EBRPD Fire Department Website Banner

Fire Safety and Prevention

A year-round fire season is now the “new normal” in California, and we must work together to prevent a catastrophic firestorm here at home. The East Bay Regional Park District is committed to wildfire prevention in our parks. We are actively working every day monitoring fire weather conditions, reducing the fuel load in our parks, and maintaining healthy forests by thinning excessive growth. While our efforts to reduce the risk of severe wildfires are extensive, it’s the collective efforts of homeowners and neighbors like you that can have the greatest impact. By reducing fire fuels around your home and taking other precautions, you can help prevent small fires from becoming large disasters. The Park District works in partnership with local and regional fire agencies. Your city or local fire department or agency can provide additional guidance on fuels management, emergency notifications, and evacuation routes. 

What you can do to Reduce Wildfire Risk

Image
Reducing Wildfire Risk
Reducing Wildfire Risk

Many homes in the East Bay are in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), the zone where residential areas and wildland meet.

During a wildfire, there are three threats to a building: wind-borne embers, radiant heat, and direct flame contact. When considering the vulnerability of your home or business to wildfire, you need to evaluate and address all three potential threats with these three key measures to protecting yourself, your family and property are:

1.  Creating defensible space zones around your home.
2.  Fire proofing the inside and outside of your home.
3.  Creating an evacuation plan in the event of a fire.

The defensible space is made up of Two Zones

Image
What you can do graphic

ZONE 1: 30 feet of Lean, Clean and Green

  • Remove all dead plants, grass, weeds and overgrown brush
  • Clean leaves, needles, and debris from roofs and rain gutters
  • Keep tree branches 10 feet away from chimney, roof and other trees
  • Move firewood and fuel tanks 30 feet from house
  • Remove all items from under deck. Do not use this space for storage
  • Fire harden your home. Install fine wire mesh over roof, eave and foundation vents

ZONE 2: 30-100 feet of Reduced Fuel

  • Mow grass to a maximum of 4 inches. Mow before 10 a.m. and never on a hot, windy, or red flag day
  • Create vertical spacing between grass, shrubs, and trees
  • Trim trees 10 feet from the ground and 6 feet from other plants
  • Large trees do not need to be removed if the plants beneath them are removed. This eliminates the vertical fire ladder
  • Create horizontal spacing between trees and shrubs
  • Choose and plant fire resistant native plants

Here are some links that will provide more information on how you can reduce the vulnerability of your home in the event of a fire:

Other Fire Safety Tips

  • Properly extinguish campfires
  • Abide by all posted or announced fire safety rules
  • Don't drive your vehicle into dry grass
  • If you see smoke in open parklands, call 9-1-1
  • Smoke Alarm Safety Tips

Fire Safety Video

Park district firefighter gives tips to prevent fires in the parks.

What we are Doing

  • Clearing heavy underbrush and thinning our dense park forests
  • Reducing vegetation with cattle, goat, and sheep grazing
  • Removing hazardous trees
  • Monitoring effects on habitat and wildlife populations, e.g. nesting birds
  • Partnering with communities, and local and state agencies such as Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), providing mutual aid including use of District helicopter
  • Conducting controlled pile-burning operations and prescribing controlled fire

Each year the Park District thins and removes hazardous vegetation on over 1,000 acres to reduce fire hazard – much of that thanks to residents in western Alameda and Contra Costa counties who voted in 2004 to support regional park services with additional local funding. 

See a potential fire hazard in the parks? Report it by calling (510) 881-1833

Wildfire Lessons

Firefighting is a rewarding profession, but there are many risks involved in responding to all the duties of a firefighter. When an incident occurs in the line of duty, it is documented and shared at WildfireLessons.com. In sharing these stories, the desire is to educate the public on some of the realities firefighters face and to share with firefighters how these incidents can be avoided in the future.

Resources

Weather Information

Sign up for Monthly e-Newsletter Updates