Agenda

Return

C.153

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Lewis T. Broschard III, Chief, Contra Costa Fire Protection District
Date:	June 8, 2021

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District Community Wildfire Protection Plan

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 06/08/2021

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Lewis T. Broschard III, Fire Chief (925) 941-3300

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: June 8, 2021
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE the Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District Community Wildfire Protection Plan to be added as an annex to the 2019 Contra Costa County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There are no costs associated with adding the MOFD CWPP as an annex to the County CWPP.

BACKGROUND:

The 2019 update to the Contra Costa County Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was adopted by this governing board on May 26, 2020. The Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District (MOFD) also pursued a separate CWPP for their Fire District, taking into account the specific hazards and issues related to their communities.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

The action today would approve the MOFD CWPP as an annex to the County CWPP. It does not alter the County CWPP, with the exception of adding the specific MOFD CWPP for the areas serviced by the MOFD.

The Moraga–Orinda Fire Protection District Community Wildfire Protection Plan provides an analysis of wildfire hazards and risks in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) of the City of Orinda, Town of Moraga, the unincorporated community of Canyon, and surrounding unincorporated lands within the MOFD service area. The Plan is proposed as an appendix to the Contra Costa County CWPP and follows the standards for CWPPs established by the federal Healthy Forest Restoration Act.

Based on the analysis, recommendations have been identified to reduce the threat of wildfire. The Plan enhances long-standing collaboration between local agencies and organizations and existing plans for wildfire protection to create a coordinated effort to determine appropriate wildfire management actions.

The Contra Costa County CWPP is the result of an area-wide planning effort. The MOFD CWPP looks at similar issues but allows for a more detailed evaluation and customized recommendations for MOFD communities. The first countywide CWPP in 2009 began with a compilation of existing documents, analysis of fire behavior developed (based on fuels, topography, and historical weather conditions), and collaboration with homeowners, representatives of special interest groups, and agency officials. In 2014, and again in 2019, an Updated Plan was revised through a similar area-wide planning effort that reviewed the plan, updated relevant sections, and refined priority actions.

The goal of the plan is to reduce wildfire risks through increased education, hazardous fuel reduction, progressive fire code adoption, and increased inspection and enforcement of defensible space regulations to reduce structure ignitability and other recommendations to assist emergency preparedness and fire suppression efforts. Most importantly, it facilitates a coordinated effort between district residence and other various stakeholders.

The MOFD CWPP recommendations are organized into four categories of mitigation related to (1) Community Education and Emergency Preparedness, (2) Fire Code Adoption, Defensible Space inspections (improving Structure Survivability), (3) Fuel Mitigation/Treatments on small private parcels around homes, and (4) Fuel Mitigation/Treatments on Public Lands and large private parcels.

The MOFD CWPP is intended to be a multi-year document that will identify and organize efforts in a mutually supporting manner. It will further facilitate the implementation of present and future mitigation efforts through the presentation of an overarching list of priorities. It is important to note that the CWPP is a living document and will need to be updated on a tri-annual basis and after major events such as wildfire, flood, insect infestation, tree mortality, and significant new home development, as well as the regional updates to Local Hazard Mitigation Plans or General Plan Safety Elements.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If the MOFD CWPP is not added as an annex to the County CWPP, the MOFD would be encouraged to adopt their CWPP as a separate and stand alone plan creating confusion by having two different and unrelated CWPPs in effect for the Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District and the communities they serve.