FAIRFIELD — Rural fire districts in Solano County need an immediate and urgent infusion of operational funding in order to better respond to the kind of devastating wildfires the county has experienced in recent years.
That was a foundational conclusion reached by the Solano
County civil ground jury that investigated the risk to county residents from
wildfires.
While the report acknowledges the efforts the county is making
– such as rural district consolidation – the grand jury equally made it clear
that more needs to be done immediately.
he grand jury report states Solano County should “immediately
make resources available to the (fire districts) to deal with the new wildfire
environment.”
n its response to the grand jury report, the Cordelia Fire
Protection District noted its full agreement to the three findings and
corresponding recommendations made by the grand jury.
It supplemented that with specific areas of improvement that
included a single county fire district for the unincorporated area, a single
computer-aided dispatch system for the cities and the unincorporated area and
“immediate and urgent short-term funding to address the gaps in personnel,
equipment and resources sufficient to address needs in 2021-22.”
A unified dispatch and communications system is something the
county has been working on for a number of years.
The Board of Supervisors, on Tuesday, discussed its response
to the grand jury report, noting essentially the longer-term efforts that are
needed.
“The county’s responses to the grand jury’s findings and
recommendations reflect the county’s continuing commitment to address the
threat from wildfires and the actions being taken or which are under
consideration,” the letter to presiding Superior Court Judge Donna Stashyn
states. “This includes working with the fire districts to explore opportunities
for reorganization and coordination of resources and opportunities for
increasing durable, ongoing revenue sources.”
The county’s response noted that under Penal Code Sections 933
and 933.05, the Solano County Board of Supervisors was responding to the
recommendations and findings contained in the 2020-21 grand jury report titled,
“Wildfires on the Horizon Solano Homes at Risk! Findings and Recommendations.”
And while Supervisors Jim Spering and John Vasquez are on
record supporting the need for a countywide funding source for rural fire
protection needs, what that funding source will be and for how much has not
been determined.
Vasquez said in a phone interview Thursday that a sales tax or
parcel tax increase are still possibilities, and if a sales tax, something in
the area of what was raised for the libraries – a one-eighth of a cent bump – might
be the target.
However, both supervisors have said that they need to know
what the full picture of needs is before deciding how much funding is needed,
and therefore what kind of funding is needed.
“One of the things we have to look at is where we would put
(fire stations) if there weren’t any (district) boundaries,” Vasquez said.
That was part of the thinking behind the county buying the old
Fall School site on Rockville Road.
While the $550,000 purchased preserved the current Cordelia
station operations, the site also works for a newer, modernized fire station
for wildfire response in the future.
“There is sufficient space available on the site for expanded
fire operations should resources become available and a long-term plan for use
of the property is developed,” the county response letter states.
It further notes the challenges the fire districts face as
cited in a report funded through the Local Agency Formation Commission,
including a shrinking tax base.
“In response to these circumstances and combined with
increasing patterns of severe drought and rapid spread of fires from rural
areas into urban communities, the Board of Supervisors and county staff have
been actively exploring options for wildfire prevention and improving
responsiveness to wildfire events in rural areas of the county,” the letter
states.
That includes searching for grants to supplement the funding.
The Cordelia district letter, signed by Fire Chief Dave
Carpenter, notes the value of grant money but stated it takes time to get those
grants.
“The county received a grant to prepare a Hazard Mitigation
Plan . . . . The completed plan increases opportunities to pursue other grant
opportunities for equipment, facilities and short-term staffing. The county is
in line currently for grants to facilitate establishment and coordination of
fire safe councils to increase resident communications and planning for evacuations
and evacuation routes and creation of defensible spaces,” the county response
states.
“Current grant opportunities total (more than $1.27 million)
and the county is actively preparing to apply for additional grant
opportunities as they become available,” the county letter states.
The county also received $1.9 million from the state for “fire
monitoring and emergency notification equipment such as sirens, monitoring
cameras, more defensible cell tower spaces and better cellular coverage to
rural customers,” the letter states.
It also notes funding for weed abatement needs in fire-risk
areas.
The grand jury also requested comments from the Local Agency
Formation Commission and the fire districts. The county response does include
LAFCO actions, but no formal response nor any response from other districts
besides Cordelia had been filed as of Thursday.
• The grand jury report on wildfire risk and the responses
from the county and the Cordelia fire district can be found at https://solano.courts.ca.gov/divisions/grand-jury/reports/.
Fairfield Daily Republic
By Todd R. Hansen
September 19, 2021
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