Contact
Information
Cheryl Miller, HEF or Amber Bach, DFSC
(510) 893-9888
The
East Bay watched in horror as the Southern California Firestorm
consumed acres and communities. Everyone who lived through
the October 19, 1991 Tunnel fire knows what is coming for
the families whose homes were destroyed, and even for those
who were only disrupted temporarily by evacuation. Our hearts
go out to those who will face years of rebuilding their lives.
While we can never bring back those who lost their lives,
or recapture treasured mementos and old community ties, we
can share our experiences.
Our greatest lesson to share is that each individual in your
community can make a difference. Immediately after the fire,
groups were formed in the East Bay to address the issues at
every level. Recovery efforts were flooded with help. Local
survivor support groups, professional organizations, Mayor's
task forces, and the far reaching power of the State Office
of Emergency Services (OES) and Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) each played crucial roles. Homes and neighborhoods
were rebuilt more safely thanks to stronger community networks,
improved building codes, streamlined one-stop permit processing,
and better coordination among our fire agencies. Yet twelve
years later we are reminded that people will forget that urban-wildland
interface fire danger is a fact of life in California. Next
summer's fire may not happen to you, but somewhere in California
someone will face the painful process of rebuilding their
home, community and lives.
Complacency is the greatest threat to living safely with
California's fire dependent ecosystems. In Alameda and Contra
Costa Counties we are lucky to have a strong nucleus of people
committed to reminding community members of fire risks and
providing the information needed to live in better balance
with their environment. The Diablo Firesafe Council (DFSC)
serves as a coalition of homeowners, businesses, and agencies
that outreach to increase awareness and mobilize people to
make their homes, neighborhoods and communities "fire
safe." They are part of a network of councils throughout
California. The Hills Emergency Forum (HEF) facilitates a
collaborative approach among eight governing organizations
addressing agency to agency fire issues in the Oakland-Berkeley
hills. We offer these as a model of the types of groups that
hold the answers to the issues faced by all Californians at
the interface.
Finally we wish to share our experience with a successful
program called FIREWISE, sponsored by the California Fire
Alliance and the National FIREWISE Communities organization.
Just days before the Southern California Fires erupted, on
October 15-16, 2003, 120 individuals from both Contra Costa
and Alameda Counties came together to share their skills and
viewpoints and foster a collaborative approach to reducing
wildland fire risks. Through educational sessions and small
group exercises we not only learned the tools for building
more defensible communities and survivable homes, but also
developed working relationships with individuals that can
make the vision a reality. Participants included homeowners,
land trust managers, local supervisor's aides, congressional
representatives' staff, homebuilders, watershed managers,
fire fighters, building officials, planners, designers, insurance
agents and emergency services personnel. Sponsors included
the DFSC, HEF, Contra Costa Water District, East Bay Municipal
Utility District, East Bay Regional Park District, Society
of Fire Protection Engineers, local business such as Oakland
Association of Insurance Agents, FireScout, Vaisala, Sycamore
Associates, Living Systems, High Tech Fire, Shapell Industries,
Inc., Valley Waste Management Inc. and Safeway. All of the
participants were able to find common ground and discuss areas
of difference. Together we are the future for reducing the
devastation from California wildfires. The Oakland-Berkeley
hills has learned that we cannot say 'never again' -- but
we can say next time we will be better prepared. For more
information contact Amber Bach Diablo Fire Safe Council or
Cheryl Miller Hills Emergency Forum. Both can be reached at
(510) 893-9888 or at www.diablofiresafe.org
and www.lbl.gov/ehs/hef.
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