As of May 14, 2022, the Cordelia Fire Protection District (CFPD) hit its goal of 400 inspections in the District before the fire season intensifies. We are still performing reinspections, and for the most part residents are diligently working at cleaning up their properties. We have a few more inspections in pockets that we have missed. We will pick up again in Fall. This was our first serious effort to conduct more thorough inspections while providing educational material and advice to residents. Inspections have been done over the years by both the CFPD and Cal Fire, but not at the level taken this year.
These inspections took many, many hours of volunteer work by a number of folks including CFPD and Green Valley Fire Safe Council (GVFSC) volunteers. The core team was:
Bill Peters (community volunteer and retired horticulturist) Chief Dave Carpenter (CFPD) Dennis Wells (GVFSC) Donald Morgan (GVFSC) Glen Langstaff (CFPD) Lisa Earle (GVFSC)
I wish to thank my colleagues for the selfless donation of time to support this effort for the greater good of our community.
This is not a one time effort, but something at which we will continue to work and to improve each year. Collectively we are seeking to make our community more fire hardened to provide our firefighters a chance at slowing fires down, saving more homes, and most importantly saving lives. Until you have inspected the sites of some of California’s worst fires in the last few years, it is impossible to overstate the importance of the above. The level of devastation and sorrow is hard to put into words.
If anyone has questions about how you can fire harden your home and/or property, or would like to request an inspection, please reach out to me or to the CFPD and we will be happy to assist. As larger fires happen in our general area, the CFPD will recommence its efforts to keep you informed through Nextdoor as in previous years. We understand the stress and anxiety you feel as fires occur, especially if evacuated. As such we will use our resources to keep you informed with the most accurate information possible from our State and County resources.
Cordelia Fire District crews responded to an incident in Rockville Park on March 30 for a bicyclist down on the unknown trail off the outer loop. Several members of the Cordelia Fire agency were assisting with clearing debris at the park when the call came in. The off-duty Cordelia firefighters worked with the park ranger and quickly found the patient who was experiencing numbness and tingling from the neck down. The crew stabilized the patient on scene until additional resources from several cooperating agencies arrived. Additional Cordelia Fire District personnel arrived with medic ambulance and CHP airlifted the patient out of the problem area to an accessible area to enable transfer to ground ambulance and transport to area hospital.
It’s been conveyed the individual will make a full recovery. Many thanks to all who supported the effort and responded to this incident. Cooperating agencies included Rockville Park ranger, CHP, Medic Ambulance, Fairfield Fire, Solano Sheriff, City of Fairfield public works.
During a recent fire hazard inspection a homeowner asked if they can clear vegetation and plants growing on either side of a stream that passes through their property. They were concerned with rumors that the County would fine people who did this. So they asked for our help in getting to the truth. This post summaries what we learned.
Overgrown creek beds can create fire and flood hazards. Property owners are encouraged to clear vegetation from creeks that flow through their property.
Speaking with the good folks at the Solano County of Public Works, they explained their role in keeping waterways and streams clear. Public Works takes responsibility for areas near or under bridges and roads. However, if a stream passes through your property, the County will not clear overgrown vegetation or flammable growth. Because it is on private property the County hopes and expects that the property owner will take care of this. This includes removing bushes, grasses, trees and such from either side of the stream, assuming both sides are on your property. There are no restrictions from doing so and no fines will be made because you are taking care of your property.
Above are a couple of pictures of a typical stream in GV overgrown with berry bushes, weeds, and other vegetation that become a fire hazard when they dry out. Yes, there actually is a stream under all that growth! In this case, the property owner will be clearing out his section of the stream and hauling the overgrowth away. Hopefully his good neighbors will join in the effort. Thank you neighbor!
There is a caveat to this. When you remove vegetation, you cannot toss it into the stream. You need to take this material away. This makes sense because if you toss it into the stream, you are only going to clog up the works downstream. Apparently the County sees this from time to time, especially after heavy rains like late last year. Also, you cannot toss in at any time materials such as chemicals, fertilizers and other nasty things into the stream as these will make their way into other bodies of water, killing fish, damaging native plants and causing a variety of issues. So there you have it. If you have a stream passing through your property, please proceed with responsibly clearing it, removing everything away from the water. You’ll receive the added benefit of reducing flooding by removing vegetation which could prevent the stream from flowing freely.
Hopefully this will be helpful to the surprising number of property owners in the District with streams flowing through their property.
The Cordelia Fire Protection District (CFPD), in collaboration with the Green Valley Fire Safe Council, has started conducting LE-100 property fire hazard inspections in the Upper Green Valley area.
Inspections will start occurring weekly to allow us to work through as many properties as possible early enough to allow for improvements before the fire season starts in summer. Other areas will be visited as we move through winter and spring. We are doing this to help each resident and property owner improve the defensible space around homes before fire season. Please keep in mind that fire season is starting earlier than in years past. Our goal is to give homeowners time to make corrections to help fire harden homes and property.
A number of benefits come from this community-based activity:
Greater resistance to fire passing through your property and damaging / destroying your home.
Improved chances of controlling the spread of a structure fire from one property to another.
Contributing to the overall fire hardening of our neighborhoods, neighbors helping neighbors.
Potential home insurance benefits.
Piece of mind in knowing you have improved the level of protection on your property as this year’s fire season approaches.
If you live within the Cordelia Fire Protection District, trained inspectors may visit your property. They will request permission to inspect and provide recommendations for improvements.
Live, online records will be accessible to both the CFPD and CAL FIRE for improved fire fighting capabilities. Photos may be taken to document the level of fuel load and to support written recommendations for improvement. If you are visited, the Fire District respectfully requests and hopes you will allow the inspector(s) to walk around your home. Most inspections will take about 30 minutes, more for larger properties. You do not need to accompany the inspector(s), but you will be welcome to do so as this will permit live observations and suggestions. Some of the inspectors will be carrying ID cards or badges to confirm their identity and will generally work in groups to speed the process.
Working together, we can make our neighborhood a safer place for you and your neighbors. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Fire District at 707-864-0468 or email firechief@yahoo.com.
Last weekend we started inspections for property owners in our District, completing about 25 in the Green Valley Highlands with an initial focus on Glencannon and Brae Ct. We were joined by a 3-person engine company from CAL FIRE to assist with the inspections. Thank you CAL FIRE!
The vast majority of homeowners were very happy to receive this service and were very receptive to our team’s recommendations to make their properties more fire hardened. We were all impressed with the excellent work many residents are doing to fire harden their home and property. A lot of District and CAL FIRE educational material was handed out including lists of companies that have been recommended to the District by other Green Valley residents for doing good tree work and property clearing. Great work neighbors!!
Some residents we met expressed interest in joining this effort of neighbors helping neighbors to make their properties more fire resistant. All in all, a very positive experience.
We will be continuing inspections on Saturday, January 22 from 10am to 2pm, also in the Highlands, one of the areas of greatest need. We hope to post signage this week as to the areas that will be inspected and hope to continue this signage each week inspections are scheduled. We know not everyone reads notices on social media, so we are trying to reach as many residents as possible regarding this service.
If you do not want the Green Valley Fire Safe Council volunteers to inspect your property, please let us know so we can refer your inspection directly to the District Fire Chief for personal follow up. If you’d like to join us as we conduct an inspection and would like to schedule an approximate time to fit your schedule, please let us know that as well and we’ll work to accommodate your needs. Contact the District at (707) 864-0468 or email firechief3100@yahoo.com
We greatly appreciate the acceptance of this service by our neighbors and the understanding that if one house burns, many houses burn. Working together to fire harden property in our area benefits all.
Cordelia Fire Protection District Chief Dave Carpenter (left) and the Green Valley Fire Safe Council Ambassadors prepare to conduct Fire Hazard Inspections
Volunteer Ambassadors learned to identify fire hazards during a recent training conducted by Cordelia Fire District Chief Dave Carpenter and Green Valley Fire Safety Council President Rochelle Sherlock (right)
Last Saturday a group of volunteer Ambassadors participated in continued training to conduct LE-100 Fire Hazard Inspections in the Cordelia Fire Protection District.
Home hardening is the number one defense we have against a major fire in our area. Preparing your home to resist flying embers and encroaching fire can produce a greater benefit than more fire fighters and engines. Whereas more fire fighters and engines are incredibly helpful, the best line of defense is taking responsibility for our properties and hardening them to help fire fighters defend our homes. Also, because fire fighting resources are limited, in the event of a major fire in the area there may not be enough fire fighters and equipment to protect everyone’s homes. As such, home hardening may be your ONLY line of defense.
The Fire District will start inspections in December when our area is not so dry, when the risk of clearing brush and grass and performing tree work is diminished. The Ambassadors will be conducting inspections on behalf of the Cordelia Fire Protection District and will pass on all inspection results to the District.
In addition to the inspections, they can also provide recommendations to help you harden your home beyond that required by code. If issues are found during an inspection, Ambassadors will work with you to provide sufficient time to address them. It is expected (and required by code) that any issues found will be corrected for the benefit of your property and that of your neighbors.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Cordelia Fire Protection District and we’ll do our best assist you.
Cordelia Fire District is participating in a prescribed training burn with the Vacaville Fire Department and other Bay Area and Solano County agencies. The prescribed burn training was scheduled for Wednesday, June 9, in the hills behind the California Medical Facility (CMF) and on Thursday, June 10, on Callen Hill between Callen Street and Allison Drive.
Some of our resident volunteer firefighters completed training on the methods of backfiring. Backfiring is a tactic where firefighters intentionally set a fire along a fireline’s inner edge, in order to consume fuel in the path of a wildfire or to change the direction it is traveling. Going forward this could be one of the most effective tools we have in fighting a fast-moving fire when resources are scarce. Because resources are scarce this year, this training is critical.
“The purpose for both days will be to educate Solano and Bay Area fire service professionals on firing operations in a controlled dynamic fire environment to satisfy the training requirements,” officials wrote in a news release. “The skills practiced during this training provides the attendees with real world experience in applying tools and techniques to successfully engage in firing operations during wildfire events.”
Cordelia Fire District resident firefighters joined Vacaville Fire and other agencies for a prescribed burn training.
Red Flag Warning. Due to the Red Flag Warning in place into Tuesday, the CFPD will be staffing both stations 29 and 31 tonight. We would like to do this every night, but do not have the staffing and funding to do so. We will work to staff whenever possible during these high fire warnings.
If you would like to see full time staffing at both stations all the time, please reach out to the Solano County Supervisors and encourage them to provide a regular, on-going funding source to support the unincorporated districts year round for a higher level of service. The CFPD is currently operating without a paid Chief and minimal paid staff who support and train the resident volunteer fire fighters. More staff = more volunteers in place = greater station support.
The Green Valley Fire Safety Council (GVFSC) team recently completed the construction of their new bulletin board at the corner of Green Valley Rd and Rockville Rd. The first posting is the certificate that acknowledges GVFSC was established as a nationally recognized participating site in this program. Going forward there will be numerous postings to provide you information about home hardening, fire prevention, chipping programs, etc. This is not a general neighborhood bulletin board, but one dedicated to fire prevention and survival. It is meant to supplement their website, mailings and meetings to disseminate information to the Green Valley community. For more information, please visit their site at GVFSC.org.
The Cordelia Fire Protection District strongly supports and participates in their efforts to make Green Valley a safer place to live and enjoy.
