Memorandum
Date: May 7, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Board of Supervisors
Subject: a) Presentation of Proclamation Designating May 4, 2024, As Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Lake County; and b) Consideration of report from partnering agencies on wildfire preparedness events and programs
Executive Summary:
WHEREAS, wildfire significantly impacts Lake County’s environmental, economic, and social well-being and can occur during any month; and
WHEREAS, residents of Lake County’s fire-prone communities must accept responsibility for living in high fire-hazard areas; and
WHEREAS, residents, property owners, utility providers, evacuation corridor owners, and essential services providers must prepare to survive wildfire by ensuring proper management of vegetation and debris surrounding their locations and must stay continuously vigilant throughout the year; and
WHEREAS, residents, citizens, and guests should take protective actions immediately during a wildfire or any other emergency to keep themselves safe; and
WHEREAS, Zone 0 is the Ember-Resistant Zone which extends 5 feet from buildings and has been proven by science to be the most important of all defensible space zones and is designed to keep fire or embers from igniting materials that can spread fire to your home; and
WHEREAS, using hardscape materials for landscaping, removing all dead or dying vegetation, removing all branches within 10 feet of any chimney or stovepipe outlet, limiting combustible items on top of decks, relocating firewood and lumber to Zone 2, and replacing combustible fencing attached to the home with noncombustible alternatives are some examples for clearing Zone 0; and
WHEREAS, residents and property owners are requested to create 100 feet of defensible space, reduce fuels, have their address clearly posted, have a wildfire “Ready Set Go” plan, prepare for extended periods without electricity; and
WHEREAS, residents and property owners are required to follow Article VIII to Chapter 13 of the Lake County Code regarding Hazardous Vegetation and/or Combustible Material which requires that defensible space protections are accomplished on those portions of unimproved parcels adjacent to improved parcels and along roadways; and
WHEREAS, utility providers (Phone, Cable, Fiber, Electrical, et al) are requested to create defensible space and remove all fuels within 100 feet of infrastructure stations, transmission line systems earth to sky and have their address clearly posted; and
WHEREAS, evacuation and roadway corridor owners (Federal, State, County, City, Private) are requested to create defensible space, limb up ladder fuels 10 feet, reduce and or remove all fuels within 100 feet of roadways; and
WHEREAS, essential services providers (Hospitals, Medical Clinics, Fire Stations, Police Stations, Government Facilities, Senior Centers, Care and Shelter locations), are requested to create defensible space and reduce and or remove all fuels within 100 feet of their infrastructure, have their address clearly posted, and prepare for extended periods without electricity.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED, that the Lake County Board of Supervisors in partnership with the Lake County Fire Chiefs’ Association and the Lake County Community Risk Reduction Authority supports May 4, 2024, as Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Lake County.
- What You Do Makes a Difference -
Wildfire Knows No Season!
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☐ Well-being of Residents ☐ Public Safety ☐ Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, Recovery
☐ Economic Development ☐ Infrastructure ☐ County Workforce
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Recommended Action: Presentation/ Report Only.