CC SR 20200818 J - Wildfire Mitigation Letter
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 08/18/2020
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to authorize sending a letter to residents to “harden”
their homes from a potential wildfire.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Authorize sending a letter, on behalf of the City Council, to residents expressing
the City’s commitment to risk reduction, and measures residents can take to
“harden” their home from a potential wildfire.
FISCAL IMPACT: The cost for printing, envelopes and postage to mail out the letter
with attachments to 14,100 households is estimated to be $5,452 which is funded in the
FY 2020-21 budget.
Amount Budgeted: $18,500
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): 101-400-1430-5101 (General Fund – Emergency Preparedness, Professional/Technical service)
ORIGINATED BY: Jesse Villalpando, Emergency Services Coordinator
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Draft letter to residents with attachments (page A-1)
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
On May 5, 2020, Chair Feinberg presented the Emergency Preparedness Committee’s
(EPC) wildfire mitigation presentation to the City Council. The presentation summarized
below, encompassed the following:
Financial consequences of wildfire risk to residents
Steps to take to mitigate wildfire risks
Programs for minimizing wildfire risk
Hardening against wildfire impacts
Overhead utilities
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That evening, the City Council expressed its appreciation and agreement with the
recommendations presented by the EPC. The City Council also agreed to implement
recommendations made by the EPC, as well as the following goals:
1. Drafting a letter to residents expressing the City’s commitment to risk reduction,
and measures residents can take to safeguard or “harden” their home from a
wildfire.
2. Implementing EPC-recommended action items to mitigate wildfire risk in RPV,
including: enhanced emergency communication; emergency evacuation
plan/Peninsula-wide and school district emergency preparedness plan; wildfire
hardening; public safety power shutoff response; and Cal Fire risk assessment
and insurance rates.
3. Outreach/dialogue with insurance companies on what can be done to change the
City of Rancho Palos Verdes’ classification as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity
Zone.
4. Outreach to the Los Angeles County Fire Department to ensure we are
leveraging all skills and expertise in identifying areas throughout the City at high
risk for a wildfire.
5. Establishing a wildfire rebuilding permit and streamlining process.
6. Providing the City Council with quarterly updates on progress.
On May 21, the EPC discussed the EPC’s wildfire mitigation presentation to the City
Council and provided Staff with specific recommendations to include in a letter to
residents with steps they can take to reduce fire risk and “harden” their homes from
wildfire. On July 16, the EPC reviewed a draft letter and provided direction to Staff to
incorporate suggested changes. A copy of a final draft letter (with attachments) to
14,100 households is included in this report as Attachment A.
On August 4, the City Council received and filed a quarterly update on the EPC’s
recommended wildfire mitigation action items which included the draft letter to residents
from the City Council. Staff recommends the City Council authorize sending the letter,
as drafted or with further revisions, to residents.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available
for the City Council’s consideration:
1. Do not authorize sending the letter to residents.
2. Take other action as deemed appropriate by the City Council.
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August 28, 2020
RE: Protecting Your Home from Wildfires - Wildfire Home Hardening Tips
Dear Resident,
As we have all seen, the past few years have resulted in extreme wildfire
devastation across California communities resulting in overwhelming
impacts to families, homes, and livelihoods. We know that the City of
Rancho Palos Verdes is not immune to wildfires. In fact, RPV is the most
populated city with 90% or more of residents living in a Cal Fire-designated
Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Being in the highest risk zone can have
financial consequences for RPV residents, including insurance companies
raising rates or refusing renewals, despite no prior claims. The financial and
emotional toll wildfires bring is something we hope no RPV resident has to
experience; therefore, to be successful in mitigating fire risk, individual
homeowners, homeowner associations and the City must work together.
The steps defined in the following pages are recommended by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and
Cal Fire and include simple, DIY, low-expense tips for hardening your home from a wildfire and creating a
defensible space around your residence through vegetation management.
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is dedicated to the safety and well-being of its residents and community
members. Your City staff is working with local utility companies to reduce the risk of utility-started fires and
has taken additional steps to protect our neighborhoods from wildfire s including implementing year round
brush clearance by using discing, hand trimming, and goat grazing services. The City is also communicating
with California's Insurance Commissioner and local insurance underwriters to understand how we can avoid
premium hikes and reduced insurance availability, and supporting state bills, grants, and tax incentives for
residents and neighborhoods interested in fire hardening homes.
The most successful approach for mitigating rapidly-spreading wildfire is for neighbors to join together to fire
harden their residences. Fire season is now year‐round and the time is now to implement these simple steps.
City staff, along with our Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC), is available to answer questions and
provide information resources. Please subscribe to RPV Emergency Alerts by texting AlertSB to 888777 to
ensure that you are informed of emergencies affecting our community. Inquiries should be directed to
Jesse Villalpando, Emergency Services Coordinator at Jvillalpando@rpvca.gov or (310) 544-5209.
Please join our efforts in making RPV a wildfire safe community.
Sincerely,
John Cruikshank Eric Alegria David L. Bradley Ken Dyda Barbara Ferraro
Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember
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Low Cost Retrofit List
10 Low Cost Ways to Harden Your Home
1. When it is time to replace your roof, replace it with fire-resistant Class A roof
material.
2. Block any spaces between your roof covering and sheathing (bird stops).
3. Install non-combustible corrosion resistant metal gutter covers on gutters
to prevent the accumulation of leaves and debris in the gutter.
4. Cover your chimney and stovepipe outlets with noncombustible corrosion
corrosion-resistant metal mesh screen (spark arrestor), with 3/8-inch to
1/2-inch openings.**
5. Cover all vent openings with 1/16-inch to 1/8-inch noncombustible corrosion
resistant metal mesh screens.**
6. Caulk and plug gaps greater than 1/16-inch around exposed rafters and blocking
to prevent ember intrusion.
7. Inspect exterior siding for dry rot, gaps, cracks and warping. Caulk or plug gaps
greater than 1/16-inch in siding and replace any damaged boards, including
those with dry rot.
8. Install weather stripping to gaps greater than 1/16-inch in garage doors to
prevent ember intrusion. The stripping must be compliant with UL Standard 10C.
9. When it’s time to replace your windows, replace them with multi-paned windows
with at least one pane of tempered glass.
10. When it’s time to replace your siding or deck, use compliant noncombustible,
ignition-resistant, or other materials approved by the Office of the State Fire
Marshal (OSFM).
5 No Cost Ways to Create Defensible Space and Enhance
the Effects of a Hardened Home
1. Regularly clean your roof, gutters, decks, and the base of walls regularly to
avoid the accumulation of fallen leaves, needles and other flammable
materials (see Defensible Space for more details).
2. Ensure all combustible materials are removed from underneath, on top of, or
within five feet of a deck.
3. Remove vegetation or other combustible materials that are within five feet of
windows and glass doors.
4. Replace wood mulch products within five feet of all structures with
noncombustible products such as dirt, stone, or gravel.
5. Remove all dead or dying grass, plants, shrubs, trees, branches, leaves, weeds,
and pine needles within 30 feet of all structures or to the property line.
*This list was developed as a best practices guide and to assist homeowners to ensure their home is
more ignition-resistant from wildfires. Low cost can be subjective. Some of these items are based on
upgrading to more stringent materials when that feature is up for replacement due to normal maintenance
or lifespan, i.e. roofs.
** Do not use fiberglass or plastic mesh as they can melt or burn.
Updated 1/31/2020
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BRUSH CLEARANCE GUIDANCE/REQUIREMENTS
The following guidance for brush clearance is applicable for all homeowners and is based on
requirements established by the Los Angeles County Fire Department for property adjacent to
brush covered areas:
1. Remove all flammable vegetation or combustible growth, or mow to stubble height of 3
inches, for 30 feet around any structure or 50 feet in high hazard areas. Flammable
vegetation include Acacia, Cedar, Cypress, Eucalyptus, Juniper, Pine and Pampas Grass.
Exception: Trees that are individually planted and spaced/maintained in a manner that
they do not form a means of transmitting fire to the structure.
2. Create a firebreak for 100 feet around any structure (or up to property line if less than
100 feet) by clearing, cutting back, thinning out, and removing flammable and dead
vegetation. For high hazard areas, this distance is 200 feet.
3. All trees and shrubs shall be maintained free of deadwood and litter. Shrubs shall be
trimmed up from the ground 1/3 of their height. Trees shall be trimmed up to a minimum
of 6 feet or 1/3 their height up to 40 feet.
4. Remove that portion of any tree that extends within 10 feet of the outlet of a chimney.
5. Provide a minimum of 3 feet clearance around all fire hydrants.
Please note, all plants will burn under extreme fire weather conditions. Fire-resistant plants burn
at a relatively low intensity when maintained. To best protect your home from fire, it is
recommended that fire-resistant plants are used when landscaping. For additional information,
review the County of Los Angeles Fire Department’s Ready! Set! Go! Program by visiting
www.fire.lacounty.gov/rsg/
REMEMBER: VERY HIGH AND HIGH FIRE HAZARD AREAS REQUIRE 200 FEET OF CLEARANCE
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