DFSC Celebrates 25 years! 🎂🎉

Fire Captain for the East Bay Regional Park District and DFSC Board Member Patrick McIntyre meets with authorities fighting the Creek Fire in Sunol, July 2024. Photo from ABC 7 video coverage.

Hello Robyn,

Two fires this past month – the Sunol Creek Fire (744 acres) and Point Fire near Concord / Bay Point (471 acres) – caused evacuations and close calls to homes. Thanks to local firefighters, including DFSC board member Fire Captain Patrick McIntyre and his team, the Sunol Creek Fire caused no damage to people or properties. 

These fires were reminders that wildfires are going to happen in our area, and that we can’t always prevent them from starting. The good news is that there are many things we can all do to reduce wildfire’s impact and protect people and property. At Diablo Firesafe Council, our mission is to help communities prepare for, prevent, and reduce the impact of wildland fires.  

This newsletter covers how:

• you can reduce wildfire impact by making your home’s vents ember resistant
• DFSC works with community members to achieve defensible space through vegetation fuel reduction
• DFSC is working with local stakeholders to identify high-priority projects for an updated Regional Priority Plan
• you can create beautiful gardens with fire-safer plants like succulents, and 
• you can donate to DFSC to help us continue providing resources and services.

Please note the Cheryl Miller celebration is postponed. Stay tuned for a new date.

DFSC staff pose with an ember-resistant vent at a home hardening event. 

Because embers from a wildfire can travel on the wind a mile ahead of the main fire (Tubbs fire in 2017, for example), we want to make sure our homes are prepared so our structures stand the best chance against ember intrusion. A common entry point for embers is through our vents in both the crawl space and attics of our homes.

What are some options to prevent ember intrusion?

Option #1 $ – Add a 1/8”- 1/16” screen material over existing crawl space, attic, gable end, or eave vents. Note that 1/16” mesh screens have proven in tests to be better at keeping embers from entering vents shown in a study by the Joint Fire Science Program. It showed 38% of embers were smaller than a 1/8” opening and were able to pass through vents with mesh this size. See more details in this Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety article on home mitigations. 

This video IBHS Research Center shows embers going past a ⅛” mesh gable vent.

Option #2 $$ – Replace crawl space vents, soffit eaves, gable end vents with ember-resistant vents. Some specialized vents use an intumescent coating that will close the vents when it reaches a certain temperature. See these approved building materials from the Office of State Fire Marshal.

Option #3 $$$ – Retrofit an open eave to a closed eave. Review total air-flow calculations for crawl space or attic ventilation to create a new, protected venting system. While 1/16” vents prevent ember intrusion better than 1/8” there will be less air flow and additional vents may be needed. Consult with a contractor.

Option #4 $ – Cover crawl space vents in an emergency. If you have time during an evacuation warning (not evacuation order), and have vulnerable vents, use aluminized duct tape to cover your vent screens as shown in this video from Fire Safe Marin.

DFSC conducts public education about home hardening including information on vents.

Reach out directly to Sheryl Drinkwater to schedule a free program called Five Easy Actions with your Firewise group

sheryl.drinkwater@diablofiresafe.org

In the hills above El Cerrito on a ridge bordering Wildcat Canyon sits Boy Scouts Camp Herms. The property has a dense concentration of vegetative fuels and is in the middle of a populated residential neighborhood. Any wildfire driven by Diablo winds is likely to climb rapidly into the crowns of nearby trees creating an impossible-to-control fire event. 

Before

After

In July, DFSC Cost-Share Funding was used to remove two trees on Camp Herms’s property that were within yards of nearby residential homes. Dianne Brenner, resident lead on the project, says that “between the DFSC funding and donations from neighbors, we’ve moved a total of 60 eucalyptus trees within 100 feet of neighboring homes.”

DFSC’s Cost-Share Funding Program will begin accepting new applications in the near future. Successful applications will include a minimum of five households, include sweat-equity or a financial outlay from neighbors to earn the match, and have a significant impact on fire safety for residents in the vicinity of the project. For more details about DFSC’s Cost-Share Funding Program, contact joelle@diablofiresafe.org.

Diablo Firesafe Council has won a three-year grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy to update the Regional Priority Plan (RPP) for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD) led the effort to create the existing plan in 2022. View the current plan here.

DFSC has conducted significant outreach to build a stakeholder group for the plan update, reaching out to approximately 350 potential stakeholders through emails, one-on-one calls and meetings, and through presentations to groups. Our goal is to create an inclusive, diverse group of stakeholders representing all parts of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties with entities ranging from government agencies, fire districts, nonprofits, ranching associations, corporations, tribal groups, neighborhood groups, and universities in both counties.

Through this process, DFSC aims to to:

1. Create a portfolio of high- and medium-priority projects in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, 
2. Identify potential funding for identified projects, and 
3. Create a large, connected network for fire-safety coordination in the two counties.

You are invited to attend an initial stakeholder meeting Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 3 PM to 4 PM. 

Please RSVP to receive the meeting location. There is also an option to attend via Zoom, with a link to follow your RSVP.

If you have questions or input, email holly@diablofiresafe.org.

The Cheryl Miller Celebration and DFSC 25th Anniversary Party have been postponed. Stay tuned for updates on a new date. 

In the meantime, we have launched the Cheryl Miller Fund, a $25K fundraising campaign to honor Cheryl and her work for DFSC. All funds raised in Cheryl’s honor will count towards the fund goal and support DFSC’s work with our local communities to help them be more fire safe.

To donate, visit our website and make a contribution of any amount in Cheryl’s name. All donations are fully tax deductible.

Attributions

Queen Victoria Agave, Renee Grayson, Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0 License

PO Box 18616, Oakland, 94619 | holly@diablofiresafe.org