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This week the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is sponsoring Fire Prevention Week commemorating the Great Chicago Fire.  While the Governor has already signed several wildfire preparedness and resiliency bills there remains an important piece of legislation which he has not acted on, AB 1516 authored by Assembly Member Laura Friedman (D – Glendale),  which will provide a cost-effective way of reducing wildfire home loss and implements a key recommendation from the NFPA.

AB 1516 is a game-changer that has broad support among stakeholders and members in both parties.  AB 1516 addresses one of the most critical gaps in our preparedness for Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires in California.  And any time a legislator can bring the building community together with the Sierra Club, the insurance industry with the fire chiefs, and get both rural and urban counties to agree you know it’s an important issue.

AB 1516 focuses primarily on defensible space – that 100-foot zone (or to property line) around each home that provides the resistance to wildfire that both firefighters and houses need to increase survival.  It also establishes a 0-5 feet ember-resistant zone, which is recommended by NFPA, directly around the perimeter of homes in communities at the greatest risk of wildfire.  Much of the research about home loss in WUI fires points to this immediate surrounding area and its susceptibility to ember-caused fires due to vegetation right outside the windows of homes.  This provision will be phased in alongside a substantial education program to be developed by CAL FIRE.

AB 1516 will provide important tools to CAL FIRE to improve defensible space around the state including being able to use third parties to assess structures for defensible space.  AB 1516 also includes support for these parties by providing local fire prevention grants for defensible space programs and to homeowner education efforts including how to properly landscape around power lines.

As leaders in the wildfire prevention community with decades of experience in fire prevention and response we believe Governor Newsom should sign this bill during fire prevention week, and by doing so he will be addressing a significant and missing piece of the wildfire problem the state is struggling with.  Lives, homes, and communities are threatened by increasingly catastrophic wildfires and developing effective defensible space around every home, engaging local fire departments and fire safe groups as partners, and educating residents about the latest researched steps to take for protection is a vital part of a comprehensive approach.  AB 1516 provides the foundation for that effort.

–Jeff Meston and Kate Dargan

Jeff Meston is the immediate past president President of the California Fire Chiefs Association and recently retired Fire Chief of South Lake Tahoe Fire Department. He has worked throughout CA advancing fire service and community safety.

Kate Dargan is the past State Fire Marshal of California, a retired career CAL FIRE fire chief, and board member of the CA Fire Safe Council.