EAST FOOTHILLS FIRE PROTECTION PLAN RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

By Allan Thompson

The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council has released the first Public Draft of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the East Foothills area east of San Jose for comments. Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) are the new standard for evaluating a community’s risk from wildfires. CWPPs not only set forth a detailed plan for ongoing wildfire prevention maintenance in a specific area, but also provide other important benefits to the community.
These Benefits to the Community include:
Higher priority for Federal grant dollars for fuel reduction projects
Quicker turnaround for environmental permits or navigating compliance issues
Communities can organize projects to reduce fire prone fuels without Federal funding
Identification of appropriate Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) boundaries with community input
The East Foothills CWPP was developed by SCFSC and Dudek, a wildfire prevention planning company, with assistance from the San Jose Fire Department, CDF (now CAL FIRE), and many other stakeholders and residents. It is the first CWPP completed in Santa Clara County. The San Jose Fire Department Wildland Officer, Fire Captain José Guerrero, has been involved in the planning process from the beginning. Captain Guerrero states, “We’re very excited about this project. It’s a great example of how the public and private sectors can take steps to reduce the risk of wildfires in the foothills of San Jose.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Allan Thompson
Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
(408) 272-7008

VIDEO ARCHIVE: FLEMING AVE. GRASS FIRE 5/26/2006
How quickly can fire strike? Just watch this video shot by Julie Ramirez!