San Marcos Pass - Eastern Goleta Valley Mountainous Communities Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
San Marcos Pass - Eastern Goleta Valley Mountainous Communities Community Wildfire Protection Plan Submitted February 20, 2019 This page is intentionally left blank. SAN MARCOS PASS - EASTERN GOLETA VALLEY MOUNTAINOUS COMMUNITIES COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN MUTUAL AGREEMENT PAGE This Community Wildfire Protection Plan was developed for the San Marcos Pass - Eastern Goleta Valley communities within Santa Barbara County: ./ Was collaboratively developed. Interested parties, key stakeholders, local fire departments, and federal land management agencies managing land in the vicinity of the Planning Area have been consulted . ./ This plan identifies and prioritizes areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments and recommends the types and methods of treatment that will enhance protection of communities within the Planning Area . ./ This plan recommends measures to reduce the ignitability of structures throughout the area addressed by the plan. The following entities mutually agree with the contents of this Community Wildfire Protection Plan: Approved by: Steve L vagnino, Chair Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Approved by: · arbara County Fire Department Approved by: Fire Chief, San Luis Obispo Unit - CAL FIRE This page is intentionally left blank. Acknowledgments The following communities, agencies, and stakeholders were involved in the collaborative process in preparation of the San Marcos Pass and Eastern Goleta Valley Mountainous Communities Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP): CWPP Working Group Dennis Bozanich – Santa Barbara County Mindy Fogg – Santa Barbara County Executive Director Planning & Development Glenn Russell – Santa Barbara County Steve Oakes – Santa Barbara County Fire Planning & Development Department CWPP Development Team Rob Hazard – Santa Barbara County Fire Kevin Buckley – Painted Cave Volunteer Department Fire Department / Painted Cave and East Camino Cielo Representative Rocky Siegel – Wildland Residents Association and Westside of San Marcos Phil Seymour – Santa Barbara Fire Safe Pass Communities / San Marcos Pass Council Representative Volunteer Fire Department Nic Elmquist – United States Forest Representative Service, Los Padres National Forest Mark Linane – Paradise Road Representative Kendra O’Connor – San Marcos Foothills Representative Susan Epstein – San Marcos Foothills Representative Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 9 Section 1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................17 1.1 Purpose of Plan ..............................................................................................................18 1.2 Goals and Objectives .......................................................................................................18 1.3 Policy and Regulatory Framework .....................................................................................19 1.3.1 Federal Level Policy .................................................................................................................. 20 1.3.2 State Level Policy ...................................................................................................................... 22 1.3.3 Santa Barbara County Level Policy and Regulations ................................................... 24 1.4 CWPP Planning Process ...................................................................................................27 1.4.1 County of Santa Barbara CWPP Process ........................................................................... 28 Section 2.0 Community Overview ....................................................................................32 2.1 Communities within the Planning Area ..............................................................................32 2.2 Values at Risk .................................................................................................................41 2.2.1 Life Safety .................................................................................................................................... 42 2.2.2 Structures ..................................................................................................................................... 44 2.2.3 Critical Infrastructure and Economic Impacts ............................................................... 47 2.2.4 Recreation Amenities ............................................................................................................... 51 2.2.5 Cultural and Natural Resources ........................................................................................... 52 2.3 Land Use and Zoning ......................................................................................................58 2.4 Fire Protection ................................................................................................................58 2.5 SBC Fire Organization .....................................................................................................60 2.5.1 SBC Fire Stations and Fire Equipment ............................................................................... 61 2.5.2 Water Sources ............................................................................................................................ 61 2.6 Agreements ....................................................................................................................61 Section 3.0 Defining the Wildfire Problem .......................................................................65 3.1 Fire Ecology ...................................................................................................................65 3.1.1 Ecoregion Conditions: Climate, Vegetation, and Wildlife ........................................... 65 3.1.2 Natural Fire Regime and the Evolution of Human Influence .................................... 66 3.1.3 Invasive Species Concerns and Type Conversion .......................................................... 67 3.2 Impacts of Climate Change ..............................................................................................68 3.3 Vegetation Management Strategies in this Context ............................................................70 3.4 Fire History ....................................................................................................................71 6 | P a g e 3.5 The Wildland Fire Environment ........................................................................................74 3.5.1 Fuels ............................................................................................................................................... 74 3.5.2 Fire Weather ............................................................................................................................. 80 3.5.3 Topography .................................................................................................................................. 82 3.5.4 Fire Behavior Characteristics ................................................................................................ 83 Section 4.0 Communities at Risk .....................................................................................85 4.1 Designation as a Community at Risk .................................................................................85 Section 5.0 Wildfire Analyses ..........................................................................................87 5.1 Hazard Severity Zones.....................................................................................................87 5.2 Hazard Assessment .........................................................................................................87 5.2.1 Data Sources for Models ....................................................................................................... 89 5.3 Wildfire Analyses Results ...............................................................................................90 5.3.1 Hazard Assessment ................................................................................................................. 90 5.3.2 Risk Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 94 5.3.3 Firefighter Safe Operational Space Analysis ............................................................... 97 5.3.4 Structure Vulnerability and Defensibility Potential ...................................................... 99 5.3.5 Ember Exposure Zones .......................................................................................................... 104 5.3.6 Fire Run Damage Potential .................................................................................................. 107 5.3.7 Evaluate Wildfire Protection Capabilities against Modeled Fire Behavior ......... 109 5.3.8 Fuel Treatment Effectiveness ......................................................................................... 110 Section 6.0 Action Plan ..................................................................................................112 6.1 Community Preparedness and Education ........................................................................ 112 6.1.1 Santa Barbara County Fire Department .......................................................................... 112 6.1.2 Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management