is Planning. important as the National Fire Plan has proposed to fund only projects identified in an approved CWPP beginning in FY06. This MFPP can also guide the implementation of the fire mitigation measures outlined within its pages
1-14 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition
2 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organization Roles in Fire Planning and Education
Fire planning encompasses a broad range of activities. Fire planning helps fire service and fire management organizations define their service areas, response protocols, and equipment, training, and staffing needs. Fire planning also helps agencies and community organizations identify fire hazards, assets at risk to fire, and possible actions that will mitigate fire risk. In Humboldt County there are numerous fire service entities and several local Fire Safe Councils (local FSC) that are actively engaging in such community fire planning. This chapter looks at fire planning roles at the local, state and federal levels, and places the need for fire planning in Humboldt County in the context of fire history and the current fire environment.
This chapter is organized into the following five sections:
2.1 County History, Population and Economics 2.2 County Fire Environment and Assets at Risk 2.3 The County Government’s Role in Fire Planning 2.4 Federal, State and Local Roles in Fire Planning 2.5 Federal, State and Local Roles in Fire Education and Prevention
The information in this chapter describes the existing conditions on which the Master Fire Protection Plan’s (MFPP) assessment and recommendations are based. These conditions are the “framework” for the MFPP, and have guided the findings, recommendations, policy, and implementation measures contained in subsequent chapters.
2.1 COUNTY HISTORY, POPULATION, & ECONOMICS
HISTORY Fire has been a significant factor in Humboldt County’s history. Evidence of this can be seen in the fire scars on ancient redwoods, some dating back more than a thousand years. The county’s history and culture, as well as recent developments and growth patterns, all influence how future fire risk can be managed, and future fire services can be provided.
NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES As the home of over a dozen Native American Tribes speaking languages from three different linguistic affiliations, Humboldt County has a rich native cultural history. Native populations made use of fire and natural resources in many ways. For example, active stewardship of the prairies and forests was practiced through the use of fire. These burns improved wildlife habitat and enhanced the health and growth of the tanoak and plants used for basket making, such as bear grass.
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The tribes carried out extensive trade and social relations throughout the region and beyond. Many of the trails used by the tribes have become the roads and highways in use today, and their village sites have become some of the area’s cities and towns. Clearly, these settlement patterns have been a major factor in the development of both rural and urban lands.
EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT European settlement in the area began with Spanish and Russian explorers in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The discovery of gold in the Klamath and Trinity Mountains brought miners, traders, and explorers, and forever changed the region. The gold rush brought settlement to the region, but mining was quickly replaced by timber as the dominant industry. By 1854, there were nine lumber mills around the county involved in exporting lumber worldwide. Dairy and cattle operations also became essential to the county’s economy, with farms and processing facilities being established around Humboldt Bay and the Eel River Valley, and the establishment of ranches throughout the region.
FIRE HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY Humboldt County redwood forests have an extensive fire history. Despite the generally damp climate prevailing in these forests, studies have suggested a historic fire return interval of 50-100 years in the northern part of the county, and 12-50 years in the south1. A look at Humboldt County’s fire history map shows the occurrence of several large fires along the southern and northern coast of the county from as early as 1908 (refer to Figure 2.1 for the fire history map).
Fire History of the Six Rivers National Forest Approximately one-third of the area of the Six Rivers National Forest (SRNF) lies in Humboldt County. The fire history of the area that now encompasses the SRNF is described in the Six Rivers National Forest Fire Management Plan2 (2004) and the CDF Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Fire Management Plans (2003 and 2005). These plans describe some of the specific practices and events in the early fire history of the area.
When considering fuel conditions and their influence on fire behavior, the dominant factor is the exclusion of natural and aboriginal fire across the landscape for the past 60-80 years. Native Americans often burned much of what is Humboldt County today during the pre-settlement days (before 1875). Fire would clear the understory of the forested areas, driving out insects and rodents. Fire also enhanced the grasses and forbs used to weave baskets. During the settlement period (1875-1897) European settlers used fire for enlarging and replenishing pasture/agricultural lands. These fires often escaped their control. During the post-settlement era (1898-1940), logging was a dominant activity. Logged areas were often burned to remove
1 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Fire Management Plan, Humboldt-Del Norte Unit (2003 and 2005). 2005 plan is available at the CDF website at: http://www.fire.ca.gov/FireEmergencyResponse/FirePlan/pdf/Humboldt.pdf 2 US Forest Service, Six Rivers National Forest. Fire Management Plan: Six Rivers National Forest, (2004).
2-2 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition
Figure 2.1 Humboldt County Wildland Fire History E DEL NORTE COUNTY 101 North to Crescent City
N Prairie Creek Humboldt
A K Redwoods l a SISKIYOU COUNTY m OFF FIRE E State Park a t h R C i v e County r 96 O (!
Six Rivers
Orleans
National Forest
ut101 Orick
r e HOG FIRE v
i
R
h t
a
Redwood 169 m 101 (! a ut K l
National Park
Weitchpec HEALY LOGGING CO. FIRE
R
Patricks Point State Park e RED CAP FIRE d w
o o
d Hoopa Valley
C A-LINE FIRE
r e Indian Reservation e k T
r i Hoopa n
i t y
R Fire History Westhaven i Trinidad v
e MEGRAM FIRE r
ut101 Six Rivers
96 (! LUFFENHOLZ FIRE
1908 - 2001 National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek !(
Mad River County Park
Ma d Legend
R iv e r 299 !( 299 La n p h e r e !( Du n e s
E Humboldt State
255 (! University 299 East to RAMS Compartments Blue Lake Manila
Redding Arcata Arcata
Bay
Public Lands Samoa C
ut101 I
Eureka Federal, State, or Local F Somoa Ai rport
Six Rivers I
Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay Tribal Lands Kneeland A Fields Landing
So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut Fire Perimeters
K n e Before 1950 e Loleta la n Ee d l Riv Headwaters R er o Forest Reserve a 1950 - 1969 d M 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R 1970 - 1989 iv e Rohnerville r Hydesville 1990 - 2001 Alton V a Carlotta n Du ze n Rive Va ut101 r n D (!36 uzen R 2003* Rio Dell iver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Stafford Bridgeville (!254 Holmes The Fire Perimeters data consists of CDF fires 300 acres and greater in size and USFS fires 10 acres and greater throughout California from 1950 to 2001. ut101 Redcrest Some fires before 1950, and some CDF fires smaller than 300 acres are also included. Perimeters are collected from Bureau of Indian Affairs, CDF, !254 ( National Park Service, and Forest Service. Data obtained from CDF's Fire South Fork Resource Assessment Project (FRAP). See below for website address. *The Honeydew and Canoe Fires of 2003 are also included on this map. Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS R o Weott McCann iver u RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB. le th a tt o State Park F Sequoia M o rk This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise Ee Eel Rock CANOE FIRE l R measurement or navigation. i ve Honeydew Myers Flat r E Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) MATTOLE FIRE el Miranda Riv for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. er Phillipsville Fort Seward Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] HONEYDEW FIRE King Alderpoint L o s Range t
National C Ettersburg
o a Conservation s t Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area FINLEY CREEK FIRE : Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California ut101 101 South to E San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
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Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan logs and debris. Again, these fires would often escape any control. This lasted until about 19523.
In 1999 a major wildland fire (Megram) burned through a large portion of blowdown acres, affecting both positively and negatively the fuel conditions across approximately 59,000 acres in the northeastern portion of the area. About 18,000 acres of younger, mature, and old growth stands were severely burned in the fire creating an inordinate amount of fuel. This, coupled with dense vegetation regrowth on these sites, provides an excellent fuelbed for future wildland fires and subsequent damaging effects on the sites. Most of the remainder of the fire area (approximately 31,800 acres) was subjected to moderate severity fire, which includes small pockets of mortality interspersed with low severity ground fire4.
COUNTY POPULATION According to the U.S. Census, the Humboldt County population has grown from less than 100 enumerated in 18505 to 126,500 in 2000. The populations of a number of Humboldt County cities, including Eureka, Rio Dell, and Blue Lake, have declined in population from their 1960 peak. These three cities were heavily reliant on the timber industry and have not rebounded to their prior population levels. Between 1960 and 1970, the population of Humboldt County declined by approximately 5,000 people. Since 1970, Humboldt County has increased in population by five to 10 percent at each decennial (10-year) census.
The Building Communities report produced for the Humboldt County General Plan Update includes a complete discussion of County Population Trends. According to that report, “between 1985 and 1990, the County grew by about 8,000 people (7.3 percent), with an average annual increase of 1.4 percent6.” The US Census growth projections predict population in Humboldt County to increase to 135,600 by 2010 and to 143,100 by 2025.
Humboldt County’s population is concentrated in the Humboldt Bay andEel River Valley area (including the areas around Humboldt Bay, and from Trinidad to Blue Lake to Rio Dell). The remaining county population lives in small communities ranging in size from approximately 150 in Weitchpec to 1,800 in the Garberville-Redway area.
Growth within Humboldt County is occurring predominantly in and around the Humboldt Bay region. The McKinleyville area has seen the most significant growth over the last 20 years, with its population increasing from 7,772 in 1980 to 13,599 in 2000. Growth in the McKinleyville area accounted for one third to one half of total countywide growth during this same period.
3 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Fire Management Plan. (2003; 2005, pp. 3-4). The 2005 plan is available at: http://www.fire.ca.gov/FireEmergencyResponse/FirePlan/pdf/Humboldt.pdf 4 US Forest Service. Six Rivers National Forest Fire Management Plan. (200x). 5 This number does not include the local Native American population, whose numbers in 1850 are not precisely known. 6 Dyett and Bhatia. Humboldt 2025 General Plan Update-Building Communities: A Discussion Paper for Community Workshops (2002).
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Other communities experiencing growth at a higher rate than the rest of the County over the last 20 years include Arcata, Fortuna, and the area around Eureka.
ECONOMY Timber and resource based industries have dominated the Humboldt County economy over the last century, but have been in decline over the last 30 years or so. The following quote from Humboldt State University Professor Steven Hackett indicates the degree to which timber led the county’s prosperity: “During the 1950s, the lumber industry employed about one out of every two working people in Humboldt County, and accounted for more income than the rest of the county economy combined. Humboldt county residents shared in the national gain in prosperity – per-capita personal income in Humboldt County during the 1950s was comparable to those in the rest of California, and higher than the United States as a whole. Our county population rose by slightly more than 50 percent during this period7.”
The decline in the timber industry began in the 1960s and resulted in the proportion of timber jobs decreasing from one-half the number of total jobs to one-third. Over the last 30 years, Humboldt County has shifted from a timber-based economy to an economy reliant on service and government-related jobs. As service sector jobs began to replace timber employment in the local economy, personal income slipped to77 percent of statewide levels. Growth in personal income (and population) in Humboldt County has been slow over this time period compared to the state as a whole.
In 2002, services and government sector employment made up 50 percent of total jobs in the county. Retail and wholesale trade jobs, service jobs, and government sector jobs account for approximately 75 percent of total jobs in the county. The California Employment Development Department projects that government, service, and trade jobs will account for over 90 percent of job growth between 1999 and 2006.
The unemployment rate in Humboldt County reported by the California Employment Development Division for July of 2005 is 5.7 percent, meaning that an estimated 3,500 of the total 60,800 residents in the labor force are unemployed. Annual unemployment rates in the County for the ten years prior to this report (1995-2004) ranged from a high of 8.3 percent in 1995 to a low of 5.8 percent in 20008.
Based on building permit data available from the Humboldt County Community Development Services Department, approximately 80 percent of all permits for new construction (all types) between 1972 and 2002 were issued for projects in the Humboldt Bay and Eel River Valley area. This indicates that 80 percent of new development is occurring in already urbanized areas, and
7 Hackett, Steven C. The Humboldt County Economy: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going? (1999). http://www.humboldt.edu/~economic/humcoecon.html
8 State of California, Economic Development Department. Labor Market Info website, (2005). http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/cgi/dataanalysis/AreaSelection.asp?tableName=Labforce
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20 percent of development is occurring in areas beyond the urban fringe, i.e. areas that generally do not have the full range of urban services.
2.2 HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE ENVIRONMENT AND ASSETS AT RISK
WILDFIRE RISK AND HAZARD FACTORS IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY Natural resource lands, primarily forestlands, surround many unincorporated communities in Humboldt County. The areas where communities abut natural resource lands are known as the “wildland-urban interface (WUI).” There are several types of interfaces (see Glossary), but overall they constitute a place and a condition. The interface is often an environmental condition where a mix of fuel, weather, and topographical conditions create conditions that put a community at risk to wildland fire.
A WUI is an area of increased human influence and land use conversion. Population and demographic trends, economic and tax issues, and land use planning and policy issues all play a part in influencing the WUI. These factors are important to understand, as are the consequences of human influences on forest ecosystems, in order to establish an ecological framework for planning and policy affecting the wildland-urban interface.
In an interface, people are typically in close contact to natural resource management. This results in public values and perceptions shaping the way that those resources are managed and conserved. An interface can also be defined as a zone where human-made infrastructure is located in, or adjacent to, wildfire prone areas. At a community-level perspective, the interface can be defined as the conditions that contribute to a neighborhood or community’s vulnerability to a wildland fire.
The historic suppression of wildfire has resulted in the buildup of fuel and has increased the potential for large fires, which burn with greater intensity than under "natural" conditions. These intense fire events generally result in greater resource damage than “natural” condition events. Large-scale watershed disturbance such as wildfire can result in loss of vegetative cover, increased runoff, and severe erosion and sediment production. Erosion following fires can cause large sediment loads in streams, the sediment may then be transported and deposited into rivers, and contribute to further damaged aquatic habitat in riparian areas. By killing or consuming vegetation next to streams and ponds and diminishing the shade it provides forest fire can have strong and lingering influences on water temperatures, raising them and threatening fish and other aquatic creatures9
A logging boom expanded throughout the County in the 1960s. Many of the logging practices on the erodible geology of the western County altered the natural hillslope hydrology. Construction of roads and stream crossings caused additional erosion and sediment runoff at levels greater than would have naturally occurred. Continued accelerated sediment production is
9 Pilliod D. S., and P. S. Corn. “Changes in stream amphibian populations following large fires in Idaho.” Presented at the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology symposium, Amphibians and Fire (19-22 March 2003, Arcata, California). http://leopold.wilderness.net/staff/pubs/2003SNVB_PilliodAbstract.htm
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found in many areas of the County, particularly where large-scale forest fires have further accentuated the problems10.
ASSETS AT RISK
The primary purpose of fire protection is to protect assets valued by a community. These assets include: life and safety; timber; range; recreation; water and watershed; plants; air quality; cultural and historic resources; unique scenic areas; buildings; and wildlife, plants, and ecosystem health. Knowledge of the types and magnitudes of assets at risk to wildfire, as well as their locations, is critical to fire protection planning. This section briefly describes assets at potential risk to fire.
Community and Economic Resources Community and economic resource assets are elements of the built environment that are valued by the community and are at risk to wildfire. Community and economic resources include such things as homes, public infrastructure (utilities, water systems, etc.), recreation resources, and other components of our communities. The destructive fires in Southern California in 2003 and in the Oakland Hills in 1991 demonstrate that wildfire can have disastrous consequences in both rural and urban communities.
Natural Resources Natural resource assets evaluated as part of the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) analysis include watersheds, forests and woodlands (not including timber production lands), fisheries and wildlife resources, soils and erosion potential, and threatened and endangered species. Chapter 3 and Appendix C contain the results of the RAMS analysis. Natural resources are highly valued by residents of Humboldt County for their contribution to the local quality of life, and as an economic development asset that attracts tourist-related expenditures. Fire is part of the natural environment. However, when it occurs under certain conditions (i.e. extreme weather and/or unusually dense fuel loading) it can destroy natural assets which are highly valued by the community.
Agricultural and Timber Resources Agricultural resources include rangelands, timberlands, cultivated farmlands, and dairy lands. Agricultural lands are an important element of the Humboldt County identity and economy. Although fire has been used as a tool in rangeland and timber management, wildland fire can have disastrous consequences to such resources, removing them from production and necessitating lengthy restoration programs.
10 Humboldt County, California. Humboldt County General Plan, Volume I, Framework Plan. (1984, 3-21 through 3-28). http://192.168.1.3/planning/Genplan/Framewk/index.htm
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Air Resources Smoke generated by wildfire is comprised of visible and invisible emissions that contain particulate matter (soot, tar, water vapor, and minerals), gases (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides) and toxics (formaldehyde, benzene). Emissions from wildfire depend on the type of fuel, the moisture content of the fuel, the efficiency (or temperature) of combustion, and the weather. Public health impacts associated with wildfire include difficulty in breathing, odor, and reduction in visibility.
Humboldt County is prone to temperature inversions, which occur when a layer of warm air traps cool air near the surface and create a lid that inhibits the vertical dispersion of smoke and other pollutants. The Megram Fire (Big Bar Complex Fire) burned 135,000 acres between late August and early November 1999 in eastern Humboldt and Trinity Counties, and resulted in the first air quality related state of emergency in California history. Smoke from the fire was trapped by an inversion layer between late September and early October, causing officials to close schools and encourage residents to leave the area. Those who remained in the affected area were encouraged to remain indoors.
Cultural Resources
The Humboldt County General Plan Cultural Resources Section provides an overview of culturally sensitive resources in the county:
Before European settlement, the Humboldt County area was one of the most culturally diverse regions of California, being home to nearly a dozen distinct peoples. In large part, Native American tribes occupied distinct areas conforming largely to the natural watershed basins. Culturally sensitive areas are sites and regions of special importance to Native Americans, primarily coastlines and riverbanks with outstanding religious or resource-producing importance. Over 32,000 acres of land in Humboldt County are designated as culturally sensitive, with notable concentrations along the Lower Klamath, the Lower Trinity, lower end and North Fork of the Mad, and the Van Duzen Rivers, and the eastern shore of Humboldt Bay11.
Culturally sensitive areas exist on both public and private lands. While some locations are publicly identified, others are held as confidential information by local Native American organizations. Many cultural sites are at risk of incidents of wildfire. Fire can destroy artifacts and structures. However, a light fire can clean an area of litter and ground fuel, exposing new cultural sites and artifacts without causing much damage. The discovery of these cultural sites can be a boon to archeologists and Native American groups, but can also present problems of looting and vandalism.
11 Humboldt County, California. Humboldt County General Plan, Volume I, Framework Plan. (1984, 3-38 through 3-43). http://192.168.1.3/planning/Genplan/Framewk/index.htm
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The North Coast Information Center at the Yurok Tribe maintains records for approximately 2,040 cultural resource sites, including cemeteries, villages, and lithic scatters ( surface-visible concentrations of stone chips, flakes, and tools). Three-quarters of these resources are located along rivers and major tributaries; the remainder are located in flat mountainous areas or prairies. High-density sites (villages, cemeteries, and ceremonial and gathering areas) are concentrated in the Hoopa and Yurok reservations and riverine areas. Ridgelines along rivers and creeks, where traveling between villages likely occurred, and lithic scatters around Trinidad, Humboldt Bay, the Eel delta, and Shelter Cove are considered medium-density resource sites. In addition to these resources, the County is home to a World Heritage Site designated by the United Nations (the World’s Tallest Tree at Redwood National Park), 48 structures or locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and 13 California Historic Landmarks within Humboldt County.
Scenic Resources There are a broad range of visual resources in Humboldt County, including the coastline and Pacific Ocean, mountains, hills, ridgelines, inland water features, forests, agricultural features, and distinctive rural communities.
Coastal Views. Humboldt County’s varied and extensive coastline allows for a wide range of scenic vistas from State Highway 101 and from beaches, state parks and Coastal Access points. The County’s Local Coastal Program includes a technical study on visual resources. The study includes a detailed inventory of local visual resources along the coastline. . and identifies areas as “highly scenic” and “visually degraded areas.”12 .A more recent discussion of Humboldt County’s existing scenic resources, viewshed evaluation and policy discussion is contained in the Natural Resources and Hazards Discussion Paper document prepared for use in the General Plan Update13.
Forests. Forestlands define much of the visual landscape of Humboldt County. Redwood National Park, Six Rivers National Forest, Redwoods State Park, and Kings Range National Conservation Area are all significant, protected forests within the County. Forestland is abundant well beyond these protected areas. The scenic value of these natural resources, viewed both from within or from outside, is of great importance.
Scenic Highways. Several highways in Humboldt County have unique scenic qualities because of their natural setting. A scenic road is defined as a roadway that, in addition to its transportation function, provides opportunities for the enjoyment of natural and scenic resources. Scenic roads direct views to areas of exceptional beauty, natural resources or landmarks, or historic and cultural interest. Although no highways in Humboldt County are “officially designated” as California State Scenic highways, several State Highways are eligible for official designation: Route 36 from Route 101 near Fortuna to the Trinity County line; Route 96 from Route 299 at Willow Creek north to Siskiyou County; Route 101 for its entire length in
12 Humboldt County Planning Department. Humboldt County Local Coastal Program Technical Studies: Visual, (1979). 13 Dyett and Bhatia. Natural Resources and Hazards: A Discussion Paper for Community Workshops, (2002, pp. 8- 1 through 8-9). http://www.planupdate.org/meetings/natl_res/nr_report.asp
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Humboldt County; and Route 299 from Arcata to Willow Creek. Local Humboldt County roadways also have significant scenic view values14.
2.3 COUNTY GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN FIRE SAFE PLANNING The County plays a key role in fire planning, through a variety of activities. The County’s role in fire planning includes: x Service by the County Board of Supervisors as Governing Board for certain fire protection districts (Fortuna, Loleta, Whitethorn, and CSA No. 4); x Coordinating the dissemination of Homeland Security Grants to local fire agencies and organizations for first responder equipment and support through the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services (OES); x Administering a grant program for fire department and local FSC support funded through the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, Title III; x Maintaining current Geographic Information System (GIS) data on fire services, fire districts, areas of responsibility, and fire history; x Maintaining public roads to provide access to fires; x Maintaining current fire safe goals and land use planning policies in the General Plan; x Carrying out the responsibilities of the County Fire Warden; x Planning for development that receives adequate fire protection through adoption of the County General Plan and Safety Element; x Adoption of Fire Safe Regulations that include the application of fire safe standards for development in unincorporated areas; and x Coordinating emergency services response through the Sheriff’s Department and OES.
With the preparation of the MFPP, the County has broadened its role in fire planning. The MFPP focuses on the County’s coordination and oversight role, and incorporates new policies that the County will implement via the Humboldt 2025 General Plan. The new policies are intended to result in more defined zoning regulations and development standards for unincorporated areas. The County’s role is described further below.
COUNTY LAND USE PLANNING Fire planning is addressed in the County’s current General Plan15 and continues to be addressed in the ongoing Humboldt County 2025 General Plan Update planning process.
FRAMEWORK PLAN
The current General Plan’s Framework Plan section recognizes the extreme diversity in the potential for destructive fire throughout the County. The distribution of fire risk within the County ranges from a moderate to high rating on the western portions of the County, where the
14 Dyett and Bhatia, op cit., (2002, p. 8-2). 15 See in particular Chapter 4 of the previously cited Humboldt County General Plan Volume I Framework Plan.
2-10 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition fuel potential is high but the climate is damp, to extreme risk ratings in the drier eastern portions of the County or in very steep terrain.
The Framework Plan contains a Wildfire and Flood Hazard Map for use when reviewing development applications, enabling the application of land use policy according to fire rating. The Planning Department determines which development applications should be reviewed by a fire protection agency, and considers agency response in the approval and requirements of the development application. This review method is intended to reduce the fire risk to structures and their occupants, as well as to reduce the threats to surrounding wildland vegetation.
Humboldt County’s overall policies with regard to hazards and resources (Framework Plan § 3291), which include wildfire and fire protection, are identified in the Framework Plan and summarized below: 1. Regulate land use through zoning ordinances and other development regulations to ensure that development in potentially hazardous areas, such as high risk areas for urban and wildfires, does not hinder preserving and promoting public safety and minimizes risk to life and property. 2. Encourage education of the community regarding the nature and extent of hazards. 3. Continue maintaining and upgrading disaster response plans.
The Framework Plan identifies the patchwork of agencies that provide fire protection services within the county and establishes the following goal relating to fire protection: “to assure adequate fire protection for new development (§ 4710).” County Fire Safe Regulations are used as a standard to implement this goal. The Framework Plan also contains the following specific policies relating to fire (§ 4720): 1. Proposed development shall be adequately serviced by water supplies for fire protection or shall have a letter from an appropriate fire protection agency indicating that adequate fire protection can be provided. 2. Encourage clustered development to provide for more localized and effective fire protection measures. 3. Humboldt County should encourage the use of fire as a management tool in the improvement of brush ranges for livestock production, enhancement of wildlife habitat, improvement of ground cover for soil and water conservation and for fuel reduction as a vital element in fire protection. 4. Use the appropriate section of the California Department of Forestry "Fire Safe Guides" as guidelines for review of residential development in rural areas, to be consistent with other General Plan policies. 5. Actively support and pursue the implementation recommendations of the Humboldt County Fire Chief's Association.
Since the adoption of the Framework Plan, the County has adopted Fire Safe Regulations (Title II – Land Use and Development Code– Division 11). The Fire Safe Regulations are incorporated in the review process of development applications for lands within the State Responsibility Area. These regulations were prepared pursuant to Public Resource Code Section 4290, which requires the adoption of regulations implementing minimum fire safety standards related to defensible space within state responsibility area land. The Fire Safe Regulations are available from the
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Humboldt County Community Development Services Department, and on the Department website at: http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/planning_library/Fire_Regs/Firesafe.pdf.
HUMBOLDT 2025 GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
In 2000, the County initiated a comprehensive update of the General Plan. Public meetings were held across the county to publicize the update and to solicit input for the Plan. One of the first work products of the General Plan update was the Critical Choices Report16 draft prepared in March 2001. This report contains public input compiled from the planning process and recommendations for future General Plan components. Based on public input received, the County recognized that a countywide Fire Plan was warranted in response to expressed needs for comprehensive planning with fire agencies and communities countywide. As part of this overall strategy, policy recommendations from the MFPP will be integrated into the General Plan, augmenting the overall General Plan Update process.
COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLANNING The County’s Office of Emergency Services (OES), a branch of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, is in charge of coordinating emergency response planning for Humboldt County, pursuant to the County of Humboldt Emergency Operations Plan17. The California Emergency Services Act (Gov Code § 8550 et seq.) establishes a mandate for emergency operations planning to “insure that preparations within the state will be adequate to deal with such emergencies.”
HUMBOLDT COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN The current Emergency Operations Plan includes the following references to wildland fire related emergency operations planning:
Humboldt County Emergency Operations Plan Section 1-H-2-C Wildland Fires Generally, from June to October of each year, the inland unincorporated areas of the county face a serious threat from wildland fires. Due to the undeveloped and rugged terrain of Humboldt County and highly flammable brush-covered land, many portions of the county have experienced numerous wildland fires in the recent past. High temperatures, low humidity, and high winds may exacerbate the potential for wildland fires. Another threat posed by wildland fires is the danger to health of persons and animals caused by dense smoke and high air particulate levels. The urban areas of Humboldt County are not susceptible to wildland fires due to their closeness to the ocean and moderate summer temperatures. The Emergency Operations Plan, Section 3-D-4-H Fire/Rescue Unit Leader includes the following sections on Fire and Rescue Unit Leaders:
16 Humboldt County. General Plan Update Critical Choices Report. (Draft 2001). http://www.planupdate.org/meetings/critical/CCreport.asp 17 Humboldt County. County of Humboldt Emergency Operations Plan: Humboldt Operational Area. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deparment, Office of Emergency Services, (June 2002). http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/sheriff/OES/EOP/default.htm
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Should an emergency event response necessitate an expanded fire/rescue structure, the Fire/Rescue Unit Leader will assume the duties of the Fire & Rescue Branch Director reporting to the Operations Section Chief. A new Fire/Rescue Unit Leader will be assigned and report to the Fire & Rescue Branch Director [per section 2-D-5-B, The Fire/Rescue Unit Leader must be the CDF Humboldt Del Norte Unit Division Chief or higher]. Unit Leader Responsibilities: 1. Evaluate and process requests for fire resources through the Humboldt Operational Area Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid Coordinator. 2. Establish and maintain communication with Fire Branch Directors in the field or at the Department Operations Center (DOC) if activated, for incidents occurring in the county unincorporated or contract areas. 3. Respond to requests for fire resources from the field in a timely manner, following established priorities (life safety, protection of property, and protection of the environment). 4. Monitor and track fire resources utilized during the event. 5. Provide general logistical support to field personnel, as required, using established local protocol in ordering support items. 6. Supervise the Fire Operations Unit.
The Emergency Operations Plan also includes a Memorandum of Agreement regarding search and rescue between the Humboldt County Fire Chief’s Association and the Sheriff’s Office.
Humboldt County is currently updating its Emergency Operations Plan. As part of this process, the OES Coordinator is performing contingency planning for the County, in consultation with local fire organizations. The OES Coordinator regularly attends Humboldt County Fire Chief’s Association meetings and coordinates with local fire departments.
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS In March of 2000 the County enacted Humboldt County Ordinance 2203 to address emergency organization in the County. As described by the Office of Emergency Services website:
Humboldt County Ordinance 2203 established the Humboldt Operational Area (OA) and identified the Sheriff as Director of Emergency Services for the county. The Humboldt OA is composed of the County of Humboldt, serving as the lead agency, and all political subdivisions (cities and special districts). The Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services (OES) assists the Sheriff in controlling and directing response by emergency organizations during a declared local emergency.
Humboldt County OES and the Humboldt OA are part of an inter-jurisdictional, total emergency management hierarchy established to assist all the citizens of the United States during times of crisis (see SEMS and NIMS below). At the federal level, FEMA oversees United States government response efforts. Each state has a Governor's Office of Emergency Services or similar agency to manage state-level organization and response efforts. Within the states, each county is its own OA. This hierarchy is in place to assist the organization and movement of resources to areas of need. At each level—federal, state, and local—the response organization has the statutory power to requisition resources and assistance from other governmental entities at the same level.
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The response hierarchy works in the following manner: when a city or special district cannot effectively handle a crisis with their own available resources and organization, they request OA assistance. OAs will provide whatever resources and assistance that can be mobilized locally from county assets and from other cities and special districts within the county. Should additional resources and assistance be needed, the OA will request help from the state Governor's OES. The State, in turn, will provide whatever resources and assistance that can be procured from State assets.
FEMA is contacted when the State needs assistance to handle a crisis. In some large states such as California, there is an intermediate level between the OAs and the Governor's OES for better efficiency in response efforts. In California, the Coastal Region is comprised of the sixteen coastal counties from Del Norte to Monterey. Any assistance requests from the Humboldt OA go directly to the Coastal Region which immediately canvasses the sixteen coastal counties for needed resources and assistance. Should more assistance be needed, the Coastal Region will contact the Governor's OES in Sacramento, which will, in turn, canvass the other Regions in the state.
The Humboldt County OES manages the OA response from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located in the old Civil Defense Shelter of the County Courthouse. The EOC consists of a large room for the display/exchange of information and smaller rooms that are used as needed. An extensive and varied communications system allows instant information transfer anywhere inside and outside the county. The EOC can operate independently of external power sources. Previously identified and trained personnel with expert knowledge and expertise from county departments, state and federal agencies, and other local governments, agencies, and organizations meet and coordinate the OA response from the EOC. All responders are trained in the use of the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and in the Incident Command System (ICS) to best facilitate a coordinated response from all levels of government18.
Humboldt County adopted the National Incident Management System (NIMS) requirements in Resolution T-S and will integrate NIMS consistent with SEMS in California. NIMS was released in March of 2004, and by the end of FY2007, the availability of all federal mitigation funding will be contingent upon compliance with the new system. States, territories, tribes, and local governments will have to complete specified activities during FY2006 and FY2007 to achieve NIMS compliance. Humboldt County is making progress towards completing the required activates and anticipates being in compliance with NIMS by the end of FY2007.
An exception to the response hierarchy described above is in the case of a normal wildland fire. To support wildland fire suppression efforts the local entity in charge of fire response for a given incident will coordinate resource requests directly through the state OES Fire and Rescue mutual aid coordinator. The local entity can be any city, district or county fire department representative. However, most communications are routed through the OA coordinator (who, in Humboldt County, is the CDF Unit Chief).
For the management of normal wildfire incidents it is not necessary to work through the local Humboldt County OES. Local OES will stand by and be prepared to respond if the incident
18 Humboldt County. Humboldt County Operational Area.Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, Office of Emergency Services, (2002). http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/sheriff/OES/
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STANDARDIZED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SEMS) Because of events during the 1991 East Bay Hills fire, State Senator Nicholas C. Petris (Oakland) introduced SB 1841 (Government Code §8607, effective January 1, 1993). This statute directs the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), in coordination with all interested State and local emergency management agencies, to establish by regulation the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) for managing response to multi-agency and multi-jurisdiction emergencies in California. The framework of SEMS includes the ICS, inter-agency coordination, a Master Mutual Aid Agreement, Operational Area Satellite Information System (OASIS) and existing local area mutual aid systems. ICS is a standardized on-scene emergency management system establishing an integrated (or modular) organizational structure equal to the severity and demands of the incident and utilizing common terminology.
The goal of SEMS is to facilitate the flow of information within and between levels of the system, and to facilitate coordination among all responding agencies. SEMS is intended to improve the mobilization, deployment, utilization, tracking, and demobilization of needed mutual aid resources. SEMS is further intended to reduce the incidence of poor coordination and communications, and reduce resource-ordering duplication on multi-agency and multi- jurisdiction responses. SEMS is designed to be flexible and adaptable to the varied disasters that occur in California and to the needs of all emergency responders. Although a transition from SEMS to NIMS will be made in order to qualify for federal mitigation funding, the intentions and structure of the two systems are almost congruent. Thus the following detailed description of SEMS is still relevant.
SEMS consists of five organizational levels, which are activated as necessary. The five levels are:
1. Field Response – At the field response level emergency response personnel and resources, under the command of an appropriate authority, carry out tactical decisions and activities in direct response to an incident or threat. SEMS regulations require the use of ICS at this level.
2. Local Government – Local governments include cities, counties, and special districts. Local governments manage and coordinate the overall emergency response and recovery activities within their jurisdiction in order to be eligible for state funding to cover response- related personnel costs. Local governments are required to use SEMS when their emergency operations center is activated or when a local emergency is declared or proclaimed. In SEMS, the local government emergency management organization and its relationship to the field response level may vary depending upon factors related to geographical size, population, function, and complexity.
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3. Operational Area – Under SEMS, the Operational Area is the intermediate level of the State's emergency services organization that encompasses a county and all political subdivisions located within that county, including special districts. The Operational Area manages and/or coordinates information, resources, and priorities among local governments within the Operational Area, and serves as the coordination and communication link between the local government level and the regional level.
4. Regional – Because of its size and geography, the State has been divided into six mutual aid regions. The purpose of a mutual aid region is to provide more effective application and coordination of mutual aid and other emergency related activities. In the SEMS organizational scheme, the regional level manages and coordinates information and resources among Operational Areas within the mutual aid region, and also between the Operational Areas and the State level. The regional level also coordinates overall state agency support for emergency response activities.
5. State – The state level of SEMS manages State resources in response to the emergency needs of the other levels, and coordinates mutual aid among the mutual aid regions and between the regional level and state level. The State level also serves as the coordination and communication link between the State and the Federal disaster response system.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AS GOVERNING BOARD FOR FIRE PROTECTION SERVICES Although the County of Humboldt has not assumed direct responsibility for fire protection in the unincorporated areas, the Board of Supervisors does play a role in the delivery of fire protection services throughout the county. For example, the Board of Supervisors serves as the governing board to the Fortuna, Loleta, and Whitethorn fire protection districts. These three fire districts were formed under the County Fire Protection District Law or other laws enacted prior to the current Fire Protection District Law of 1987 (Health and Safety Code §13800 et seq). These fire protection districts are considered “dependent” districts, as opposed to the 13 other “independent” districts in Humboldt County, where district voters elect the district Board of Directors. However, in 1985 the Board of Supervisors passed Resolution 85-40, thereby delegating their governing board powers for the Loleta, Fortuna, and Whitethorn Fire Protection Districts to those districts’ Boards of Fire Commissioners. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code §13884, the Board of Supervisors “shall determine whether the commissioners shall serve at its pleasure or for staggered terms of four years subject to removal for cause.” In the case of Loleta and Fortuna, the Board of Supervisors has appointed Fire Commissioners to serve at its pleasure.
The County Board of Supervisors also governs County Service Area (CSA) No. 4, which provides fire protection to coastal communities from Freshwater Lagoon south to Crannell Road, not including the Trinidad Area. The County Board of Supervisors is the ex officio (by virtue of office) Board of Commissioners for CSA No. 4, and contracts with the CDF to provide fire and emergency medical response services. The County funds CSA No. 4 through an assessment on property approved in August 2003. CDF provides service through its Trinidad Fire Station located just north of Trinidad on Patrick’s Point Drive. The Amador Agreement between the County and CDF also funds costs associated with the local fire/EMS emergency dispatch
2-16 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition services provided by CDF (see Section 2.5, Local Fire Protection Interagency/ Interdepartmental Associations for a more detailed discussion of dispatch activities).
HUMBOLDT COUNTY LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION (LAFCO) Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCO) are independent county-level regulatory commissions created by the California Legislature to control the boundaries of cities and most special districts. In 1963, the State Legislature established LAFCOs in each county (except San Francisco) to act on proposals concerning the formation of cities and special districts and on other changes in jurisdiction or organization of local agencies. LAFCO is also given authority to make studies of existing governmental agencies, in an effort to improve the efficiency of urban services, and to make recommendations on local governmental reorganization.
The Humboldt County LAFCO is made up of six locally elected representatives--including two Board of Supervisors Members, two City Members, two Special District Members--and one public member.
LAFCO plays an important role in the delivery of countywide fire protection services. The following is a list of LAFCO objectives defined by the State Legislature, all of which have some bearing on fire protection:
1. To Encourage the Orderly Formation of Local Governmental Agencies LAFCOs review proposals for the formation of new local governmental agencies and for changes in the organization of existing agencies. Local agency boundaries are often unrelated to one another and sometimes overlap at random, which can lead to higher service costs to the taxpayer and general confusion regarding service area boundaries. LAFCO decisions strive to balance the competing needs in California for efficient services, affordable housing, economic opportunity, and conservation of natural resources.
2. To Preserve Agricultural Land Resources LAFCO must consider the effect that any proposal will produce on existing agricultural lands. By guiding development toward vacant urban land and away from agricultural preserves, LAFCO assists with the preservation of our valuable agricultural resources.
3. To Discourage Urban Sprawl Urban sprawl can best be described as irregular and disorganized growth occurring without apparent design or plan. This pattern of development is characterized by the inefficient delivery of urban services (police, fire, water, and sanitation) and the unnecessary loss of agricultural resources. By discouraging sprawl, LAFCO limits the misuse of land resources and promotes a more efficient system of local governmental agencies.
LAFCO carries out these objectives through the following authorities: x Sphere of Influence Studies
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A sphere of influence is a planning boundary outside of an agency’s legal boundary (such as the city limit line) that designates the agency’s probable future boundary and service area. In 1972, LAFCOs were given the power to determine spheres of influence for all local governmental agencies. The purpose of the sphere of influence is to ensure the provision of efficient services while discouraging urban sprawl and the premature conversion of agricultural and open space lands by preventing overlapping jurisdictions and duplication of services. Commissions cannot tell agencies what their planning goals should be. Rather, on a regional level, LAFCOs coordinate the orderly development of a community through reconciling differences between agency plans so that the most efficient urban service arrangements are created for the benefit of area residents and property owners. Factors considered in a sphere of influence review study focus on the current and future land use, the current and future need and capacity for service, and any relevant communities of interest. Pursuant to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act of 2000, spheres are reviewed every five years.
x Initiation of Special District Consolidations As of July 1, 1994, LAFCOs have the authority to initiate proposals that include the dissolution or consolidation of special districts, or the merging of an existing subsidiary district. Prior to initiating such an action, LAFCO must determine, through a sphere of influence study or other special study that the district's customers would benefit from the proposal.
x Municipal Service Reviews. Municipal Service Reviews (MSR) were added to LAFCO’s mandate with the passage of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act in 2000. A MSR is a comprehensive study designed to better inform LAFCO, local agencies, and the community about the provision of municipal services. MSRs attempt to capture and analyze information about the governance structures and efficiencies of service providers, and to identify opportunities for greater coordination and cooperation between providers. The MSR is a prerequisite to a sphere of influence determination and may also lead a LAFCO to take other actions under its authority.
The Humboldt County LAFCO works with all local agencies within Humboldt County, including Fire Protection Districts, to develop MSRs to support the update of their Sphere of Influence studies. LAFCO has used information generated through the preparation of the MFPP to facilitate preparation of MSRs for local Fire Protection Districts19 Preparation of MSRs and updates to the Sphere of Influence Studies will also support the County’s efforts to update the General Plan.
19 As they are completed, these MSR reports are posted on the Humboldt County Community Development Services website at: http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/lafco/.
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2.4 FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL ROLES IN FIRE PLANNING
FEDERAL AGENCY ROLES IN FIRE PLANNING
NATIONAL FIRE POLICY Federal policy mandates for development of fire management plans come from two main sources: the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy20(written in 1995 and reviewed and updated in 2001) and the 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy21 (written in 2001, with an Implementation Plan published in 2002). The 1995 Fire Policy was developed in the wake of 1994 fire season’s high death toll. The 1995 policy produced the first single comprehensive federal fire policy for the Interior and Agriculture Departments. It called for a fundamental shift in agency philosophy by expanding the mission of fire managers to include reducing fuel hazards and restoring fire-adapted ecosystems. It also sought the involvement of interagency partners, as well as the public, in both fire and forest resource management objectives. The 2001 Fire Policy further established a mandate to develop fire management plans for all areas subject to wildland fires. The 2001 Fire Policy established the following broad guiding principles and policies:
Firefighter and public safety is the first priority. Every area with burnable vegetation must have an approved fire management plan. Fire, as a critical natural process, will be integrated into land and resource management plans. Fire management planning, preparedness, suppression, fire use, monitoring, and research will be conducted on an interagency basis with the involvement of all partners. Use information about fire regimes, current conditions, and land management objectives as a basis to develop fire management goals and objectives. Address all potential wildland fire occurrences and include a full range of fire management action. Use new knowledge and monitoring results to revise fire management goals, objectives, and actions. Develop close links to land and resource management plans.
The agencies involved in the development of the 2001 Fire Policy (primarily the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior) have adopted the guiding principles, 2001 Federal Fire Policy statements, and implementation actions. All Federal fire program activities are intended to take place in cooperation and partnership with State and other organizations.
20 US Forest Service. Federal Wildland Fire Policy. http://www.fs.fed.us/land/wdfire (1995) http://www.fs.fed.us/land/wdfire; and US Forest Service. Review and Update of the 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy, (January 2001). http://www.nifc.gov/fire_policy/history/index.htm 21 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior. A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment: 10-year Comprehensive Strategy, (August 2001). http://www.fireplan.gov/reports/7-19-en.pdf; and US Departments of Agriculture and Interior. A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment: 10-year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan, (May 2002). http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/fire/implem_plan.pdf
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THE NATIONAL FIRE PLAN In August 2000, President Clinton directed the Secretaries of the Agriculture Department and the Department of the Interior to develop a plan to respond to severe wildland fires, reduce the impact of wildfires on rural communities, and ensure sufficient firefighting capacity in the future. The resulting action plans and agency strategies have collectively become known as the National Fire Plan22, which supports the integration of wildland and prescribed fire as a basic tool for land and resource management. The plan directs Federal agencies to work directly with states and local communities to reduce immediate hazards in wildland-urban interface areas, and to develop a collaborative effort to ensure that sufficient resources are available for extreme fire conditions in the future. A major feature of the National Fire Plan is the interagency aspect of risk reduction planning and implementation among Federal, State, and local agencies.
The National Fire Plan addresses five key topics: x Firefighting: Ensure adequate preparedness for coming fire seasons. x Rehabilitation and Restoration: Restore damaged landscapes and rebuild communities damaged by wildfire. x Hazardous Fuels Reduction: Reduce fire risk through fuel treatment. x Community Assistance: Work directly with communities to reduce fire risk and ensure adequate protection. x Accountability: Be accountable and establish adequate oversight and monitoring of results.
10-YEAR COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY As referenced above, the Western Governor’s Association and other organizations collaborated with the Departments of Interior and Agriculture23 to develop A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment: 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy: which was published in August 2001. In May 2002, the 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan was published. The 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy has three core principles and four primary goals.
Core Principles:24 x Collaboration – Facilitate a collaborative approach at the local, regional, and national levels. x Priority Setting – Emphasize the protection of communities, municipal, and other high- priority watersheds at risk. Long-term emphasis is to maintain and restore fire prone ecosystems at a landscape scale. x Accountability – Establish uniform and cost-effective measures, standards, reporting processes, and budget information in implementation plans that will fold into the Government Performance and Results Act process.
22 See http://www.fireplan.gov/ for overviews and resources related to the National Fire Plan. 23 See Appendices II and III of the 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy document for a listing of collaborators and participants in the report. http://www.fireplan.gov/reports/7-19-en.pdf 24 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, 2001, p.7.
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Primary Goals:25 1. Improve Prevention and Suppression 2. Reduce Hazardous Fuels 3. Restore Fire-Adapted Ecosystems 4. Promote Community Assistance
The Implementation Plan created “Implementation Outcomes” for each of the above goals. They are: 1. Losses of life are eliminated, and firefighter injuries and damage to communities and the environment from severe, unplanned and unwanted wildland fire are reduced.26 2. Hazardous fuels are treated, using appropriate tools, to reduce the risk of unplanned and unwanted wildland fire to communities and to the environment.27 3. Fire-adapted ecosystems are restored, rehabilitated and maintained, using appropriate tools, in a manner that will provide sustainable environmental, social, and economic benefits.28 4. Communities at risk have increased capacity to prevent losses from wildland fire and the potential to see economic opportunities resulting from treatments and services.29
HEALTHY FORESTS RESTORATION ACT The Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) was part of the 2003 President’s Healthy Forests Initiative to reduce hazardous fuels on public and private lands. The Act contains several Titles, including Hazardous Fuel Reduction on Federal Land, Biomass, Watershed Forestry Assistance, Insect Infestations and Related Diseases, and the Healthy Forests Reserve Program. HFRA establishes Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) and sets standards for those plans.
The three requirements for CWPPs as defined in the HFRA are:30 x Development using a collaborative process x Identification and prioritization of fuel reduction treatments, including recommendations for the type and methods of treatment. x Recommended measures to reduce structural ignitability.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2000 The Disaster Management Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), which amended the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, authorized a program for pre-disaster mitigation in order to streamline disaster relief administration as well as control the federal costs of disaster assistance. DMA 2000 establishes criteria for risk assessment and mitigation programs for natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires. DMA 2000 emphasizes the need for State, local and tribal entities to closely coordinate
25 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, 2001, p.1. 26 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, 2002, p.10. 27 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, 2002, p.12. 28 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, 2002, p.14. 29 US Departments of Agriculture and Interior, 2002, p.15. 30 Society for American Foresters, Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, www.safnet.org/policyandpress/cwpphandbook.pdf, March 2004.
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U.S. FOREST SERVICE – SIX RIVERS NATIONAL FOREST (SRNF) The USDA Forest Service Six Rivers National Forest (SRNF) provides fire protection and resource management for roughly 528 square miles (337,753 acres – which is approximately 15 percent of Humboldt County) of National Forest lands, which are predominately located in the eastern portion of Humboldt County. As a singular Federal agency, the SRNF contains the largest number of acres of Federal land ownership in Humboldt County. SRNF and is also considered one of the primary wildland fire protection agencies within Humboldt County’s fire protection system.
Communities at Risk Program A major component of the National Fire Plan was funding for projects designed to reduce fire risks to people and their property. A fundamental step in realizing this goal was the identification of areas that are at high risk of damage from wildfire. Federal fire managers authorized State Foresters to determine which communities were under significant risk from wildland fire on Federal lands. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection undertook the task of generating the state's list of communities at risk. With California's extensive wildland-urban interface situation, the list of communities extended beyond just those on Federal lands.
Humboldt County communities at risk that reside in or adjacent to Six River National Forest (SRNF) lands are identified at the California Fire Alliance website (http://www.cafirealliance.org/communities_at_risk.php). Table 2.3 distinguishes these communities, with an “F”; indicating that they are under significant risk from wildland fire on Federal lands. Fuels Management Program According to the Forest Service’s Protecting People and Sustaining Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems: A Cohesive Strategy, the highest priorities for hazardous fuel reduction should be assigned to communities at risk, readily accessible municipal watersheds, threatened and endangered species habitat, and other important local features, where conditions favor uncharacteristically intense fires31. The National Fire Plan indicates that working with local communities is a critical element in restoring damaged landscapes and reducing fire hazards near homes and communities. A top priority is given to reducing fuels in forests and rangelands adjacent to, and within communities. Particular emphasis is placed on fuel treatment projects that can also be accomplished on adjoining State, private, or other nonfederal land so as to extend greater protection across the landscape.
Table 2-1 summarizes the number of acres that have undergone hazard reduction fuels treatment between 1994 and 2004 on the SRNF. The type of treatment has included prescribed burning (e.g., hand-pile burning, under-story burning) and/or mechanical removal (e.g., hand-piling,
31 US Forest Service. Protecting People and Sustaining Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems: A Cohesive Strategy, (2000). http://www.fs.fed.us/publications/2000/cohesive_strategy10132000.pdf
2-22 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition machine piling, thinning). In Table 2-1 “LRMP” stands for the ten-year annual average acreage for hazard reduction fuel treatments, as identified in the Six Rivers National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan32. The relatively high number of acres treated in 2001 is reflective of an increase in federal funding through Title II (1817 ac.) and Title IV (1451 ac.) sources.
Table 2-1 Six Rivers National Forest Hazardous Fuels Treatment Year Natural Fuels (acres treated) 1994 35 1995 762 1996 471 1997 604 1998 1918 1999 2200 2000 1479 2001 3268 2002 1297 2003 1470 2004 1877 LRMP 5000 Source: Six Rivers National Forest
Economic Action Program: The following projects have received funding mainly through the USDA Forest Service’s Economic Action Program (EAP)/Community Protection Program, administered by the SRNF33: x Community outreach for the development of the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan; x Yurok Tribe’s small diameter utilization for biomass electrification system; x Yurok Tribe's Utilization of Sub-merchantable Woody Material project; x Humboldt Trinity Recreation Alliance’s small diameter mill feasibility study; x Humboldt Trinity Recreation Alliance’s “Goats for Fuel Reduction" feasibility study; x Orleans/Somes Bar FSC for hazardous fuels reduction programs; x Orleans/Somes Bar Fire Safe Council's Floral and Crafts Trade Materials Feasibility Study; x Willow Creek CSD Fire Safe Plan; x The Lower Mattole Fire Plan; x The Upper Mattole Fire Plan; x North Coast Small Business Development Center "Youth Wood Products Entrepreneur" project; and x Bridgeville Community Center's Van Duzen Watershed Fire Plan.
The final Interior Appropriations bill for FY 06 contains $9,679 million for the EAP, all of which is dedicated to earmarked projects. This means there is no money for any new EAP programs or for the staff that administers the funding. According to Laura Chapman (the SRNF Rural Community Assistance Coordinator) the grant funds associated with the EAP have been dropping year by year, despite efforts by many small communities and activists to sustain it. In
32 US Forest Service, Six Rivers National Forest. Land and Resource Management Plan, (1995). 33 Laura Chapman, SRNF Rural Community Assistance Coordinator, Personal Communication, August 22, 2005
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2001 the program distributed over $600,000 in grant funds on the Six River National Forest, but in 2005 there was only $300,000 for all 18 Forests in California.
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM) - ARCATA FIELD OFFICE The Bureau of Land Management-Arcata Field Office provides resource management for roughly 95,000 acres of public lands within Humboldt County. BLM-managed lands in the county are predominately aggregated within the King Range area of the Mattole-Lost Coast Fire Planning Compartment and in the BLM Headwaters Forest Reserve, located northeast of Fortuna (Lower Eel Fire Planning Compartment). BLM staff also provide assistance in the development of Community Based Wildfire Assistance Grants.
Communities at Risk Humboldt County communities at risk that are located in or adjacent to BLM public lands are identified in detail in the 2005 BLM Arcata Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy Plan34. Identified at-risk communities and wildland-urban interface areas included Ettersburg, Honeydew, Hoopa, Manila, Petrolia, Prosper Ridge, Shelter Cove, Telegraph Ridge, Whale Gulch, Whitethorn, and Wilder Ridge.
The wildland-urban interface areas and at risk-communities identified in the BLM Arcata Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy Plan were further evaluated to identify a range of community-specific fire hazard mitigation. These mitigation strategies and projects included the construction and maintenance of shaded fuel breaks and site-specific hazardous fuel reduction treatments. Other BLM-planned community fire safe activities include: volunteer fire department mitigation training, local community education and fire mitigation programs, local school fire prevention presentations, community and homeowner group presentations, local community stakeholder meetings and partnership groups, and Rural Fire Assistance Grant development for local volunteer fire departments.
Fuels Management Program The BLM-Arcata Field Office, like other federal agencies providing fire protection services in Humboldt County, has assigned its highest program priorities to meet the intent of the National Fire Plan and the US Forest Service document referenced above: Protecting People and Sustaining Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems: A Cohesive Strategy.
As a state-wide strategy, the BLM has directed that fuels management projects be prioritized to recognize communities at risk, municipal Figure 2.2 BLM King Range Fuelbreak
34 US Bureau of Land Management. Arcata Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy Plan, (2005).
2-24 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition watersheds with high risk potential, threatened and endangered species habitat, forest reserves, and other high priority fire hazard areas, where fuel conditions indicate a high potential for catastrophic wildfire. Table 2-2 lists the hazardous fuels treatment projects recently implemented or planned by the BLM-Arcata Field office. Figure 2.2 illustrates the BLM King Range fuelbreak.
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS (BIA) AND INDIAN TRIBAL LANDS Native American Tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provide fire protection and resource management for roughly 196 square miles (125,442 acres) of tribal lands, which are predominately located in the north central and northeastern portions of Humboldt County. The entire Hoopa Reservation is listed as a community at risk in the Federal Register list, and the Tribe is currently developing a fire management plan for the reservation.
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Table 2-2 Arcata BLM Hazardous Fuels Treatments Current projects Location Size (acres) Completion WUI (month/year) (Yes/No) Saddle Mountain Connector King Range 26 5/2002 Yes Shaded Fuelbreak Saddle Mountain Shaded King Range 64 3/2003 Yes Fuelbreak Horse Mountain Shaded King Range 40 4/2003 Yes Fuelbreak Kaluna Cliffs Fuel Break King Range 21 7/2003 Yes Bear Wallow Fuelbreak King Range 25 11/2003 Yes Smith-Etter Shaded Fuel King Range 32 4/2004 Yes Break Hupa Mtn Pile Burning Hupa Mountain 30 3/2004 No, forest stand improvement South Spit Beachgrass South Spit, 20 3/2004 No, exotic species Prescribed Burn Humboldt Bay eradication and habitat restoration Bear Trap Ridge Fuelbreak King Range 55 4/2005 Yes Samoa/Manila Prescribed Samoa and Manila 40 Ongoing, treating No, exotic species Burn dunes roughly 40 eradication and acres/year habitat restoration Proposed projects Location Size (acres) Completion WUI (month/year) (Yes/No) Strawberry Rock Prescribed King Range 80 Expected Yes, and coastal Burn Fall, 2005 prairie restoration Hupa Mtn Pile Burning Hupa Mountain 30 Fall, 2005 No, forest stand improvement King Range Road King Range 20 Fall, 2005 Yes Mechanical Fuel Reduction Nooning Creek Mechanical King Range 8 Fall, 2005 Yes Fuel Reduction Paradise Ridge Shaded King Range 70 Spring, 2006 Yes Fuelbreak Headwaters Pile Burning Headwaters Forest 80 Fall, 2006 No, forest stand Reserve improvement Saddle Mountain Connector King Range 26 Fall, 2006 Yes Shaded Fuelbreak Maintenance Windy Point Prescribed King Range 110 Expected Yes, and coastal burn Fall, 2007 prairie restoration Saddle Mountain Shaded King Range 64 Spring, 2007 Yes Fuelbreak Maintenance Prosper Ridge Shaded Fuel King Range 35 Fall, 2007 Yes Break Lacks Creek Pile Burning Hupa Mountain 20 Fall, 2007 No, forest stand improvement Source: BLM Arcata Field Office
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STATE AGENCY ROLES IN FIRE PLANNING
STATE FIRE PLAN The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is charged with preparing a State Fire Plan. Public Resources Code §4130 states that the state fire plan shall classify all lands within the State Responsibility Areas (non-federal timber and range lands, see the Glossary for a more detailed definition) into types of land based on cover, beneficial uses of water, probable erosion damage, fire risks, and hazards. The State Fire Plan shall also address adequate levels of fire protection for State Responsibility Areas. In addition, all land of each type shall be assigned the same intensity of protection, and the estimated cost of such intensity of protection shall be determined.
The current California Fire Plan stresses the need for pre-fire management. Pre-fire management activities include the implementation of fire safe standards, fuel reduction, prescribed fires, and the establishment of defensible space around homes, among other things. In addition, the State Fire Plan emphasizes the need to reduce both firefighting costs and the loss of property due to fire, while increasing firefighter safety, and enhancing ecosystem health. CDF is updating the Fire Plan this year through a collaborative stakeholder process. The updated Fire Plan is expected to be approved by the Board of Forestry in the fall of 2005.35
Fire Plan Findings and Recommendations California Fire Plan findings and recommendations are summarized into three categories: Levels of Wildland Fire Protection Services; Wildland Fire Protection Fiscal Issues; and Pre-fire Management to Reduce Wildfire Costs/Losses. The following sections contain only those California Fire Plan recommendations that are highly relevant to the Humboldt County Fire Plan.
Wildland Fire Protection Services Stakeholder Input in the Assessment Framework. CDF should use the new fire plan assessment framework at the Unit level, as well as to create local forums to obtain expertise and other input from citizens, community groups, local agencies and other stakeholders on assets protected. The questions of wildland resource assets and structure protection can be better addressed at the Unit level, in terms of level of service, benefits, and financial responsibilities.
Fiscal Framework Annually Refine Fiscal Framework. To better evaluate future public policy changes, CDF should annually refine and update its comprehensive wildland fire protection fiscal framework to allow a more systematic assessment of the future costs and losses to California taxpayers. This fiscal framework should continue to include summaries of annual expenditures by local, state, and federal agencies; economic losses of the state’s resources; and private-sector costs and losses.
Insurance. The insurance industry should be encouraged to develop an approach to reduce taxpayer and insurance underwriting losses.
35 Tom Hoffman, CDF, personal communication, August 2, 2005.
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Pre-Fire Management Pre-Fire Management Data. CDF will develop pre-fire management data that will:
x Support state, local, and federal agencies’ efforts to implement a coordinated pre- fire management program on California wildlands. x Provide the insurance industry with better fire hazard risk assessment data for underwriting, rating, and pricing fire protection policies in wildland areas. These are incentives to homeowners to invest in fire hazard reduction efforts.
Expand Biomass Market. In order to increase the market alternatives for using biomass materials removed from wildlands and to reduce future dependence on prescribed fire and vegetation management burns, CDF should work in conjunction with other state agencies to develop an assessment of future biomass marketing opportunities for California. The assessment should include projections of potential market uses and actions the local, state and federal governments could take to expand those markets.
Fire Prevention Education. The fire prevention education programs of local, state and federal agencies and private industry should be designed to communicate the level of risk to the people who live in wildland areas. An evaluation should be made to determine the correct message to influence people to modify their behavior. That message should incorporate the standards for vegetation management and ignition resistant building construction, as well as provide information on actions that citizens and businesses can take to reduce wildfire risks.
State Funding for Pre-Fire Management. To provide state funding for pre-fire management projects, legislation should be sponsored to provide that fire cost recovery funds collected by CDF be returned to CDF’s budget for implementing the projects, as a means of reducing wildfire costs and losses.
Pre-Fire Management Districts. Legislation should be sought to authorize local government to create special service districts for pre-fire management projects. CDF will prepare recommendations as part of its in-depth plan.
Air Quality vs. Controlled Burns. To remove a major obstacle to increased vegetation management burns, with their potential for reducing wildfire costs and losses, liability limits should be examined for conducting such burns in high-risk/high-value wildlands. The state’s worker compensation program may be a model for needed changes. Given the potential for pre- fire management to reduce the total level of air pollutant emissions from wildfire, the state, federal, and local wildfire protection and air quality agencies should jointly develop policies for reducing air pollutant emissions from California wildfires. Fire prevention education programs should communicate levels of risk to people living in wildlands.
The State Fire Plan findings and recommendations listed above correlate closely with the findings and recommendations of this Fire Plan. In order for both the State and Humboldt County Fire Plans to be successful, CDF and local fire related organizations (including the County, Tribes, Cities, fire departments, and Fire Safe Councils) will need to coordinate closely in regards to data gathering, pre-fire planning and management, grant applications, and in program and project funding efforts
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COMMUNITIES AT RISK In response to the National Fire Plan and the State Fire Plan objective to work directly with state and local communities to reduce immediate hazards in the federal WUI, CDF prepared a list of Communities at Risk to wildfire. The CDF Director has assigned the role of managing this list to the California Fire Alliance (Alliance).The most current list can be viewed at: http://www.cafirealliance.org/communities_at_risk.php. The Alliance states in its website that three main factors were used to determine wildland fire threat to WUI areas of California. These factors are:
x Ranking Fuel Hazards-- ranking vegetation types by their potential fire behavior during a wildfire. x Assessing the Probability of Fire--the annual likelihood that a large damaging wildfire would occur in a particular vegetation type. x Defining Areas of Suitable Housing Density that Would Create Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Protection Strategy Situations--areas of intermingled wildland fuels and urban environments that are in the vicinity of fire threats.
Table 2-3 contains a listing of Humboldt County communities at risk. The first column in the table refers to the community number identifier (there are 1,283 communities at risk statewide), the second column contains the community name, the third column is the Hazard Level Code, which designates a community's fire threat level (the level of hazard ranges from “1” as the lowest to “3” as the highest) and the fourth column indicates if there is a threat to federal lands (designated by an “F”). Willow Creek is not found on the Fire Alliance list due to a clerical error but is included in the August 17, 2001 Federal Register among other “Urban Wildland Interface Communities Within the Vicinity of Federal Lands That Are at High Risk From Wildfire”.
A community can be added or removed from the list of “communities at risk to wildfire” by going through a process recently developed by the Alliance. The process is as follows:
x Print and complete the Communities at Risk Application Form found on the Alliance website. x Submit completed form to the address listed on the application. x All applications received by September 30th of each year will be reviewed by the California Fire Alliance Leadership. Results of the review will be communicated to the applicant in writing by February of the following year.
The CDF Humboldt-Del Norte unit Fire Management Plan of 2005 indicates seven additional Humboldt County areas that are considered “priority areas”. These areas are at increased fire risk due to hazardous fuels buildup, wildland-urban interface proximity, high value assets, and fire history. These priority areas include: x Cathey Road / Avenue of the Giants. The Avenue of the Giants Corridor is located in the Southern portion of the Unit. The area extends from Pepperwood to Phillipsville and has many small communities along its path. Property ownership is a checkerboard of Humboldt
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Redwoods State Park and private property. There are many homes in this area as well as the old growth Redwoods, parks and rivers. x Mattole Valley/Prosper Ridge/Wilder Ridge. The potential for a large damaging fire in this area is significant. The fire history is also significant, some of the largest fires in the Unit have occurred in this area. This area has an apparent microclimate that supports the more extreme aspects of fire weather. x Shelter Cove. This area is subject to a buildup of hazardous fuels, relative isolation, and weather conditions that have resulted in some of the largest fires ever to have occurred in CDF-Humboldt –Del Norte Unit (CDF-HUU). x Arcata Community Forest. The forest is a popular recreation spot for Humboldt County residents as well as a location where hazardous fuel buildup has occurred due to the exclusion of fire. The forest presents a wildland/urban interface problem as it is situated at the edge of one of the more urbanized areas of Humboldt County. x Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Humboldt Redwoods State Park is one of Humboldt County’s feature attractions. Over 750,000 people come from all over the world to visit the park each year. The park has had an active prescribed burning program for many years and seeks to maintain that program with the cooperative efforts of the CDF-HUU and other cooperators. x Klamath River Drainage. The portion of the Yurok Reservation along the Klamath River roughly from Weitchpec to Johnson’s (Wautec). This area has a significant fire history including both prescribed burning and destructive wildfires. CDF seeks to support the traditional Native American use of fire as a resource management tool as well as manage the area for timber and wildlife. x McKay Tract. This area at the fringe of the City of Eureka is another classic wildland urban interface setting where new residential development is occurring adjacent to timber production areas.
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Table 2-3 Humboldt County Communities at Risk to Wildfire Hazard Federal Hazard Federal No. Community Level Threat No. Community Level Threat 13 Alderpoint 2 511 Hydesville 2 24 Alton 2 568 Kneeland 2 44 Arcata 3 570 Korbel 2 F 69 Bayside 3 571 Kuhn Ranch/ 2 F Ammon 70 Bayview 2 667 Mad River 3 F 75 Beatrice 2 679 Maple Creek 2 84 Benbow 2 691 McKinleyville 3 91 Berry Glen 2 F 716 Miranda 3 101 Big Lagoon 3 F 755 Myers Flat 3 102 Big Lagoon Rancheria 3 F 756 Myrtletown 2 113 Blocksburg 2 811 Orick 2 F 116 Blue Lake 2 F 814 Orleans 2 F 117 Blue Lake Rancheria 2 F 837 Patricks Point 3 135 Braecut 2 848 Pepperwood 2 139 Briceland 3 851 Petrolia 3 F 141 Bridgeville 2 F 852 Phillipsville 3 188 Carlotta 2 858 Piercy 3 272 Crannell 2 862 Pine Hills 2 F 281 Cutten 2 863 Pine Hills 3 357 Essex 3 864 Pine Mountain 2 359 Ettersburg 3 F 922 Redcrest 2 360 Eureka 3 926 Redway 3 371 Fickle Hill 3 F 934 Rio Dell 2 372 Fickle Hill 3 940 Riverside Park 2 Swains Flat 374 Fieldbrook 2 946 Rohnerville 2 394 Fortuna 2 968 Salyer 3 F 401 Freshwater 2 1012 Scotia 2 403 Friday/Morton Ranch 2 F 1025 Shelter Cove 3 F 404 Fruitland 3 1029 Shivley 2 407 Garberville 2 1069 Stafford 2 424 Glendale 2 F 1129 Trinidad 3 F 425 Glendale 3 1130 Trinidad Rancheria 3 F 495 Holmes 2 1186 Weitchpec 2 F 499 Honeydew 3 F 1189 Weott 3 500 Hoopa Valley Indian 3 F 1196 Westhaven- 3 F Reservation Moonstone 505 Humboldt Hill 2 1200 Whitethorn 3 F Source: California Fire Alliance website http://www.cafirealliance.org/
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CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY & FIRE PROTECTION (CDF) ROLE IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE PLANNING Humboldt Del Norte Unit The Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Fire Management Plan36 identifies key issues that affect CDF’s fire protection efforts. Many of these key issues also have an impact on Humboldt County’s fire planning. The most notable issues relating to Humboldt County fire planning identified by CDF are as follows: x Develop and promote the County-level Fire Safe Council to act as an umbrella for funding, environmental procedures, permits, and insurance for local Fire Safety Councils; x Develop and promote the office of Humboldt County Fire Warden; x Identify local agency response boundaries within the Unit to aid in the quality of service provided; x Develop Unit map books of suitable standard to aid in the quality of service provided; x Provide input into the National Fire Plan and work cooperatively to achieve goals; x Promote adequate fire protection service and fire safe standards; and, x Continue to develop the Humboldt and Del Norte County’s General Plan updates and Master Fire Protection Plans.
Fuels Management The CDF Vegetation Management Program (VMP) is a cost-share program that focuses on the use of fuels reduction and prescribed fire to reduce wildland fuel hazards while providing other benefits such as urban interface protection, wildlife enhancements and firefighter safety. The program utilizes the Unit's fire suppression engine crews, helicopter, bulldozers and Conservation Camp fire crews to accomplish the program's goals.
During 2002 and 2003, CDF Humboldt-Del Norte Unit (CDF-HUU) carried out VMP activities in several of the priority communities described above. Projects included brush clearing along Cathey Road in the Avenue of the Giants; federal Wildland Urban Interface funded projects in the Arcata Community Forest, Shelter Cove, and Wilder Ridge, and community based projects in the McKay Tract and in the Klamath River area.
Cooperative Agreements CDF-HUU participates in interagency cooperative agreements with the USFS, BLM and the National Park Service, as well as in the California Fire Assistance Agreement with California OES, USFS, BLM and NPS. CDF also maintains written and informal mutual aid agreements with local fire departments for community fire protection and wildland fire program resources, and provides dispatch services to 29 fire and emergency services providers and fire protection to the Trinidad area through “Amador” agreements. Amador agreements (Public Resources Code §4144) are arrangements between CDF and a local agency whereby CDF provides local structural fire protection or dispatch services to a specific community using CDF’s normal staffing and resources during non-fire season.
36 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Humboldt-Del Norte Unit. 2005 Fire Management Plan, (2005). http://www.fire.ca.gov/FireEmergencyResponse/FirePlan/pdf/Humboldt.pdf
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LOCAL ROLES IN FIRE PLANNING
LOCAL FIRE SAFE COUNCILS Fire Safe Councils (FSC) are voluntary organizations that typically consist of local concerned citizens, representatives from state and federal fire agencies, and local fire districts and fire protection organizations who share a common, vested interest in wildfire prevention and loss mitigation. FSCs form to enhance the effectiveness of fire protection and prevention by securing grant funds and volunteer support for fire hazard reduction projects and performing community fire-safety education. There are over 90 FSCs in California, and four local FSCs in Humboldt County, in addition to the County FSC. The residents of several additional Humboldt County communities are working to establish new FSCs in their areas. See Figure 2.3 for an illustration of Local FSC areas of operation.
The following is a brief summary of some of the activities of the existing local FSCs in Humboldt County.
Fruitland FSC The Fruitland FSC has been holding meetings to gain community support and to determine priority fire prevention and protection goals. This effort has been lead by the members of the Fruitland Ridge Volunteer Fire Department. The Fruitland FSC secured a grant from Humboldt County’s Title III FSC support grant program to implement a defensible space demonstration project and is in the process of implementing the project.
Cathey Road FSC The Cathey Road FSC has worked to identify safe zones, water sources, access impediments, and the location of residences in the community. Council members are concerned about only having one way in and out of the community and are interested in identifying an alternative access. Council members have compiled an emergency phone tree containing contact information for all community members.
Lower Mattole FSC The Lower Mattole FSC completed the Lower Mattole Fire Plan in September 200237. The Lower Mattole Fire Plan outlines a list of priority projects that seek to improve the local water supply for fire protection, construct fuel reduction projects including community fire safe work days; continue community meetings to improve awareness of fire safety, coordinate with resource agencies, and provide school and community fire safe education. The FSC has since been working to implement their fire plan and has successfully constructed 85 acres of shaded fuelbreaks with the assistance of federal grant funds.
37Lower Mattole Fire Safe Council. Lower Mattole Fire Plan, (September 2002). http://www.mattole.org/affiliates/0/pdfs/1052768224_Fire_Plan.pdf
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Orleans-Somes Bar FSC The Orleans-Somes Bar FSC has been working since 2001 to reduce fire hazard along the Klamath River from the mouth of Dillon Creek to Aikens Creek. The Orleans-Somes Bar FSC is working to make its community resilient to the frequent catastrophic fires that occur in this area. Work already completed has resulted in the construction of over 100 acres of shaded fuelbreaks with the assistance of federal grant funds. Community fire safe days are also used by this FSC to develop community support and to clear fuels on homeowners’ land (especially the elderly). Future program goals include developing a community chipper program, completing a collaborative five-year comprehensive fuels reduction strategy for private properties in the Lower Mid Klamath Sub basin, and completing critical info packets for the Orleans Volunteer Fire Department.
Southern Humboldt FSC The Southern Humboldt FSC represents an area along the Eel River that extends south from Phillipsville to the Humboldt County line, east to Palo Verde and Alderpoint, and west to Shelter Cove. The Southern Humboldt FSC is working to complete community fire safe projects including: clearing trees and brush along roadways to improve fire breaks and emergency access; developing emergency water sources; improving neighborhood mapping; establishing safety zones; improving community fire education; and reducing the buildup of fuels while protecting natural resources.
Willow Creek FSC The Willow Creek FSC is currently working to establish their organization and strengthen community participation in local fire planning. They are also in the process of drafting a Community Fire Plan.
Van Duzen FSC The Van Duzen FSC was started in February 2004. The goal of the FSC is to support firefighters by conducting community fire prevention projects. Proposed projects include, fire hazard surveys, fuels reduction along fire access roads, water source development and improvement, acquiring communications and firefighting equipment, printing and distributing fire safe educational materials in the community newsletter, and coordinating firesafe workshops and training events.
POTENTIAL FIRE SAFE COUNCIL STARTUPS
During the MFPP community outreach process several communities expressed an interest in forming a FSC. These communities include Westhaven/Trinidad38, Blue Lake, and Kneeland. The MFPP community outreach process is discussed in Chapter 5 of this document.
38 This community has been actively pursuing grants for startup funds and has designated a desired area of operation which is depicted as the Trinidad Terraces FSC in Figure 2.3.
2-34 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition
Figure 2.3 Fire Safe Council Areas of Operation E 101 North to Crescent City DEL NORTE COUNTY
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Southern Humboldt FSC South Fork Van Duzen FSC (proposed) Petrolia S (proposed) o Weott This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise Ri u McCann e ver Humboldt Redwoods l th measurement or navigation. a tto F Sequoia M o State Park r k Eel Rock Ee Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) l R i for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, Mar. 2006. Myers Flat ve Fruitland Ridge FSC Lower Mattole FSC Honeydew r Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] E el Miranda Riv er Phillipsville Fort Seward
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Benbow Recreation Area California Mattole Restoration Council Benbow Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park Southern Humboldt FSC (proposed) 101 South to San Francisco E MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 RF 1:650,000 Miles
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HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE WARDEN As described in Chapter 1, the CDF Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Chief serves as the Humboldt County Fire Warden to assist with post-fire inspections and arson investigations. The Fire Warden also reports to the Board of Supervisors on fire related issues, and may also pursue fire related grant opportunities on behalf of the County.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE CHIEF’S ASSOCIATION The Humboldt County Fire Chief’s Association is a local organization comprised of the chiefs of all of the County’s fire departments. The Fire Chief’s Association meets on a monthly basis to discuss issues that affect the delivery of fire protection services. The Fire Chief’s Association has played a significant role in the development of the MFPP.
The Fire Chief’s Association has created several “sections” to address specific issues that affect the delivery of fire protection. For example, the Fire Instructors Section brings together the lead instructors of each department to share information and resources. Other sections include the Fire Prevention Officers Section (discussed in section 2.6, Fire Education and Prevention Programs), and the Humboldt County Fire Arson Investigation Unit, described below. The Fire Chief’s Association also serves as a forum for the Hazardous Materials Response Authority, which is comprised of many of the same members, and shares the Association’s mission. The Hazardous Materials Response Authority is also described below.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE ARSON INVESTIGATION UNIT The Humboldt County Fire Arson Investigation Unit was formed in the late 1970s and operates as a sub-group of the Humboldt Fire Chief’s Association. The Fire Chiefs and Law Enforcement Chiefs have input but do not oversee the unit. The Arson Unit is formally under the supervision of the District Attorney's Office. The all-volunteer Fire Arson Investigation Unit is made up of approximately 35 members from various fire and police organizations. Members have a variety of levels of experiences and training, ranging from trainee (attending State Fire Marshal Fire Investigator 1 or 2 classes) to Lead Investigator status.
The Fire Arson Investigation Unit investigates fires of suspicious origin at the request of local fire or law enforcement departments. When called out, Fire Arson Investigation Unit members work with the responsible fire and law enforcement agencies that retain ultimate responsibility for the investigation. The DA is responsible for prosecution; the investigators may be called on to testify. There is no charge to local agencies for the services of the Fire Arson Investigation Unit. In the event that there is a major arson incident involving fatalities, the State Fire Marshal’s office in Redding will be called in to assist in the investigation. Insurance companies also sometimes contract their own investigators to determine fire cause. The Fire Arson Investigation Unit responds to between six and twelve suspicious incidents per year.
The Fire Arson Investigation Unit is all volunteer and funded entirely through donations. A benefit event that generates between $6,000 and $7,000 is held each year to fund ongoing activities.
2-36 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition
HUMBOLDT DEL NORTE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE AUTHORITY The County of Humboldt, the County of Del Norte, and each city within both counties (with the exception of Fortuna) make up the Humboldt-Del Norte Hazardous Materials Response (Joint Powers) Authority (JPA), which was formed in 1995. This Authority meets quarterly and provides ongoing funding for a 12-member Hazardous Materials Response Team (HazMat Team). Each jurisdiction pays a proportionate amount, based on population, of the Team’s ongoing expenses. The HazMat Team has received over $200,000 in grants for training and equipment, and receives approximately $60,000 per year in ongoing funding from the JPA.
NORTH COAST EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AGENCY
The North Coast Emergency Medical Services Agency (NCEMS) is a Joint Powers Authority created in 1975 to develop a regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System on behalf of its members, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Trinity Counties. The overall goal of the NCEMS is to reduce the occurrence of death and disability on the North Coast by implementing, evaluating, and coordinating the EMS System.
The NCEMS is updating its Multiple Casualty Incident Plan (MCI Plan) which, in its current form, is a section of Annex D, “Medical Operations” of the Humboldt County Emergency Operations Plan. The MCI Plan update was prepared, under contract, by the Northern California Safety consortium and is in the final review process by NCEMS. The MCI Plan will become a stand-alone document that establishes mass casualty incident procedures (based on ICS and SEMS) for local service providers within member counties. Final approval of the MCI Plan rests with the NCEMS Joint Powers Governing Board. Board members take the plan back to their respective counties for adoption and incorporation into their Emergency Operations Plans.
As part of the update of the MCI Plan, Northern California Safety Consortium has coordinated two practice mass casualty drills. The first drill was held on September 23, 2003 at the Arcata- McKinleyville Airport and involved a mock-crash, with fire, of a fully loaded passenger aircraft. Participating service providers included Humboldt County Public Works, Sheriff, OES and Public Health, Arcata Fire Protection District, Arcata and Mad River Ambulance Services, Arcata Police, the California Highway Patrol, and the Coast Guard. A second mass causality drill simulating a tourist bus crash along Clear Lake was held in Lake County.
2.5 FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL ROLES IN FIRE EDUCATION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS Fire education programs can significantly lessen the chance of fire occurring and the cost of suppressing fire when it does occur. There are a number of agencies involved in the development and delivery of fire prevention and education materials. The following is a description of fire prevention and education activities by fire-related agencies in Humboldt County.
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FEDERAL FIRE EDUCATION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS
U.S. FOREST SERVICE – SIX RIVERS NATIONAL FOREST WILDFIRE PREVENTION PROGRAM The Six Rivers National Forest (SRNF) wildland fire prevention program focuses primarily on State burning permit issuance, fire detection, residential inspections upon request, public education, and community fire safe awareness. SRNF fire prevention activities also include enforcement and permit compliance operations and oversight for forest industrial operation and permittee activities that occur on both private and SRNF National Forest lands.
In addition to the SRNF Wildfire Prevention Plan, each local Ranger District maintains and annually updates a local prevention plan. The objective of the prevention plan is to provide specific local direction to fire management personnel on prevention activities in the Districts. Each Ranger District is involved in implementing the SRNF Wildfire Prevention Plan. The Plan’s principal goal is to sustain healthy and productive ecosystems and to protect human life and property.
Plan components related to fire prevention/safety education include: x Structural Hazard Inspection and Debris Management x School Presentations/Team Teaching/Children with Matches x Public Information Programs (at visitor centers, rodeos, fairs, parades, etc.)
Public education related prevention tasks include the use of fire danger ratings, involvement in Fire Safe Councils, and involvement in various public events. In 2003, Ranger District level staff provided educational outreach throughout the SRNF and Humboldt County, including the Humboldt County Fair (including the fire and smoke safety trailer with the Humboldt County Fire Prevention Association, CDF, and local fire organizations), Fire Prevention Week (which occurs annually during the week containing October 9th – the date of the 1871 Chicago Fire), team teaching in schools, and other local events. District staff don the Smokey Bear costume and utilize education materials designed to convey fire safety themes to children.
SRNF fire prevention education objectives include: instituting programs to make local communities aware of the need for local residential hazard reduction; public education to reduce the number of abandoned campfires; and education and public contact to strive for a zero occurrence of fires set by children playing with matches.
BLM WILDFIRE PREVENTION PROGRAM The BLM-Arcata Field Office’s wildland fire prevention efforts are concentrated on community fire safe awareness and educating the public on the benefits of fire prevention and the necessity of a proactive hazardous fuels management/reduction program. Particular program emphasis is placed on community education programs for those wildland-urban interface areas and communities at risk within or adjacent to BLM public lands.
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STATE FIRE EDUCATION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS
THE CALIFORNIA FIRE SAFE COUNCIL The California Fire Safe Council39, the CDF, and other organizations have developed several educational brochures and websites that homeowners may use to help protect themselves from damaging wildfires. A partial list of local fire education programs includes: x Fire Safe Guides for Residential Development in California, 1993 (state codes and guidelines); x Homeowners Checklist on How to Make Your Home Fire Safe (prepared by CDF); x California Fire Alliance Resource Guide; x Defensible Space (by California Fire Safe Council); x Fire Safe Inside and Out (by California Fire Safe Council); and x Fire Safe Gardens and Landscaping (by California Fire Safe Council)
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION (CDF) CDF, through the Unit Fire Prevention Officer, maintains an active fire safety education program. The CDF website contains a wide variety of fire safety information, including: a homeowner’s safety awareness checklist and other homeowner responsibility information; camping and burn permit information; tips regarding the safe use of holiday fireworks; teacher’s tools and Smokey Bear information for kids; and information regarding the CDF Volunteers in Prevention Program. The CDF Fire Prevention Officer and other staff visit elementary schools in the springtime, prior to the beginning of fire season, and disseminate fire safety education. CDF uses a “team teaching” approach to deliver elementary school fire safety education, working with teachers, local fire agencies, and Volunteers in Prevention program participants.,. Subjects include match safety, Smokey Bear, and exercises focusing on “two ways out” of the house for kids, “Stop, Drop and Roll,” “911,” and “Fire Drill.”
The Volunteers in Prevention program (VIP) involves private citizens who donate their time to provide public education at community events, distribute fire prevention materials, inspect homes for proper clearances, and support emergency fire information and communications operations. CDF has 2,600 VIPs statewide and many local VIP participants. VIP also includes a specialized group of volunteers (HAM radio operators and CB radio groups) who provide additional communication networks for CDF during emergencies, including wildland fires, earthquakes, and floods.
CDF also supports Fire Prevention Week and Wildfire Awareness Week, participates in local disaster fairs, and works with local fire agencies at a booth at the Humboldt County Fair. The booth includes a simulator for children to practice “two ways out” of the house in a mock-up of a bedroom with simulated smoke.
39 http://www.firesafecouncil.org
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LOCAL FIRE EDUCATION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS
LOCAL FIRE SAFE COUNCILS Community fire safe education is a primary focus of local FSCs. As organizations made up primarily of community members, local FSCs are in a unique position to tailor education programs to the needs of the community and directly provide fire safe education to residents.
Examples of local FSC fire safe education include the Southern Humboldt FSC’s broad education programs including the distribution of phone lists for emergency response, the construction of community bulletin boards for neighborhoods, writing a column for the local paper, the creation of a model fire-safe landscaping/garden, and neighborhood meetings. In another setting, the Lower Mattole FSC has established, as a priority, providing fire-safe education to children and has prepared curricula about fire ecology, dynamics, and safety for local schools.
Additionally, local FSCs directly implement fire prevention programs in their community. Many local Humboldt County FSCs organize groups of volunteers to clear around homes and establish fire breaks. In addition, local FSCs have received funding from state and federal agencies to construct fuel breaks. In 2002, the Orleans/Somes Bar FSC established over100 acres of fuel breaks using $154,000 in state and federal funding. The Orleans/Somes Bar FSC employed 20 seasonal workers to carry out this and other projects. The Lower Mattole FSC carried out several neighborhood fuels reduction projects, including Wilder Ridge (20 acres), Panther Gap (54 acres), and the Mattole Valley School and Community Center (11 acres) in partnership with the Mattole Restoration Council.
FIRE PREVENTION OFFICERS SECTION The Fire Prevention Officers Section of the Humboldt County Fire Chief’s Association brings together the fire prevention officers of fire departments throughout the county. This group contains approximately 12 regular members and meets on a monthly basis. The Fire Prevention Officers Section acts as a working group for local fire prevention officers. Recently, the Fire Prevention Officers Section has been working to clarify State and Federal fire prevention construction and occupancy standards in order to assist contractors, business operators, local government, and local fire agencies to improve fire safety. To that end, they are developing standards for smoke detectors, key boxes, fire department connections, fire sprinkler inspector test and alarm monitoring, fire extinguishers, cooking hoods, premises identification, roads, burn permits, and gated communities. The Fire Prevention Officer’s Section also manages the smoke simulator trailer used at the Humboldt County Fair and in schools.
CITY OF EUREKA FIRE DEPARTMENT Community fire protection can be divided into two strategic elements: proactive and reactive. The reactive element involves committing resources to an incident after it has started; this is the role of the Suppression Division of the Eureka Fire Department. The proactive element addresses the prevention of incidents, and the minimization of incident impacts, through safety education and code enforcement; this is the role of the Eureka Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division. The Fire Prevention Division administers specialized services involving fire code enforcement, fire education, fire investigation, and State-mandated code enforcement and inspections. The Fire
2-40 County Fire Environment and Agency/Organizations Roles in Fire Planning and Education August 2006 Edition
Prevention Bureau supports the Suppression Division by providing additional personnel for incident management, project administration, support services, training, and vacancy back-fill.
The fire prevention and safety education activities of the Eureka Fire Department are closely tied to the themes of the National Fire Protection Association. The Fire Prevention Division provides public education in schools, at fairs and other events, and during fire prevention week. It also provides specialized fire safety classes on fire extinguisher use, first aid, and hazardous materials (awareness and operator level).
The Eureka Fire Department conducts extensive school visits during Fire Prevention Week. The Department provides fire safety lectures and demonstrations for all grades. The Eureka Fire Department distributes smoke detectors to students in return for a signed “contract” that contains requirements for installation, maintenance, and regular battery replacement. The Fire Prevention Division also works closely with Fire Pals, a local non-profit formed to provide fire safety training and education.
HUMBOLDT FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 1 Humboldt Fire Protection District No. 1 (HFPD No. 1) traditionally operates a fire protection/safety education program for schools within the district. However, HFPD No. 1 did not perform in-class programs during the 2002-03 school year because it was revising and updating its education program. Their school visits will resume in spring 2004. Under the new program, HFPD No. 1 will provide pre-visit lesson plans to teachers, and an on-duty engine crew will visit the class and present fire safety tips, demonstrate the fire engine and equipment, and will do a brief follow-up visit as a refresher.
HFPD No. 1 also participates in countywide fire education activities as a member of the Humboldt County Fire Prevention Officer’s Association.
ARCATA FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT The Arcata Fire Protection District has an active fire prevention/safety education program. The Arcata Volunteer Fire Department visits preschool to high school classes within the District year-round, and provides “show and tell” with the engines and equipment, gives “Stop, Drop, and Roll” drills, tests students’ knowledge of fire safety using flash cards, and plays “Fire and Life Safety Bingo” with older students. The Arcata Fire Protection District primarily develops and distributes its own education materials.
The Fire and Life safety trailer, owned by the Humboldt County Fire Prevention Association, is normally housed at the Mad River station of the Arcata Fire Protection District. The District uses the trailer on a regular basis to deliver fire safety education to children in schools and the community.
FIRE PREVENTION/PLANS REVIEW According to the Humboldt County Building Inspection Division (BID), fire departments are only involved in commercial permit/plan review and review of permits for commercial uses and special occupancies. Some departments, such as Arcata, Eureka, HFPD No. 1, Fortuna, and
2-41 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan others, have the capabilities to perform in-house plan review. If a local department does not have capacity to do a plan review, the BID or the State Fire Marshall will perform the required review. In some cases, such as one where a complicated fire sprinkler system is required, consulting engineers perform the review.
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3 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires The Risk Assessment portion of the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan has been prepared using the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) planning process. This process utilizes the (RAMS) software, which is a landscape level fire risk assessment tool that is used to identify areas that are of highest risk for loss of lives, property, and resource values by the threat of catastrophic fire: (An in-depth description of the RAMS model and results is included in Appendix C).
The outcome of the assessment is a composite risk ranking for specific geographic areas of the County accompanied by relevant information and maps that can be used to identify appropriate fire mitigation strategies and allocation of resources.
This chapter is organized into the following sections:
3.1 RAMS Methodology 3.2 RAMS Results By Planning Compartment 3.2.1 Lower Klamath 3.2.2 East Klamath 3.2.3 Trinity 3.2.4 Redwood Park 3.2.5 Trinidad 3.2.6 Humboldt Bay 3.2.7 Upper Redwood Creek 3.2.8 Mad-Van Duzen 3.2.9 Main Eel 3.2.10 South Eel 3.2.11 Mattole-Lost Coast
3.1 RAMS METHODOLOGY The RAMS model was developed as a comprehensive fire planning approach for fire managers to analyze six primary risk/hazard rating factors contributing to the overall risk of catastrophic fire. The six factors are: fire related fuels hazard, resources and economic assets at risk, wildland ignition risk, wildland fire history, catastrophic fire potential and fire protection capability: (It is important to note that the model considers fire protection capability for only state and federal agencies. An in-depth description of the capabilities of all county emergency response agencies and organizations can be found in chapter 4 and in the Appendices).
The RAMS model considers the effects of fire on unit ecosystems and communities, by taking a coordinated landscape level planning approach. This approach facilitates development of appropriate mitigation and hazardous fuels treatments programs.
3-1 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
The objective of the model is to identify wildfire risk and hazard, especially to communities, by analyzing fuel and topographic hazards, wildfire suppression complexity and capability, and community values. It is also an objective to direct resources, including fire suppression and fuel management resources, based on the wildfire risk.
The steps involved in this assessment process include: x Identify risk assessment and hazard mitigation objectives; x Divide the County into smaller units of analysis (fire planning compartments) to be used in the RAMS model; x Assess the fire environment; and, x Determine the relative wildfire risk/hazard rating for each fire planning compartment.
The RAMS model subdivides Humboldt County into “planning compartments” to allow those areas to be studied in greater depth. Eleven fire planning compartments were developed for Humboldt County based on existing watershed boundaries, established community planning areas, fire district boundaries, tribal land boundaries, and State/Federal agency administrative boundaries.
Each of the primary risk/hazard rating factors that influence the fire environment are ranked according their contribution to wildfire risk and hazard within each planning compartment. The values placed on natural and developed areas by the community are also ranked. The RAMS model then combines the relative rankings, Low/Moderate/High, of each of the assessment factors to produce a composite wildfire risk/hazard ranking for the entire planning compartment.
Table 3-1 lists the watersheds and Humboldt County Community Planning Areas that are contained within each planning compartment. Figure 3.1 is a map of all eleven Humboldt County fire planning compartments.
Following Figure 3.1 are a series of maps that illustrate the type of data that was used in determining how each of the six primary risk/hazard rating factors contributed to the overall risk of catastrophic fire.
Section 3.2 summarizes the results of the RAMS modeling for all 11 planning compartments.
3-2 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
Table 3-1 Fire Planning Compartment Reference Matrix Fire Planning Compartment Planning Watersheds Contained Community Planning (General Plan) Areas Contained 1 Lower Klamath Lower Klamath (45%) 2 East Klamath Lower Klamath (45%) Orleans 3 Trinity Lower Trinity Willow Creek South Fork Trinity 4 Redwood Park Redwood Creek (40%) Orick Lower Klamath (5%) 5 Trinidad Trinidad (80 %) 6 Humboldt Bay Eureka Plain (70%) McKinleyville, Fieldbrook- Lower Eel (30%) Glendale, Blue Lake, Arcata, Jacoby Creek, Trinidad- Mad River (10%) Westhaven, Freshwater, Fortuna, Eureka, Hydesville- Trinidad (10%) Carlotta, Rio Dell Van Duzen (95%) Fieldbrook-Glendale 7 Upper Redwood Ck. Redwood Creek (60%) Lower Klamath (5%) 8 Mad-Van Duzen Van Duzen (95%) Mad River (90%) Eureka Plain (30%) Trinidad (10%) 9 Main Eel Middle Main Eel Alderpoint Lower Eel (25%) 10 South Eel South Fork Eel Avenues-Weott, Miranda, Myers Flat, Phillipsville, Stafford-Red Creek Lower Eel (25%) Garberville-Redway-Benbow 11 Mattole-Lost Coast Cape Mendocino Shelter Cove Lower Eel (20%)
3-3 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
Figure 3.1 Humboldt County Fire Planning Compartments
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
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So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut EUREKA SOUTH FORK TRINITY Public Lands PLAIN MAD RIVER K n e e Bureau of Land Managment Loleta la n Ee d l R Headwaters R ive o r Forest Reserve a d Nationa Park Service M 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R State Park or Other State Lands Mad-Van Duzen iv e LOWER EEL Rohnerville r Hydesville Six Rivers National Forest Alton V Carlotta an D uze iv V n R er an VAN DUZEN Du U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service zen Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Tribal Lands Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Bridgeville Stafford 254 (! Holmes RAMS Compartments are based on existing watershed boundaries, u101t Redcrest established community planning areas, fire district boundaries, tribal land boundaries, and State/Federal agency administrative boundaries. 254(! RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB. Fire Districts, Community Planning South Fork Areas, and Public Lands data developed by HCCDS. Planning Watersheds Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS Main Eel o Weott McCann are based on California Watersheds (CALWATER 2.2) from CDF FRAP. Riv u le er t o h Ma tt State Park F Sequoia o This map is intended for display purposes and should not be used for precise rk Ee Eel Rock measurement or navigation. l R CAPE MENDOCINO iv e Honeydew Myers Flat r Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) E el for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. Miranda Riv er Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] Mattole-Lost Coast Phillipsville Fort Seward L o King Alderpoint s
t South Eel Range
C SOUTH FORK EEL National o Ettersburg a s t MIDDLE MAIN EEL Conservation Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area : Whitethorn NOR Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-4 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
Figures 3.2 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Surface Fuels)
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
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R Westhaven Trinidad i Surface Fuels v e
r
101 Six Rivers ut 96
(!
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk Legend 299 Willow Creek (! Mad River County Park
M ad
R iv e r 299 RAMS Compartments
(! 299 La n p h e r e Dunes (!
E Humboldt State
255 University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake Surface Fuels Model
Redding Arcata Arcata Bay
Samoa Description C
I 101 ut Agriculture Eureka F Somoa Air port
I Six Rivers
Freshwater Grass
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay
Kneeland Hardwood/Conifer Light A Fields Landing
So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut Heavy Conifer
K Intermediate Brush n e e Loleta la n Ee d Light Brush l R Headwaters R ive o r Forest Reserve a d M Light Slash/Treated Conifer 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R iv Medium Conifer Rohnerville e r Hydesville V Medium Slash Alton an Carlotta Du zen Rive Va 101ut r n D Pine/Grass 36 uze (! n Riv TRINITY COUNTY Rio Dell er Rock/Barren 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Urban Cape Mendocino Bridgeville Stafford 254 (! Holmes Water 101ut Redcrest 254(! South Fork Fuels data obtained from CDF's Fire Resource Assessment Project (FRAP). Go to http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/ for more information. Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS o Weott Ri u McCann RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB. e ver l th a tt o State Park F Sequoia M o rk This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise Ee Eel Rock l R measurement or navigation. i ve Honeydew Myers Flat r E Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) el Miranda Riv for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. er Phillipsville Fort Seward Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected]
L King Alderpoint o
s Range t
National C Ettersburg
o a Conservation s t Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area : Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-5 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
Figure 3.3 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Elevation)
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
Prairie Creek N Humboldt
Redwoods K A l a SISKIYOU COUNTY m State Park a E t h
R C iv
e County r 96! O (
Six Rivers
Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut
r e v
i
R
h t
a
Redwood 169 m 101 a t (! K l u
National Park
Weitchpec
R
Patricks Point State Park e
d w
o o
d Hoopa Valley
C
r e Indian Reservation e
k T
r i Hoopa n
it y
R Westhaven Trinidad i v e r Topography:
101 Six Rivers ut 96
(!
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport Elevation
McKinleyville
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek (! Mad River County Park
M ad
R iv e r 299
(! 299 La n p h e r e Dunes (!
E Humboldt State
255 University 299 East to Legend Manila (! Blue Lake
Redding Arcata Arcata Bay
Samoa C
RAMS Compartments
I 101 ut
Eureka F Somoa Air port
I Six Rivers Topography
Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay
Kneeland A Fields Landing Elevation
So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut 0 - 1,000 Feet
K n e e Loleta la 1,000 - 2000 Feet n Ee d l R Headwaters R ive o r Forest Reserve a d 2,000 - 3,000 Feet M 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R iv Rohnerville e 4,000 - 5,000 Feet r Hydesville V Alton an Carlotta Du 5,000 - 6,000 Feet zen Rive Va 101ut r n D 36 uze (! n Riv TRINITY COUNTY 6,000+ Feet Rio Dell er 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Bridgeville Stafford 254 (! Holmes 101ut Redcrest Ten meter Digital Elevation Model was used to derive the elevation grid 254(! displayed on this map. Data obtained from CDF's Fire Resource Assessment South Fork Project (FRAP). RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB.
Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS o Weott Ri u McCann This map is intended for display purposes and should not be used for precise e ver l th a tt o State Park F Sequoia measurement or navigation. M o rk Ee Eel Rock l Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) R i ve for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. Honeydew Myers Flat r Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] E el Miranda Riv er Phillipsville Fort Seward
L King Alderpoint o
s Range t
National C Ettersburg
o a Conservation s t Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area : Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-6 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
Figure 3.4 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Aspect)
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
Prairie Creek N Humboldt
Redwoods Kl A a SISKIYOU COUNTY m State Park a E t h
R i C v e County r 96(! O
Six Rivers Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut
r e
v i
R
h t
a
169 Redwood m 101 (! K la ut
National Park
Weitchpec
R
Patric ks Point State Park e
d
w
o
o d Hoopa Valley
C
r e e Indian Reservation
k T
r Hoopa in
i t y
R Westhaven Trinidad i v e r
101 t Six Rivers u 96 Topography: (!
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville
Fieldbrook
Hille r Pa r k Aspect 299 Willow Creek
(! Mad River C ounty Park
M ad
R iv e r 299
(! 299 La n p h e r e Dunes (!
E Humboldt State
255 University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake
Redding Arcata Arcata Bay
Samoa C Legend
I 101 ut
Eureka F Somoa Ai rport
I Six Rivers RAMS Compartments Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay
Kneeland A Fields Landing Topography:
So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut Aspect
K n e e Loleta la n Northeast Ee d l Riv Headwaters R er o Forest Reserve a d M Southeast 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R iv Rohnerville e r Southwest Hydesville Alton V a Carlotta n Du zen Rive Va Northwest 101 r n D ut 36 u (! zen Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Bridgeville Stafford 254 (! Holmes u101t Redcrest Ten Meter Digital Elevation Model was used to derive the aspect grid 254(! displayed on this map. Data obtained from CDF's Fire Resource Assessment South Fork Project (FRAP).
Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS o Weott This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise Ri u McCann e ver l th measurement or navigation. tto State Park F Sequoia Ma o r k Eel Rock Ee Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) l R i for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. ve Honeydew Myers Flat r Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] E el Miranda Riv er Phillipsville Fort Seward
L King Alderpoint o s
t Range
C National Ettersburg o a s t Conservation Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area : Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-7 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
Figure 3.5 Type of Data Used to Determine the Fuels Risk/Hazard Rating Factor (Percent Slope)
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
Prairie Creek N Humboldt
Redwoods K A l a m SISKIYOU COUNTY State Park a E t h
R C iv
e County r 96! O (
Six Rivers
Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut
r e v
i
R
h t
a
Redwood 169 m 101 a ut (! K l
National Park
Weitchpec
R
Patricks Point State Park e d
w
o
o
d Hoopa Valley
C
r e Indian Reservation e
k T
r i Hoopa n
it y
R Trinidad Westhaven i v e
r
Topography: 101 Six Rivers ut 96
(!
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville
Percent Slope
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek (! Mad River County Park
M ad
R iv e r 299
(! 299 La n p h e r e Dunes (!
E Humboldt State
255 University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake
Redding
Arcata
Arcata
Samoa Bay C Legend
I 101 ut
Eureka F Somoa Air port
I Six Rivers RAMS Compartments Freshwater
Humboldt Bay Humboldt C Bay National Forest
Kneeland A Fields Landing
Topography Elk River So u th P 101ut Bay Percent Slope
K n e e Loleta la n 0 - 15% Ee d l R Headwaters R ive o r Forest Reserve a d M 15-30% 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R iv Rohnerville e r 30 - 50% Hydesville V Alton an Carlotta Du zen Rive Va +50% 101 r n D ut 36 u (! zen Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Bridgeville Stafford 254 (! Holmes 101ut Redcrest Ten meter Digital Elevation Model was used to derive the percent slope grid 254(! displayed on this map. Data obtained from CDF's Fire Resource Assessment South Fork Project (FRAP).
Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS o Weott Ri u McCann This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise e ver l th a tt o State Park F Sequoia measurement or navigation. M o rk Ee Eel Rock l Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) R i ve for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. Honeydew Myers Flat r Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] E el Miranda Riv er Phillipsville Fort Seward
L King Alderpoint
o s Range t
National C Ettersburg
o a Conservation s t Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area
Whitethorn : Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-8 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
Figure 3.6 Type of Data Used to Determine the Resources and Economic Assets Risk/Hazard Rating Factor
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City Humboldt
Prairie Creek N
Redwoods K A l a m SISKIYOU COUNTY County State Park a E t h
R C iv
e r 96! O (
Six Rivers
Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut
r e v
i
R
h t
a
Redwood 169 m 101 a ut (! K l
National Park
Weitchpec
R
Patricks Point State Park e d
w
o
o
d Hoopa Valley Resources and C
r e Indian Reservation e
k T
r i Hoopa n Economic Assets it y
R Westhaven Trinidad i v e
r
101 Six Rivers ut 96
(!
National Forest Legend
Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek RAMS Compartments (! Mad River County Park
M ad
R iv e r 299 Public Lands
(! 299 La n p h e r e Dunes (!
E Humboldt State
255 University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake Resource Lands
Redding Arcata Arcata Bay
Samoa agriculture C
I 101 ut
Eureka F grazing/timber Somoa Air port
I Six Rivers
Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay timber production
Kneeland A Fields Landing
So u th Elk River P 101 Infrastructure Bay ut
K HWY 101 n e e Loleta la n Ee d l R Headwaters R State HWY ive o r Forest Reserve a d M 211 a HWY or Secondary Road (! d Ferndale Fortuna R iv Rohnerville e r Hydesville Local Road or Street V Alton an Carlotta Du zen Rive Va 101 r n D Community Planning Area ut 36 u (! zen Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Residential Lands Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Stafford Bridgeville 254 Sensitive Habitat (! Holmes 101ut Redcrest Streams 254(! South Fork Resource and Public Lands are based on HCCDS parcel data. Roads are Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS based on modified Tiger File data. Streams are based on CDF FRAP o Weott Ri u McCann e ver hydrography data. RAMS Compartments were compiled by RNB. l th a tt o State Park F Sequoia M o rk Ee Eel Rock This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise l R measurement or navigation. i ve Honeydew Myers Flat r E Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) el Miranda Riv er for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. Phillipsville Fort Seward Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected]
L King Alderpoint o s
t Range
National C Ettersburg o a s tConservation Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area
Whitethorn : Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-9 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
Figure 3.7 Type of Data Used to Determine the Wildland Ignition Risk/Hazard Rating Factor E 101 North to Crescent City DEL NORTE COUNTY Humboldt
Prairie Creek N
Redwoods K A l a m SISKIYOU COUNTY County State Park a E t h
R C i v e r 96 O (!
Six Rivers Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut
r e
v i
R
h t
a
Redwood 169 101 m (! K la ut
National Park
Weitchpec
R
Patricks Point State Park e
d w
o o Wildland Ignition d Hoopa Valley
C
r e Indian Reservation e
k T
r Risk i Hoopa n
it y
R Trinidad Westhaven i v e r Components
101 Six Rivers ut 96
(!
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville Legend
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek (! Mad River County Park
M ad RAMS Compartments
R iv e r 299
(! 299
La n p h e r e Du n e s ! (!
E Community Planning Area
Humboldt State
255 University ! 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake
Redding Arcata Residential Lands
Arcata ! Bay
Samoa C
! Commercial or Industrial Land
I 101
t u
Eureka ! F Somoa Airport
! !
! ! Major Power Line
I Six Rivers
!
! !
Freshwater !
! ! ! !
! !
Humboldt BayHumboldt ! C ! ! National Forest Bay ! ! !! !! Kneeland Old Railroad Line
A
Fields Landing !
!
!
So u th Elk River
!
P !
101 !
Bay ! ut ! Highways and Roads !
K ! n HWY 101 e e Loleta la n Ee ! d l Riv Headwaters R er o State HWY Forest Reserve a ! d M
211 ! a HWY or Secondary Road (! d Ferndale Fortuna R iv Rohnerville e ! r Hydesville Local Road or Street V Alton a Carlotta ! n Du ze n Rive Va Logging Roads 101 r n ut 36 Du ! ze (! n Riv TRINITY COUNTY ! er Public Lands
Rio Dell !
! 36 ! ! ! Dinsmore Scotia (! ! ! ! ! Federal, State, or Local ! ! Cape Mendocino Bridgeville ! Stafford 254 (! ! Holmes ! Tribal Lands 101 ut Redcrest ! ! ! ! 254(! ! Community Planing Areas and Commercial/Industrial Lands data developed by
South Fork HCCDS. Power Lines andTransportation features are based on modified 1996 ! Petrolia S Tiger Files. RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB.
Humboldt Redwoods o Weott ! Ri u McCann e ver l th tt o State Park F Sequoia This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise
Ma o
!
rk ! measurement or navigation.
E ! Eel Rock e !
l R ! i ! ve Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) Honeydew Myers Flat r E for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. el Miranda Riv Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] er Phillipsville Fort Seward
L King Alderpoint o s
t Range
National C Ettersburg o a s tConservation Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area : Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-10 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
Figure 3.8 Type of Data Used to Determine the Wildland Fire History Risk/Hazard Rating Factor
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
N Prairie Creek Humboldt
A K Redwoods l a SISKIYOU COUNTY m OFF FIRE E State Park a t h R C i v e County r 96 O ! (
Six Rivers
Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut
r e HOG FIRE v
i
R
h t
a
Redwood 169 m 101 a (! K l ut
National Park
Weitchpec HEALY LOGGING CO. FIRE
R
Patricks Point State Park e RED CAP FIRE d w
o o
d Hoopa Valley
C A-LINE FIRE
r e Indian Reservation e k T
r i Hoopa n
i t y
R Fire History Westhaven i Trinidad v
e MEGRAM FIRE r
101 Six Rivers ut 96
LUFFENHOLZ FIRE (!
1908 - 2001 National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airpo rt
McKinleyville
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek (! Mad River County Park
Ma d Legend
R iv e r 299
(! 299 La n p h e r e Du n e s (!
E Humboldt State
255 RAMS Compartments University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake
Redding Arcata Arcata
Bay
Public Lands Samoa C
101 I ut
Eureka Federal, State, or Local F Somoa Ai rport
Six Rivers I
Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay Tribal Lands Kneeland A Fields Landing
So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut Fire Perimeters
K n e Before 1950 e Loleta la n Ee d l Riv Headwaters R er o Forest Reserve a 1950 - 1969 d M 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R 1970 - 1989 iv e Rohnerville r Hydesville 1990 - 2001 Alton V a Carlotta n Du ze n Rive Va 101 r n D ut 36 u (! zen 2003* Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Stafford Bridgeville 254 The Fire Perimeters data consists of CDF fires 300 acres and greater in size (! Holmes and USFS fires 10 acres and greater throughout California from 1950 to 2001. 101 ut Redcrest Some fires before 1950, and some CDF fires smaller than 300 acres are also included. Perimeters are collected from Bureau of Indian Affairs, CDF, 254 (! National Park Service, and Forest Service. Data obtained from CDF's Fire South Fork Resource Assessment Project (FRAP). See below for website address. *The Honeydew and Canoe Fires of 2003 are also included on this map. Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS R o Weott McCann iver u RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB. le th a tt o State Park F Sequoia M o rk This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise Ee Eel Rock CANOE FIRE l R measurement or navigation. i ve Honeydew Myers Flat r E Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) MATTOLE FIRE el Miranda Riv for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. er Phillipsville Fort Seward Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] HONEYDEW FIRE King Alderpoint L o s Range t
National C Ettersburg
o a Conservation s t Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area FINLEY CREEK FIRE Whitethorn Richardson Grove : Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-11 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
Figure 3.9 Type of Data Used to Determine the Catastrophic Fire and Fire Protection Capability Risk/Hazard Rating Factors ¤ ¤
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City Humboldt Prairie Creek ¤ N
Redwoods K A la SISKIYOU COUNTY m State Park a E t h
R i C v County ¤ e r (96! O
Six Rivers Orleans
National Forest
101 Orick ut ¤
r
e v
i
R
h ¤ t
a
Redwood 169 m 101 ! a ut ( K l
National Park
Weitchpec
R
Patricks Point State Park e d
w
o
o
d Hoopa Valley
C Federal and State
r e Indian Reservation e
k T
¤ r ¤ Hoopa in
i t Fire Protection y
R Westhaven Trinidad i v e r
101 Six Rivers Legend ut 96
(!
National Forest Arc at a Co un ty Airport
McKinleyville RAMS Compartments
Fieldbrook Hille r Pa rk 299 Willow Creek
(! Mad River County Park Responsibility Areas
M ad
R iv e r 299
(! 299 State Responsibility Area (SRA) La n p h e r e Dunes (!
E Humboldt State ¤ 255 University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake Local Responsibility Area (LRA)
Redding Arcata Arcata Bay
Samoa C Direct Protection Areas
I 101 ut
Eureka F Somoa Ai rport Federal
I Six Rivers
Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumboldt C National Forest Bay State
Kneeland A Fields Landing
So u th Elk River P 101 Fire Stations Bay ut f! ¤ CDF Fire Station K n e e Loleta la n E d e Air Attack Base l Rive Headwaters R !l o r Forest Reserve a d M 211 a f Helitack (! d ! Ferndale ¤Fortuna R iv e Rohnerville r Hydesville ¤ Six Rivers Fire Station V Alton !lan Carlotta Du ze n Rive Va 101 r n D Public Lands ut 36 u (! zen Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY Bureau of Land Managment 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! ¤ Nationa Park Service Cape Mendocino Stafford Bridgeville ¤ 254(! Holmes National Forest u101t Redcrest Tribal Lands 254(! South Fork SRA data obtained from CDF, Oct. 2003. Stations and Public Lands data Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS o Weott McCann collected by HCCDS, 2000 - 2004. Riv u le er t to State Park ¤h a t F Sequoia M o r This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise k Eel Rock Ee measurement or navigation. l R i ve Honeydew Myers Flat r Map compiled by Humboldt¤ County Community Development Services (HCCDS) E el for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. Miranda Riv ¤ er Phillipsville Fort Seward Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected]
L King Alderpoint¤ o s
t Range ¤
National C Ettersburg o a s tConservation Redway Area ¤ Briceland Garberville Benbow ¤ Benbow Recreation Area Whitethorn : Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,217
3-12 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.2 RAMS RESULTS BY PLANNING COMPARTMENT
Table 3-2 Humboldt County Fire Planning Compartment Risk Rankings ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS Fire Protection Fuels Hazard Resource & Wildland Wildland Capability & Composite Fire Planning & Economic Ignition Fire Suppression Catastrophic Assessment Compartments Topography Assets Risk History Complexity Fire Potential Rating 1. Lower Klamath High Moderate Moderate Moderate High Moderate MODERATE 2. East Klamath High Moderate High High Moderate High HIGH 3. Trinity High High High High High High HIGH 4. Redwood Park Moderate High Moderate Moderate High Moderate MODERATE 5. Trinidad Moderate High Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate MODERATE 6. Humboldt Bay Moderate High High Moderate Low Moderate MODERATE 7. Upper Redwood Moderate Low Low Low Moderate Moderate LOW Creek 8. Mad-Van Duzen Moderate Low Low Moderate Moderate Moderate MODERATE 9. Main Eel Moderate Low Low Low Moderate Moderate LOW 10. South Eel Moderate High High High High High HIGH 11. Mattole-Lost High Moderate High High High High HIGH Coast
3-13 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
Figure 3.10 RAMS Compartments Composite Risk
DEL NORTE COUNTY E 101 North to Crescent City
Prairie Creek Humboldt N
K Redwoods l A a SISKIYOU COUNTY m State Park a E t h
R iv C County e r 96(! O
Redwood Six Rivers Orleans
Park National Forest
Orick
East Klamath
Lower Klamath r e
v i
R
h t
a
169 Redwood m 101 (! K la ut
National Park
Weitchpec
R
e
d
w
o
o d Hoopa Valley
C Trinidad
r e e Indian Reservation
k T
r Hoopa in RAMS i t y Trinity
R Westhaven Trinidad i v e r
Compartments 101 ut Six Rivers
96
(!
National Forest
Arc at a Upper Co un ty Airpo rt
McKinleyville Composite
Redwood Fieldbrook
Hi l le r Pa r k 299 Willow Creek (!
Mad River C ounty Park Creek
M ad Risk
R iv e r 299
(! 299 La n p h e r e Du n e s (!
E Humboldt State
255 University 299 East to Manila (! Blue Lake
Redding Arcata Arcata Bay
Samoa C Legend
I
Eureka F Somoa Ai rport Humboldt Bay Six Rivers I RAMS Compartments
Freshwater
Humboldt BayHumb ol dt C National Forest Bay
Kneeland Composite Risk A Fields Landing
So u th Elk River P 101 Bay ut Low
K n e Moderate e Loleta la n Ee d l R v Headwaters R i e o r Forest Reserve a High d M 211 a (! d Ferndale Fortuna R Mad-Van Duzen iv e Rohnerville r Hydesville Alton V Carlotta an D uze iv V n R er an Du zen Ri Rio Dell ver TRINITY COUNTY 36 Dinsmore Scotia (! Cape Mendocino Stafford Bridgeville 254(! Holmes RAMS Compartments are based on existing watershed boundaries, established 101ut Redcrest community planning areas, fire district boundaries, tribal land boundaries, and State/Federal agency administrative boundaries. 254(! South Fork RAMS Compartments compiled by RNB. RAMS Composite Risk Assessment done by RNB. Petrolia Humboldt RedwoodsS Main Eel o Weott Ri u McCann e ver l th a tto State Park F Sequoia This map is intended for planning purposes and should not be used for precise M o rk measurement or navigation. Ee Eel Rock l R i ve Map compiled by Humboldt County Community Development Services (HCCDS) Honeydew Myers Flat r E for the Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan, July 2004. el Miranda Riv Contacts: [email protected] ; [email protected] er Mattole-Lost Coast Phillipsville Fort Seward
L King Alderpoint o s South Eel
t Range
C National Ettersburg o a s tConservation Redway Area Briceland Garberville Benbow Benbow Recreation Area : Whitethorn Richardson Grove Shelter Cove State Park California 101ut E 101 South to San Francisco MENDOCINO COUNTY 50510152025302.5 Miles RF 1:650,000
3-14 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
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3-15 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.1 Lower Klamath Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 236 sq. miles (150,737 acres) Population 464 Cities and Communities Weitchpec; Yurok Reservation (portion) Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation: 687 acres Yurok Indian Tribal Area: 38,659 acres Six Rivers National Forest: 8,327 acres Redwood National Park: 629 acres Other Public Lands: 483 acres
Compartment Description The Lower Klamath compartment encompasses the Lower Klamath River and its tributary watershed downstream from Bluff Creek to the Humboldt-Del Norte County line. The area contains rugged forestland with steep slopes and highly erodable soils. The population of the area is small and scattered. The Lower Klamath is dominated by montane hardwood forest (to the west) and Douglas fir (to the east), with montane chaparral and Klamath mixed conifer forest present in the central portion of the compartment. The U. S. Forest Service manages nearly half of the forestlands in this compartment. National Forest system lands are concentrated in the more remote areas and upper watersheds in the northeast section of this compartment. Private timberlands are generally located on the more accessible sites, which have been logged in recent decades.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Moderate) The rugged topography, fuel loading, and remote communities within this planning compartment combine to create difficult conditions for wildland firefighting. The nearest CDF station is approximately 45 minutes to one and a half hours from the larger communities in the Planning compartment. However, total population is low and is concentrated along the larger roadways and the resource and economic assets within the compartment are limited. In addition, ignition risk within the compartment is low due to the lack of development. The recent fire history indicates that only a few small wildland fires have occurred within the compartment each year. The relative composite assessment rating for the Lower Klamath planning compartment is moderate. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-16 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.11 Lower Klamath Planning Compartment
3-17 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.2 East Klamath Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 212 sq. miles (135,481 acres) Population 595 Cities and Communities Orleans Fire Safe Councils Orleans-Somes Bar Fire Safe Council Public Land and Tribal Ownership Six Rivers National Forest: 130,426 acres Other Public Lands: 32 acres
Compartment Description The East Klamath compartment encompasses the portion of the Lower Klamath River and its tributary watershed downstream from the Humboldt-Trinity County line (Somes Bar area) to Bluff Creek. The East Klamath planning compartment is dominated by montane hardwood forest (to the west) and Douglas fir (to the east), with montane chaparral and Klamath mixed conifer forest present in the west portion of the compartment. The U. S. Forest Service manages nearly all of the forestlands in this compartment. Private timberlands are generally located on the more accessible sites, which have been logged in recent decades.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = High) The fuel hazard and topography conditions of the East Klamath planning compartment are characterized by steep slopes and high fuel loading. With a significant number of vacation homes and U.S.F.S. and private campgrounds, the summertime population is significantly higher than the wintertime population. This summertime population creates a higher ignition risk during peak fire season and combines with the fire environment to increase the risk of catastrophic fire. The U.S.F.S. does maintain firefighting resources in Orleans, but their initial attack is limited by lack of roads and bridges crossing the Klamath River. The high fuel hazard and topography, wildland ignition risk, and catastrophic fire potential combine to increase the composite assessment rating for the East Klamath planning compartment to high. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-18 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.12 East Klamath Fire Planning Compartment
3-19 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.3 Trinity Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 443 sq. miles (283,399 acres) Population 4,316 Cities and Communities Hoopa/Hoopa Valley; Willow Creek; Friday Ridge; Horse Linto
Fire Safe Councils Willow Creek, Hoopa Valley
Public Land and Tribal Ownership Hoopa Valley Indian Tribal Lands: 86,065 acres Six Rivers National Forest: 145,855 acres Other Public Lands: 848 acres
Compartment Description The Trinity planning compartment contains the lower Trinity River watershed, which is among the three largest California anadromous river systems north of San Francisco, second to the Klamath and similar to the Eel River in volume and drainage area. Virtually the entire compartment area is mountainous, with steep V-shaped valleys formed by the tributaries of the Trinity River. The majority of this compartment is under the management of the U. S. Forest Service – Six Rivers National Forest, with recreation, fisheries, timber, and grazing and wildlife habitat representing the dominant land use. The largest single private landowner is Simpson Timber. Almost one fourth of the compartment is within the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.
Vegetation types include mixed evergreen conifer forest, Klamath montane mixed conifer forest, and Oregon white oak forest. Extensive south slope areas of the compartment are shrub- dominated. In general, conifers dominate the upland areas: valleys and riparian corridors are dominated by hardwood trees (willow, oak and alder) and grasses, and the easternmost section of the compartment is almost entirely white fir forest.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = High) The Trinity planning compartment contains high wildland fuel hazard and topographic conditions and has a history of severe wildland fires. The 1999 Megram fire burned thousands of acres within the SRNF and Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. The relatively high year-round population and significant summertime recreation population creates a high ignition risk and contributes to a high catastrophic fire potential. The fire environment conditions within the planning compartment, combined with the highly valued resource and economic assets, result in a composite assessment rating of high. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-20 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.13 Trinity Fire Planning Compartment
3-21 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.4 Redwood Park Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 156 sq. miles (100,042 acres) Population 475 Cities and Communities Orick, Berry Glen Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership Redwood National Park: 68,795 acres Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: 12,908 acres Humboldt Lagoons State Park: 517 acres Other Public Lands: 175 acres
Compartment Description The Redwood Park fire planning compartment consists mostly of mountainous, forested terrain ranging from sea level to about 5,300 feet elevation. Activities within the planning compartment include tourism, recreation, camping and fishing on National and State park lands. Redwood Creek is the primary watershed within the compartment. Coniferous forest covers nine-tenths of the compartment; the rest contains oak woodland and prairie. The coast redwood is the dominant tree, usually found alongside Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, big leaf maple, tan oak and red alder.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Moderate) The Redwood Park planning compartment fire environment is moderated by moist coastal weather conditions as well as lower average elevation and slope conditions. Wildland fires are not frequent within this planning compartment and usually do not burn a significant area in the event that do occur. Remote and roadless areas within the planning compartment contribute to extended initial attack times and complex fire suppression complexity. The moderate fuel hazard and topography ranking, ignition risk, the minimal fire history, and the moderate catastrophic fire potential combine to produce a moderate composite assessment rating for this planning compartment. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-22 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.14 Redwood Park Fire Planning Compartment
3-23 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.5 Trinidad Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 93 sq. miles (59,439s) Population 876 Cities and Communities Big Lagoon; Big Lagoon Rancheria; Patrick’s Point Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership Redwood National Park: 532 acres Trinidad State Beach: 123 acres Humboldt Lagoons State Park: 1,965 acres Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area: 734 acres Patrick’s Point State Park: 681 acres Other Public Lands: 184 acres
Compartment Description The Trinidad fire planning compartment is the smallest fire planning compartment in this analysis, and extends from Stone Lagoon south to just north of the City of Trinidad and east to include the Maple Creek and Little River drainages. Little River discharges to the Pacific Ocean three miles south of the city of Trinidad, while Maple Creek empties to an estuary north of Trinidad Head. The Trinidad planning compartment is covered predominantly by redwood forest (57 percent) with significant amounts of oak woodlands (14 percent), riparian areas (10 percent) and some pine forest (8.5 percent). The most populous areas of this planning compartment include Patrick’s Point and Big Lagoon.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Moderate) Similar to the Redwood Park, the Trinidad planning compartment fire environment is affected by moist coastal conditions, lower elevations, and lower average slopes. The planning compartment experiences an average of 45 fires per year. CDF maintains a year-round station within this planning compartment, which somewhat lessens the initial attack time (although initial attack time to areas east of U.S. 101 will be very long due to few roads and locked gates). The lack of development east of U.S. 101 reduces the suppression complexity of fires in this area. The composite assessment ranking for this planning compartment is moderate, due largely to the moderate fuel hazard and topography and the high resource value associated with the State Park lands, coastal vistas and redwood forests. Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.
3-24 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.15 Trinidad Fire Planning Compartment
3-25 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.6 Humboldt Bay Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 367 sq. miles (234,640) acres Population 108,781 Cities and Communities Arcata; Bayside; Bayview; Blue Lake; Blue Lake Rancheria; Carlotta; Crannel; Cutten; Eureka; Ferndale; Fickle Hill; Fieldbrook; Fields Landing; Fortuna; Freshwater; Glendale; Humboldt Hill; Hydesville; Kneeland; Korbel; Loleta; Manila; McKinleyville; Moonstone; Myrtletown; Pine Hills; Rio Dell; Rohnerville; Samoa; Trinidad; Trinidad Rancheria; Westhaven Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership County and City Parks: 1,274 acres Various City Ownership: 4,745 acres Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge: 2,632 acres Eel River and Elk River Wildlife Areas: 1,451 acres State Beaches, Parks, and Lands: 2,197 acres Other Public Lands: 4,906 acres
Compartment Description The Humboldt Bay area is the most urbanized and populated area of Humboldt County and extends from McKinleyville to Rio Dell. The majority of the population in this compartment lives between McKinleyville and the City of Eureka and suburban growth is continuing to occur in this area. At least two-thirds of the total compartment is moderately steep and heavily forested, with the remainder dominated by tidal marshland. Flat land areas around the bay are predominantly pastureland with a mix of agricultural production.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Moderate) The mild coastal weather conditions moderate the Humboldt Bay fire environment. This compartment contains the highest density development in the County, a high average volume of wildfires, and also the highest wildland ignition risk conditions. In addition, this compartment has among the highest economic asset values. Although the level of development within the compartment increases wildland fire suppression complexity, the initial attack time for first due- in units is low due to the concentration of fire resources in the area. As a result, the planning compartment composite assessment rating is moderate. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-26 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.16 Humboldt Bay Fire Planning Compartment
3-27 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.7 Upper Redwood Creek Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 184 sq. miles (117,956) acres Population 239 Cities and Communities Rural community of Redwood Creek Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership Six Rivers National Forest: 2,477 acres Redwood National Park: 114 acres BLM and other Public Lands: 4,280 acres
Compartment Description The Upper Redwood Creek compartment consists mostly of mountainous, forested terrain ranging from 1,100 feet elevation to about 5,300 feet. This planning compartment is made up of the Redwood Creek watershed from its headwaters to the southern Redwood National Park boundary. The sparsely populated Redwood Creek area, located along Bair Road, is the only community within the planning compartment. Primary land uses are timber and livestock production. Coniferous forest covers nine-tenths of the compartment, the rest accommodating oak woodland and prairie. Although the coast redwood is found in abundance, Douglas fir is more common than redwood in the Upper Redwood Creek compartment. On the east side of the Upper Redwood Creek compartment, associations of grass prairies and oak woodlands are commonly found on the south and west-facing ridge tops and hill slopes.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Low) The fire environmental, including topography, fuel, aspect, and elevation is similar to many other Humboldt County planning compartments and represents a moderate wildfire hazard. However, this planning compartment is the least populated within the County and contains few resource and economic assets. Aside from Blair Road and S.R. 299, which passes through the center of the planning compartment, there are very few public roads in the area and very little non-local traffic. Ignition risk is low, which relates to the level of activity and development, and the low fire history reflects this fact. The Redwood Creek community is isolated from fire protection (the nearest CDF station is Trinidad and the nearest local fire department is Blue Lake), but suppression complexity is considered moderate. As a result, the Upper Redwood Creek planning compartment composite assessment ranking is Low. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-28 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.17 Upper Redwood Creek Fire Planning Compartment
3-29 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.8 Mad-Van Duzen Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 649 sq. miles (444,086) acres Population 1,330 Cities and Communities Bridgeville; Dinsmore; Mad River; Maple Creek Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership Six Rivers National Forest: 46,950 acres Headwaters Forest Reserve: 7,586 acres Grizzly Creek State Park: 235 acres Other Public Lands: 4,702 acres
Compartment Description The Mad-Van Duzen planning compartment stretches from the eastern County line to edge of the Humboldt Bay drainage and includes portions of S.R. 299 and 36 and the communities of Bridgeville, Dinsmore, and Maple Creek. The Mad and Van Duzen Rivers are the main waterways in this planning compartment, and both have numerous tributaries throughout their respective watersheds. The easternmost portion of the compartment contains lands under the jurisdiction of the Six Rivers National Forest. Vegetation in the Mad-Van Duzen planning compartment varies with location: upland regions are predominately prairie, Douglas fir, and oak grassland; redwood and Douglas fir dominate lower elevation areas near the coast. Forested areas predominate throughout the compartment, with fir, redwood, oak woodlands, and pine forest being most common.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Moderate) Development within the Mad-Van Duzen planning compartment is along S.R. 36 between Bridgeville and Grizzle Creek State Park and the rural residences along Maple Creek and Butler Valley Roads. The value of economic and resource assets is low relative to the more developed areas of the County. CDF operates a seasonal fire station within the planning compartment located in Bridgeville and responds to the Maple Creek area from its Trinidad station. However, most roads within this planning compartment are unimproved resulting in greater initial attack times. Like other highly rural planning compartments, ignition risk is low due to minimal development and little non-local vehicle traffic, volume and extent of historical fires is low. The resulting composite rating for this planning compartment is moderate. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-30 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.18 Mad-Van Duzen Fire Planning Compartment
3-31 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.9 Main Eel Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 277 sq. miles (177,466) acres
Population 811 Cities and Communities Alderpoint; Blocksburg Fire Safe Councils None at this time Public Land and Tribal Ownership Six Rivers National Forest: 3,226 acres BLM: 3,201 acres Other Public Lands: 116 acres
Compartment Description The Middle Fork of the Eel River, which drains the southeast portion of Humboldt County, is the main watershed in the Main Eel fire planning compartment. Much of the compartment has been used for timber production and harvested at various times in the recent past. This planning compartment contains mostly rugged, steep forestland with moderate-to-highly erodable soils. The population of the area is relatively low and scattered throughout the compartment. The Main Eel River planning compartment contains approximately three quarters moderate to heavily forest lands, with the remainder annual grassland, pine forest and chaparral. The predominant vegetative cover types include: fir forest, oak woodlands, annual grasslands, and redwood forest. Agricultural cropland accounts for less than one percent of the planning compartment.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = Moderate) The Main Eel planning compartment fuel hazard and topography is similar to the high fuel hazard characteristics of most of Humboldt County but is moderated by the more gentle slopes found in the area. Resource and economic assets are ranked low due to the sparse population and lack of development. The lack of development also reduces ignition risk. The low ignition risk rating is further confirmed in the lack of significant recent fire history. CDF operates a seasonal fire station near Alderpoint and a conservation camp in Eel Rock, both within the planning compartment. Initial attack time is still high. The resulting composite assessment rating for the planning compartment is moderate. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
3-32 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS) Modeling for Wildland Fires August 2006 Edition
3.19 Main Eel Fire Planning Compartment
3-33 Humboldt County Master Fire Protection Plan
3.2.10 South Eel Fire Planning Compartment
Characteristic Description Land Area 414 sq. miles (264,800) acres Population 6,817 Cities and Communities Avenue of the Giants/Richardson Grove; Benbow; Briceland; Eel Rock; Fruitland; Garberville; Holmes; McCann; Miranda; Myers Flat; Phillipsville; Redway; Salmon Creek; Scotia; Shively; Cathey Road; Weott; Fire Safe Councils Southern Humboldt County Cathey Road Public Land and Tribal Ownership Humboldt Redwoods State Park: 52,514 acres Richardson Grove State Park: 1,713 acres Benbow Lake State Recreation Area: 936 acres Tooby Memorial County Park: 4 acres Other Public Lands: 2,026 acres
Compartment Description The South Eel planning compartment covers much of the developed portion of southern Humboldt County. The compartment contains the confluence of the Main and South Forks of the Eel River and surrounds the Eel River from Stafford, through Humboldt Redwoods State Park and the Avenue of the Giants, to the south boundary of Humboldt County. The planning compartment includes all of the Avenue of the Giants communities as well as Garberville, Redway, and Benbow. Vegetative cover consists primarily of timberlands and oak woodlands. The remaining vegetative cover is annual grass and other mixed shrub cover types.
Summary of Fire Compartment Risk Rating (Composite Assessment Rating = High) The South Eel planning compartment is the second most populous in Humboldt County and contains a significant concentration of resource and economic assets. In addition, most of the communities lie at the wildland urban interface. The relatively high level of development within this planning compartment combined with the high level of visitation by tourists during summer months results in a high ignition risk and a high recent fire history. The combination of these factors creates a composite assessment rating of high. (Please see Appendix C for the data supporting these findings.)
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