Planning

Gov Says OK to Build in Fire Areas

Gov Says OK to Build in Fire Areas

by on April 17, 2019 with No Comments

Yes, we agree, people like living in and near nature. It provides recreational opportunities close to home, it increases property values, and it is beautiful. However, we would encourage the Newsom Administration to look at incorporating wildfire science and wildfire history into the land use equation. This information helps land use planners determine where to allow homes and where there is extreme fire danger (like multiple wildfires). Areas at most risk (regardless of the existence of homes) are places have … Read More

Location Matters More Than Construction

Location Matters More Than Construction

by on December 4, 2018 with No Comments

As USGS Fire Scientist Jon Keeley has already figured out: where fires have happened before they will happen again. That’s what was witnessed in Ventura. We’ve got the fire maps for our hills that prove it also. State building and fire codes can’t keep up with the losses–there is lag time between the disaster and new codes. The science shows that where the houses are built is more important than how they are constructed. Build homes in a Very High … Read More

Lessons From the Camp Fire

Lessons From the Camp Fire

by on November 21, 2018 with No Comments

It is hard to imagine a fire that moved a mile every SIX SECONDS, but that’s what happened in the Camp Fire. This article outlines the lessons learned from previous fires, communication failures from this fire, and how planning plays into it. The article features other projects in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones too like Esperanza Hills (above Yorba Linda). Evacuation concerns is one of the hot button items for Yorba Linda residents fighting the project there. (Photo of the … Read More

No Surprise, People Start Fires in Fire Prone Areas

No Surprise, People Start Fires in Fire Prone Areas

by on March 12, 2018 with No Comments

Guess what? Those very high fire hazard severity zones (you know, the places most likely to burn) are where the fastest residential development is occurring in Southern California. And, interestingly–according to this new study–people in those zones are most likely to start the fires there. Let’s hope the lessons of the Freeway Complex Fire, Canyon 2 Fire, and other statewide disasters bring home the realities of how dangerous it is to build in these areas. Read the KPPC article.

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