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To:	Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Board of Directors
From:	Lewis T. Broschard III, Chief, Contra Costa Fire Protection District
Date:	November 12, 2019

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Report on October 27 Responses to Multiple Wildland Fires within Contra Costa County

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 11/12/2019

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, Director
Candace Andersen, Director
Diane Burgis, Director
Karen Mitchoff, Director
Federal D. Glover, Director

Contact:

Lewis Broschard, 9253835002

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: November 12, 2019
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

ACCEPT a report from the Fire Chief regarding the Fire District response to multiple wildland fires and significant incidents on October 27, 2019.

FISCAL IMPACT:

No fiscal impact.

BACKGROUND:

An unprecedented level of response was required to successfully mitigate multiple, sometimes simultaneous, significant fire weather incidents throughout the Fire District and across our county in an 18-hour period Sunday.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

These began with a two-alarm commercial structure fire in Walnut Creek resulting in the complete destruction of a vacant three-story commercial building near midnight Saturday, followed in quick succession by eight significant wildland fires with direct threat to residences, commercial buildings, and entire communities. In addition, a mass-casualty incident, also wind related, occurred in downtown Martinez when a large tree fell injuring multiple persons at the Sunday Farmers Market. A total of seven victims were transported to area hospitals.

Acting as Operational Area Coordinator for the county, Con Fire planned well in advance of Sunday’s Red Flag weather for two prepositioned task forces, each consisting of five wildland fire engines, to be available to instantly dispatch to Sunday morning’s fires. Additionally, anticipating the threat facing the county, the District took the unprecedented steps of holding all firefighters from the off-going shift that morning and recalled all operations personnel, as well as mechanics, fire inspectors, dispatchers, and chief officers. This effort resulted in over 100 personnel being available on Sunday in addition to our normal daily staffing.

As a result of holding off-going personnel at their stations, and later recalling firefighters and support personnel from the remaining, third shift, Con Fire was able to staff, in addition to existing normal staffing, a total of six Type I fire engines, 15 Type III wildland fire engines, two auxiliary support units, 14 command personnel, three dispatchers, and five support personnel. To support these additional firefighters, every available apparatus in the District, including spare units and training engines, was pressed into service.

The Fire District was aided in its response to incidents that occurred in Martinez and Lafayette by state funded pre-positioned resources, internal mutual aid from other agencies within Contra Costa County, Cal Fire, and local law enforcement agencies who assisted with evacuations, traffic control, and road closures.

The availability of resources, coordinated responses, County EOC activation and staffing, effective incident management, and professional and competent personnel at each incident made the difference between these incidents being significant and avoiding each of them from becoming disasters. No homes were lost as a result of these responses, an outcome made possible by the efforts of EVERY AGENCY and EVERYONE involved.