Posts Tagged ‘health’

On the heels of former Mayor John McCauley and a number of figures within Mill Valley and beyond concerned about fire danger as city and county officials seeks to build more housing, word came this week about new Bay Area fire-hazard maps, with the obvious question being: Is your city among those seeing striking increases? Cal Fire’s Fire Hazard Severity maps for local jurisdictions, issued in 2011, are being updated, with Bay Area maps released Monday. While the old maps showed only areas deemed “very high” hazard, the new ones show that category, with “high” and “moderate” below it. Homeowners who live in areas now deemed at very high hazard on the maps will have to comply with “Zone 0” regulations expected to take effect at the start of next year that include a mandated five-foot zone around every house free of flammable materials vulnerable to flying embers.

1500 cars of the 3300 cars with occupants in the combined neighborhoods of Cascade, Summit and Warner Canyon are not expected to reach a safer area within two hours. These neighborhoods represent only 20% of the total population, but 42% of the remaining cars that are at higher risk. These neighborhoods have greater density of cars, challenging road conditions, and are farther up in the canyons, in high fire hazard severity zones. While existing conditions are difficult to change, common sense would suggest that these three areas are the LAST place to expand housing, making things worse.

The voter-approved formation of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority has advanced long-needed work to create and maintain so-called “fuel breaks” in hopes of giving fire crews a fighting chance to save neighborhoods. Crews have been working to create large fuel breaks in Ross Valley and Novato. Reducing vegetation along evacuation routes has been another priority.