Fire Safe Sonoma and the unincorporated community of Mill Creek Road in the western wooded outskirts of Healdsburg announced last week the completion of their Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), a detailed document that measures wildfire risks specific to an area and identifies ways to mitigate that risk in a comprehensive plan.
Roberta Macintyre, board president for Fire Safe Sonoma said the CWPP is the conclusion of many hours of volunteer work by Mill Creek residents and their Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies Program (COPE).
“This local CWPP is the culmination of hundreds of hours of volunteer time championed by the Mill Creek COPE over a seven-month period. In addition to the broad range of expertise provided by the Mill Creek COPE, the CWPP development process benefited from extensive communication and coordination with representatives of CalFire, Healdsburg Fire Department, state and federal agencies, various county departments, and residents of the broader Mill Creek community,” Macintyre said in a statement.
The first edition of the plan is a living document of sorts and can be modified or changed overtime if conditions change. It will also serve as a guiding document for securing funding for projects that will help Mill Creek Road residents prepare for wildfire.
Mill Creek residents Mark Farmer and Mark Menny spearheaded the CWPP effort and the planning process started on Jan. 4 when around 60 Mill Creek locals met at the Healdsburg Community Center to discuss the community’s emergency preparedness priorities.
“After the Tubbs Fire, Mark and I looked for a way to get organized. We live on Mill Creek Road, an 8-mile, windy road with one way out,” Farmer told The Tribune in early January.
Farmer and Menny then started thinking about what their community would do in the event of a wildfire. Farmer also learned that if a community has a CWPP, then there’s more of an opportunity to receive funding for vegetation management and resources like evacuation routes, or new street address and reflective signs.
“It just seemed to us to be an appropriate structure for helping us to think about how we want to move forward as a community to improve our safety and preparedness,” Menny told The Tribune.
In the early brainstorming process residents identified four main risks to address and mitigate: Roads, evacuation, vegetation management and communication. The Mill Creek area is heavily wooded and dense. Roads are a major area of concern as well since the neighborhood has only one way out, and that way out is a winding eight-mile road with tight turns and switchbacks. This can make things difficult when it comes to evacuation and consequently, a seven-mile alternate route that cuts through private property was identified and clearly marked with road signs.
In terms of communication, Farmer said they have to explore different options — like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radios or phone trees — since cell signal is traditionally poor throughout the area.
With these elements in mind, the plan must also meet three criteria. The plan must be developed collaboratively, identify and prioritize fuel reduction projects and recommend measures to reduce the ignitability of structures.
According to the press release from Fire Safe Sonoma, the completed CWPP was certified as meeting the criteria by Fire Safe Sonoma, the CalFire Sonoma, Lake, Napa Unit, North Bay Fire and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
Certification of a CWPP does not constitute plan approval or adoption, however, it does mean that the above signees agree that the plan meets CWPP standards.
Mill Creek COPE leaders and residents will now turn their attention to securing funding and landowner approval in order to start projects identified in the CWPP that work on improving emergency access and communication and fire fuel reduction.
