Letters Needed! —Board of Forestry Poised to Gut SRA Fire Safe Regulations

Bad Government, Community Rights/Rights of Nature, Health, News, Resources / February 15, 2021

Note: Supervisor James Gore is Sonoma County’s liaison with this group.  “Sonoma County, through its membership in the Rural County Representatives of California, has been lobbying the Board of Forestry for weakened regulations to promote unrestricted development.”

Armstrong Woods fire where fire equipment was hampered by rural roads that were not wide enough to turn around. Fire fighters had to let areas burn.

 

Letters Needed! —Board of Forestry Poised to Gut SRA Fire Safe Regulations

Please email the BOF (PublicComments@bof.ca.gov) to object to allowing development on 10–12-foot-wide roads and mega development on 14-foot-wide roads that endangers firefighters and residents. The BOF is holding a Fire Safe Regulations Workshop on February 24, 2021 from 8:30-11:30 am (register at the BOF website: Webinar Information).

As you know, the Board of Forestry refused to certify the county’s “fire safe” ordinance last autumn. Without certification, the state Fire Safe Regulations, which provide minimum fire safety standards for access to all residential, commercial, and industrial development, apply in the State Responsibility Area where Cal Fire fights wildland fires. This includes most of rural Sonoma County. Under those rules, the county cannot legally issue commercial permits because the 10-12 feet wide dead-end roads are too long and are well under 20 feet wide.

Since late last summer, the Board of Forestry has been working on updating its regulations to extend them to apply to the very high fire hazard areas in the Local Responsibility Area. Until recently, the direction for the revised regulations was to continue to protect public health and safety. However, the Board of Forestry’s most recent draft Fire Safe Regulations (Feb. 8) remove most of its current protections for fire safe roads.

If approved, this huge regression in public and environmental safety will foster more development in the State Responsibility Area on narrow and long dead-end roads. Concurrent fire engine ingress and civilian egress, required in the current rules and strongly supported by fire chiefs across the state, will no longer be required. The revised rules would bring more people, traffic, and commercial/industrial activity into high fire risk areas on one-lane roads. Since 2017, huge expanses of Sonoma (over 24%), Napa (over 42%), and Lake (over 50%) counties have burned.

Sonoma County, through its membership in the Rural County Representatives of California, has been lobbying the Board of Forestry for weakened regulations to promote unrestricted development. The February 8 draft is a complicated and bewildering proposal riddled with hidden loopholes that undermines public safety.

Please email the BOF (PublicComments@bof.ca.gov) to object to allowing development on 10–12-foot-wide roads and mega development on 14-foot-wide roads that endangers firefighters and residents. The BOF is holding a Fire Safe Regulations Workshop on February 24, 2021 from 8:30-11:30 am (register at the BOF website: Webinar Information). The BOF is expected to make a final decision on revising its regulations at its April 6-7 meetings.

Points to consider making:

  • It would be far better to retain the current regulations than to approve the proposed changes.
  • Although the state attorney general has confirmed that the regulations apply to both existing and new roads, the February 8 draft essentially excludes existing roads from most regulation.  Most development in the State Responsibility Area occurs on existing roads.
    • Existing access roads no longer have to be at least 20-feet wide, and no longer must enable fire apparatus (8-9 feet wide) to pass vehicles (6 feet wide) concurrently.
    • There are virtually no restrictions of the length of dead-end access roads, which are currently limited to one mile.
    • Please email the BOF (PublicComments@bof.ca.gov) to object to allowing development on 10–12-foot-wide roads and mega development on 14-foot-wide roads that endangers firefighters and residents. The BOF is holding a Fire Safe Regulations Workshop on February 24, 2021 from 8:30-11:30 am (register at the BOF website: Webinar Information). The BOF is expected to make a final decision on revising its regulations at its April 6-7 meetings.