PSC Backup - Item #3 Wildfire Readiness Update — original pdf

Backup

Public Safety Commision Wildfire Readiness Update Andre DeLaReza- Assistant Chief Justice Jones – Wildfire Mitigation Officer Austin Fire Department - Wildfire Division October 5th, 2020 1 6-month Wildfire Readiness Update RESOLUTION NO. 20160512-016 BE IT RESOLVED: “Direct the City Manager to provide a progress report every six months to the Public Safety Commission for the following important components of a comprehensive WUI risk reduction plan” http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=272997 2 • Number of local Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP's) completed and implemented in high risk wildfire urban interface areas. • Number of Local CWPP's started in high risk wildfire urban interface areas but not completed. Show percent of progress toward completion for each major plan component. • Percent of high-risk wildfire urban interface areas in which identification of potential local CWPP planning areas is still ongoing. • Number of public presentations and home assessments provided. • For high risk wildfire urban interface areas, provide the number of fuel mitigation activities, location of activities (identify local CWPP where applicable), type of fuel mitigation activities (mechanical or prescribed fire) and size of areas mitigated. • Number of wildfire training contact hours by City Employees including AFD firefighters and number of employees receiving training. Break down by classroom hours, hands-on training hours conducted. Fire Adapted Communities FY 2020 (Oct 1st, 2019 – Oct 1st, 2020) • Home Ignition Zone Evaluations • Training for fuels Crew • Individual HIZ evals average out to about 1/week so conservative estimate is 12 • Finalize HIZ eval training video with PIO • Community HIZ trainings *if safe from a COVID perspective 3 Number of Local CWPP’s started in high risk wildland urban interface areas but not completed: FY 2020 (Oct 1st, 2019 – Oct 1st, 2020) • 80% of High Wildfire Risk Areas Currently Engaged • 19 Actively Engaged Communities • Targeted outreach in High Risk areas & vulnerable communities • Currently developing online portal to host, maintain and share local CWPP documents and associated metrics 4 High Risk Areas in RED Percent of high risk wildland urban interface areas in which identification of potential of local CWPP planning areas is still ongoing: FY 2020 (Oct 1st, 2019 – Oct 1st, 2020) • 37% High Wildfire Risk Communities with Ongoing Engagement • 20% High Wildfire Risk Community Opportunities for Future Engagement • 43% High Wildfire Risk Communities Covered by CWPP 5 High Risk Areas in RED The number of public presentations and home assessments that have been provided: FY 2020 (Oct 1st, 2019 – Oct 1st, 2020) • 57 Outreach Activities (23 past 6-months) • 30 Home Assessments conducted (14 past 6-months) Activities by Month and Type Visit our Activities Dashboard for Daily Updates: https://arcg.is/z41ay 176 Total Activities 86 The number of fuel mitigation activities and the size of areas mitigated: FY 2020 (Oct 1st, 2019 – Oct 1st, 2020) • 234 Acres Treated with Prescribed Fire • 10,911 feet (2.0 miles) of WUI boundary treated with Mechanical thinning (Shaded Fuel Breaks) • 67 Homes protected ($34,746,663 value) • 170 COA properties evaluated as potential project sites in past 6 months due to Covid precautions 7 Wildfire Fuels Crew Visit our Project Dashboard for Daily Updates: https://arcg.is/G5zqK The number of wildfire training contact hours by City Employees. FY 2020 (Oct 1st, 2019 – Oct 1st, 2020) Over 20,000 Training Hours Provided (18,018 Training Hours in the past 6-months) • 11,970 Hours –Responding to the Wildland Urban Interface assignments • 6,048 Hours- Wildfire deployment training • 60 Hours – Prescribed Fire Training • 2,800 Hours - Wildfire classroom training provided to cadets. (70 Cadets) • Three deployments to Texas fires • Two Current Deployments to California Fires 8 Wildfire Evacuation and response pre-planning: • Developed City/County Wildfire Evacuation plan • Identified limited access communities • Identifying evacuation routes and community refuge areas. • Building community specific evacuation plans and response pre- plans 9 Draft Evacuation Flier WUI Code Update Adopted by Council April 9, 2020 • Implementation set for January 1, 2021 • City Manager to report on vegetation management, fuels mitigation, and community refuges • Outreach and education initiated • Fire Protection Criteria Manual New Rules for WUI Code • FY 20/21 budget for additional staff http://www.austintexas.gov/department/wildland-urban-interface-code 10 Areas covered by the WUI Code are: Developed or developable properties within 150 feet of a 40 acre or larger wildland area and/or within 1.5 miles of a 750 acre or larger wildland area. Our new Information Portal – Coming Soon Austin – Travis County Wildfire Hub Coming Soon For more information about our strategic plan visit: https://data.austintexas.gov/afdstrategicplan Our solution for increasing our ability to provide local resources, wildfire mitigation strategies and in-depth information in era of online outreach. Questions/Comments Andre DeLaReza- Assistant Chief Justice Jones – Fire Mitigation Officer Austin Fire Department - Wildfire Division ATXWildfire.com October 5th, 2020