Overview:
*Richmond is reviewing a new map of the city’s wildfire hazard zones.
*The new hazard categories, which are based on scientific criteria, mean some parts of the city, such as Point Richmond, are no longer listed as hazardous.
*The maps help guide community planning and the enforcement of wildfire prevention codes.
*The public can now comment on the map, and the Richmond City Council is expected to vote on it later this month.
Richmond is remapping its most potentially hazardous fire zones, meaning residents may now live in an area that’s viewed as being more susceptible to a fire than before while others may find their neighborhood is no longer on the map at all.
The new proposed map expands the number of acres classified as being “very high” fire hazard severity zones from 4,100 acres and 861 parcels in 2009 to 4,500 acres and 1,800 parcels. The map shows potential wildfire hazard locations and intensity to guide community planning, building codes and land development. It assesses physical conditions such as fuel, slope, and weather, but doesn’t reflect actual fire risk, meaning the potential damage a fire could cause, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire department.
Similar to flood zone maps that describe lands in terms of flooding probability levels, fire “hazards,” according to Cal Fire, are based on physical conditions that predict the likelihood and expected fire behavior over a 30- to 50-year period without considering mitigation measures such as defensible space and building materials.
Comparatively, “risk” represents the potential damage a fire could cause under existing conditions, accounting for factors such as fuel reduction, defensible space, and ignition-resistant building construction.
Additionally, insurance companies don’t typically use these maps to set rates or make coverage decisions, instead relying on their own risk models.
Richmond neighborhoods such as May Valley and East Richmond Heights, previously not rated, are now in a mix of moderate, high and very high hazard severity zones while Point Richmond, which in the original 2009 map was ranked a high hazard severity zone, isn’t rated. Point Pinole has been downgraded from very high severity to moderate severity.
The maps, called Local Responsibility Area maps (LRA), are currently open for public comment and will be discussed and voted on by the city council later this month, said Richmond Fire Department Chief Aaron Osorio during an April 30 community Zoom meeting.
After the city council approves the map, released March 21, it will be sent back to the California Board of Forestry and the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Osorio said the department plans to present the map to the city council at its May 27 meeting.
The LRA map and the State Responsibility Area (SRA) map shows which agency — whether a local jurisdiction or Cal Fire — is responsible for enforcing fire prevention codes within a given area.
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“…as far as the reality of risk the fire is going to burn and not care about the boundaries.”
— Richmond Fire Department Chief Aaron Osorio
Previously, the fire hazard levels were twofold: either very high or nothing at all. The updated color-coded state maps now rank areas of the city as moderate (yellow), high (orange) and very high (red) categories — classifications that the city now needs to adopt locally.
The new map focuses solely on places where local fire departments are responsible for putting out blazes. In a recent interview with Richmondside, Osorio said that the new categories might confuse residents whose homes are on parcels in multiple risk categories.
“You have some parcels with a regular home or parcel, which might be on an eighth of an acre but you might have two zones — your house is in red (highest risk) and your backyard might be in yellow (moderate risk),” he said. “I also think that some people can think about it too literally and go, ‘If I’m across the street from a zone, but I’m not in it then I’m good.’ For enforcement purposes, ‘yes you are,’ but as far as the reality of risk the fire is going to burn and not care about the boundaries.”
During the community Zoom meeting, El Sobrante resident Robert Brower asked Osorio if the department has plans to coordinate with insurance companies who have charged residents for fire prevention services such as clearing gutters and surrounding overgrown areas and spraying the structure with fire-resistant foam.
Brower said insurance companies such as State Farm and AAA have been encouraging residents to add this type of home protection to their policies.
“We have had friends in Texas that have had this service, and it saved their house,” Brower said.
“If we evacuate an area, no corporate fire brigade is allowed to come in and do the duties of the fire department,” Osorio said, adding that it is common for private companies with commercial assets to have their own fire departments — such as Chevron and PG&E.
“We are going to expect them (insurance contractors) to evacuate,” he said. “They are not sworn staff or exempt from evacuation orders.”
Osorio added that, in theory, those fire prevention services would work only if a property wasn’t immediately being threatened by a wildfire.
The new map won’t affect any current fire prevention preparations for the department, Osorio said, because its current program is robust and includes areas that aren’t listed on the new map. On average, Osorio said, the department handles between 2,800 and 2,900 prevention inspections citywide but that figure may drop to somewhere between 1,600 and 1,800 under the new map because there are fewer areas requiring inspections.
The Richmond Fire Department handles inspections of “defensible space” for properties in the city. According to Cal Fire, “defensible space” refers to the buffer between a property’s structure and the surrounding area that acts as a barrier to slow or halt the progress of fire that would otherwise engulf a property.
This requires property owners to, for example, clear flammable vegetation from near a chimney or remove dead vegetation, such as leaves, from near a deck.
Why is Point Richmond no longer listed as a high fire hazard zone?
Richmond first adopted the LRA map in 2009. At that time, local agencies were allowed to add geographical areas as they saw fit.
“It was purely based on institutional knowledge, historical fire knowledge, perceived threat of wildfire risk, things like that,” Osorio said.
For example, Point Richmond was listed on the 2009 map as a “very high” hazard area by the then-Richmond Fire Department chief and marshal. Now it’s not listed under any of the three categories.
Its “very high” hazard classification, Osorio said, had little to do with science and more to do with factors that fire officials believed made conditions hazardous, such as the area’s vegetation and limited access points.
“It didn’t really have any science or justification behind it,” he said, adding that local fire agencies are now only allowed to designate moderate and high hazard zones if they have an evidence-based, scientific justification that goes beyond what Cal Fire has already established.
According to Cal Fire, determining whether an area is hazardous means evaluating criteria such as types of fuels, winds, topography, where houses are located and specific weather conditions.
“There’s no way that we are going to create a scientific model that’s going to say ‘No, you’re modeling is wrong and we are going to include Point Richmond,’ ” he added.
Point Richmond is no longer considered a hazard, according to Osorio, based on “significant previous fire behavior,” explaining that the neighborhood has not had a large-scale fire on record and has high humidity.
“The marine influence impacts the Point and their humidity levels tend to stay high because of the marine influence,” he said. “Although we’ve had small fires throughout the decades in Point Richmond, we’ve never had what classifies as a major fire when it comes to the vegetation.”
Phillip Rosenthal, president of the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council, told Richmondside that he remembers Point Richmond being included in the 2009 maps to “encourage better and more active” inspections by the fire department. However, he said residents feel that this doesn’t help unless there is adequate follow up after citations are given.
“One of the challenges we’ve seen is that the fire department can cite someone, but it is up to (city) code enforcement to enforce it,” Rosenthal said. “So what’s the point of citing someone and saying, ‘These trees are dangerous to yourself and your neighbor’s property, you need to mitigate them’ when there is no follow-up?”
Rosenthal said that District 4 council member Soheila Bana, who helped establish the West Contra Costa Fire Safe Council, has suggested that Point Richmond residents might want to pursue having the area designated as a high or very high severity zone because the council can then apply for PG&E grants, for example, to help mitigate existing fire hazards.
However, Rosenthal said, he has not heard that this is something residents want to do.
To address potential concerns of Point Richmond residents, Osorio said the fire department is considering asking the city to establish some additional “defensible space rules” via an ordinance that would require property owners to reduce and maintain vegetation around places such as the Point Richmond tunnel and the East Bay regional park.
“It’ll allow us to try to enforce those rules on property owners, such as the railroad, who we have a hard time sometimes getting them to maintain their properties,” he said.
New wildfire risk classifications highlight illegal fireworks concerns
As the city reviews its new fire hazard maps, a group of Richmond residents are ramping up their efforts to get the city to take a tougher stance on illegal fireworks.
During the city council’s April 29 meeting, Bana — who represents areas that border the “very high” severity zones — proposed tripling fines for setting off illegal fireworks.
Ultimately, the council voted to shelve that idea and created an ad hoc committee consisting of Bana and District 5 council member Sue Wilson to coordinate with the ongoing community education and awareness campaign efforts by the Richmond police and fire departments, the city attorney’s office and public works.
“At the end of the day, fireworks are illegal in Contra Costa County,” Osorio told the council. “The real problem here is fireworks being brought in from out of state. These are the things that are causing problems.”
According to Osorio, the fire department handles a “high volume” of fireworks-related calls leading up to the July 4th holiday but that, typically, by the time firefighters arrive at a location, no one is there and they only find leftover fireworks debris on wooden pallets. Most of the illegal fireworks are being set off in the North and East and the Iron Triangle neighborhoods and unincorporated North Richmond — areas that aren’t on the new high-risk wildfire maps.
“Getting to the root cause means getting to a point where the fireworks are not getting into the city,” Osorio added.
Julie Freestone, a longtime homeowner in the North and East neighborhood who is helping to lead the effort to curb illegal fireworks, told Richmondside that she believes the council was negligent in not pursuing increased fines. She said the new resident-led organization, Stop Illegal Fireworks Richmond (SIFR), is connecting with similar regional organizations, law enforcement and county leaders, such as county Supervisor John Gioia, about stopping the flow of illegal fireworks into the state.
Although Osorio said during the April 29 meeting that he believes increased fines would be a “good tool” for the city to explore, he told Richmondside he has faith that fireworks citations are a large component of preventing the use of illegal fireworks in the city, especially for those who are bringing them into Richmond.
“This problem is a significant one in Richmond,” Osorio said. “Over the years what we have noticed is that these are not individuals that are unaware this is illegal activity. These aren’t the folks committing this type of crime. They go to great measures to try and remain anonymous because they know it’s illegal.”
Does the fire department not remember the fire on Nichol Knob in the late 90s that had helicopters dropping fire retardants on those hills. I watched from my boat next to KKMI on Cutting Blvd. There was a fire last year in the hills at the open space above Miller Knox that was caused by teenage boys setting off fireworks. It certainly seems hazardous in Pt Richmond.