Improve the Regional Priority Plan Spatial Decision Support System Tool Over Time
The RPP Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) described in the mapping section of the website was built to be incrementally improved over time.
Wildfire Insurance Alternatives
Throughout California and the western United States, we are experiencing intense wildfires at previously unthinkable scales and with unprecedented loss of homes and communities.
Fire Safe Council Staff and Capacity
The Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council has been an entirely volunteer-run organization without paid staff up until now, but the SBC FSC is now the recipient of significant grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation via a new project called the Regional Wildfire Mitigation Program (RWMP).
Reassess Fire Fighting Systems, Strategy, Policy and Building Codes
Our current fire resilience infrastructure and strategies are built on a series of assumptions that may no longer hold true. We have interior fire sprinklers designed to suppress single home fires with a deluge of water…
Shelter in Place Strategy Research: Assess Potential in WUI Areas at Risk of Wildfires that Outpace Ability to Evacuate (Fire Proof Emergency Shelters)
Home hardening increases the likelihood that a home survives a wildfire, but hardened homes do not provide a safe place of refuge in the event that a fast moving wildfire cuts off evacuation routes and forces residents to shelter in place.
Library of Santa Barbara County Fire Resources, Literature, & Studies
During the RPP teams outreach efforts we shared a worldwide literature search produced by partners for the community of Paradise after the devastating Camp fire. Local fire personnel suggested a collaborative effort among fire agencies, community based groups ….
Unified Fire Prevention Project Tracking Website
Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) serves as Santa Barbara County's Cal Fire Unit and regularly produces an Annual Strategic Unit Plan as mandated by Cal Fire that inventories the fire prevention projects SBCFD has in various stages of its planning and implementation processes.
Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defensible Space Plan
The Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) undertook a planning effort to identify, prioritize and plan a series of fire prevention and mitigation activities to reduce the risk of wildfire to mountain communities including West Camino Cielo, Painted Cave and Rosario Park.
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) Where Needed Throughout the County
While several areas of Santa Barbara County benefit from the preparation of Community Wildfire Protection Plans, there are several areas of the County that do not currently have a plan that covers them.
Lompoc Fire Station Upgrades & Resilience Center
In addition to lacking a CWPP, the City of Lompoc's main fire station is structurally unsound and in need of significant upgrades. The station houses equipment and personnel that serve the area, and the building's known structural issues create significant vulnerability…
Regional Lompoc Valley Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)
The Lompoc region has been identified as a high priority for fire prevention activities by the modeling completed by the RPP team but the region lacks a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
Funding for Defensible Space Assistance
While county residents generally have a high level of awareness of fire risk and high compliance with risk reduction recommendations and requirements, some community members are unable …
City of Guadalupe LeRoy Park Fuel Reduction
Guadalupe City leaders noted that an area next to Leroy Park and adjacent to the Santa Maria River is considered a high fire risk to nearby vulnerable population concentrations.
Roadside Vegetation Management
Roadside vegetation management is a high impact fire risk reduction activity and is needed in high fire risk areas throughout the county. The RPP team recommends engaging local fire …
Expanded Countrywide Chipping Program for High Risk WUI Neighborhoods
Reducing combustible vegetation in the immediate vicinity of homes, other buildings, infrastructure and transit corridors is one of the most effective actions available for fire risk reduction in the county.
Fine Scale Mapping of Critical County Resources
A key SBC Fire Department leader shared that Santa Barbara County needs to increase the pace and scale of fine scale mapping of built and natural resources to facilitate effective planning and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Countywide GIS Public-Private Partnership
Many agencies and community based organizations maintain GIS data for internal purposes and needs. As a result, there are multiple specialized systems for particular needs and redundant technical capacity.
Addressing WUI Wildfire Buffer Gaps
The communities throughout Santa Barbara County have varying degrees of wildfire buffer along their WUI edges. Goleta benefits from significant portions of its WUI edged by irrigated orchards
Rail Corridor Fire Prevention
Much like roadsides, vegetation along railroad corridors creates risk of fire ignition and spread. With the increasing prevalence of homeless encampments along road and railroad corridors, particularly in and near urban areas…
Dangermond Preserve Fire Resilience Projects
The Nature Conservancy stewards the 24,000-acre Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve (JLDP) at Point Conception. JLDP is of biological and cultural significance regionally and globally.