PREPARING FOR WILDFIRE AT THE SANTA LUCIA PRESERVE

A Fire Risk Reduction Community

FIREWISE COMMUNITY SINCE 2021

Emily Aiken participating in a prescribed burn — Emily Aiken: Fire and Fuels Management Specialist, Santa Lucia Preserve - National Fire Protection Association Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist

[AUDIO SUBTITLES] Hi! My name is Emily Aiken. I am the Fire and Fuels Management Specialist at the Santa Lucia Preserve and it is my pleasure to be your guide around this amazing central coast community. The Santa Lucia Preserve was conceived and painstakingly planned, for living within and preserving the rugged, natural landscape of this beautiful section of California. This multi-media presentation is designed to describe aspects of The Preserve that demonstrate forethought, preparation, mitigation and response to natural disasters, especially wildfire. My work focuses on preparing properties for wildfire, coordinating efforts to prevent fire from getting into our community and planning emergency response with first responders.

As part of this presentation I will share community-wide actions, property owner actions and describe the proactive work being done with first responders. You may have noticed I am standing in a burn scar. Recently, The Preserve, in cooperation with the Santa Lucia Conservancy as well as local and state agencies conducted a controlled burn as part of the community’s proactive measures to reduce fuels. More on that later!

SANTA LUCIA PRESERVE

20,000- acre community; 18,000 acres of permanently protected nature
297 homesites ranging from just over an acre to 300 acres
Conceived and planned to live in harmony with natural resources

Of the Santa Lucia Preserve's 20,000 acres, the Santa Lucia Conservancy owns and/or manages 18,000 acres
In the remaining 2,000 acres, the homeowners and clubs work cooperatively with the Conservancy to:
- Retain the natural ecology of the land
- Mitigate against wildfire risk

WILDFIRE HISTORY

Climate, terrain and fuels cause the area to be considered High Hazard for wildfire
Historical wildfire records date back to 1878, suggesting wildfire is an integral part of the natural cycle of the land

View of 2016 Soberanes Fire from the Preserve

The 2016 Soberanes Fire was one of the most destructive wildfires in California History, approaching the Preserve boundary uninhibited from the southwest
Up to 5,000 fire personnel were staged on property to stop the fire's progress
Teams leveraged several strategic community advantages including flat accessible safety zones, high flow water resources, and well-maintained fuel breaks for strategic backfire operations
The Preserve's design and preparation kept the fire from destroying any community homes

FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS

The entire Preserve is within the Monterey County Regional Fire District (MCRFD) and is a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) community, where homes are intermingled with wildland. WUI communities are required to follow WUI codes that promote safer development by ensuring that life and property are uniformly protected from wildfire risk.

MCRFD enforces WUI codes and primarily protects life and property by providing our onsite Firefighter/Paramedic, conducting and enforcing annual defensible space inspections and working with individual homeowners on becoming more fire resilient.

STATE RESPONSIBILITY AREA

The Preserve is also entirely located within the State Responsibility Area (SRA). The SRA is the area in the state where the State of California has the primary financial responsibility for the prevention and suppression of wildland fires. Therefore, both local and state resources (MCRFD and Cal Fire, respectively) work together as a robust initial attack to keep all vegetation fires small.

Cal Fire also supports and engages in wildfire preplanning and fuel mitigation projects throughout the State, including the Preserve.

COMMUNITY ACTIONS

Emily Aiken alongside our local CAL FIRE partners during a prescribed burn — Emily alongside our local CAL FIRE partners during a prescribed burn

[AUDIO SUBTITLES] The Preserve was planned and operates with the understanding that its location is subject to increased wildfire risk. In 2021, the Preserve was awarded Firewise Community status for its work preparing for fire and educating its community, but wildfire preparedness and mitigation has always been a top priority.

The Santa Lucia Preserve was accepted on the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's Fire Risk Reduction Community List (#28), where communities meet best practices for local fire planning. Similar to Firewise, the FRRCL is an action item of the Department of Insurers Safer From Wildfires program.

BUILDING A FIRE-RESILIENT COMMUNITY

Roads were planned to serve as potential fire breaks
Homesites were placed to minimize potential property damage from flood and fire
Homes must have and maintain safe ingress/egress and include access to fire vehicles

Pictured here: Multiple fire agencies gather around with Preserve and Conservancy staff to preplan for wildfire at the Preserve.

WATER SYSTEM

Community water system was designed with 'excess' water pressure for fire suppression
- Fire flow is provided at a minimum of 500 GPM (gallons per minute)
Water system is bolstered by 4 million gallons of storage supplied by 72 onsite wells
Homesites all include their own fire hydrant
All structures larger than 500 square feet and designed for home occupancy have residential fire sprinkler systems conforming to NFPA 13-D and are equipped with an automatic fire alarm system connected to a 24-hour monitoring service

Pictured here: one of four 1-million gallon tanks onsite.

UNDERGROUND UTILITIES

All Preserve utilities are underground, including fiber and electrical

Pictured here: installing fiber underground at the Preserve

ROADSIDE SHADED FUEL BREAKS

Hiking trails were planned and are maintained to serve as fire breaks
Active roadside fuel management is conducted annually before fire season
The Preserve and Conservancy were awarded two CAL FIRE grants for fuel reduction/fire breaks

Here in this map, bright green areas represent ongoing fuel reduction work along the major ingress/egress routes of the Preserve and the White Rock Ridge, our first major line of defense against wildfires from the south.

RESTORING HISTORICAL FUEL BREAKS

The 2016 Soberanes Fire burned right up to our door step (black polygon)
Lessons-learned inspired major changes to better prepare for wildfire
A second 1.2 million dollar CAL FIRE grant was awarded to refresh containment lines constructed during the 2016 Soberanes Fire (thick yellow lines)
Containment lines slow ground fire and establish an area to stop an advancing fire

MULTI-AGENCY COOPERATION

A permanent full-time Fire and Fuels Management Specialist position was created at the Preserve. Job duties include:
- Serve as fire liaison and establish/maintain relationships and communication protocols with fire agencies for emergency preparedness
- Support the planning, development and implementation of the Fire Safety Program, preplanning strategies, on-site prescribed burns, fuel management standards, community engagement/education and emergency operations plans
- Conduct annual homesite defensible space inspections in cooperation with fire officials
- Establish and maintain both Firewise USA Community AND Fire Risk Reduction Community status

Pictured here: Emily Aiken, the Preserve's Fire and Fuels Management Specialist, is standing and speaking to the fuel mitigation planning group.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Centralized fire station with type 3 and type 6 engines
A Paramedic/Firefighter staffed 24/7
ISO rating of 3
The Preserve is used as training grounds for our partnering fire agencies, increasing area familiarization
Support and training provided to our staff by Monterey County Regional Fire District

Pictured here: Emily Aiken standing in front of the centrally-located Preserve Fire Station with the Fire Marshal (on right) and Preserve Firefighter/Paramedic (on left).

INHOUSE EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPABILITIES

Five Preserve employees reside on property and serve as First Responders for fire and medical emergencies
Six EMT-certified employees
Security response 24/7
Two Security Patrol Officer/EMTs on property (on-call 24/7)
Seventeen-member Santa Lucia Preserve Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Santa Lucia Preserve CERT team: 2022 cohort

Pictured in the background: Emily Aiken with her Preserve coworkers conducting a live fire training hosted by Monterey County Regional Fire District as part of an advanced firing/suppression class.

INHOUSE FIRE SUPPRESSION CAPABILITIES

Seven Preserve staff are certified as Wildland Firefighters through the National Wildfire Coordinating Group
One John Deere 700 XLT Dozer (owned and operated by the Preserve)
One water tender (1600-gallon capacity)
We equip our first responder and operations staff with Enforcer hydro packs (illustrated here in background video)
- Hydro Pack: a 3-gallon tank that spits 60 gallons of foam
And ten Enforcer truck mounts installed on all security vehicles and select staff vehicles
- Truck Mounts: a 10-gallon tank with a hose that shoots 200 gallons of foam (pictured below)

Enforcer 10 — Enforcer truck mount in a Preserve truck.

Pictured in this background video: Emily Aiken conducting live fire training with her Enforcer Hydro Pack during a Monterey County Regional Fire District CA-219 Firing Class.

PRESCRIBED BURNING

Proactive fuel management, including prescribed burns to reduce vegetative fuels
Prescribed burn participation by CAL FIRE and Monterey County Regional Fire District along with local Fire Brigades, the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association and Santa Lucia Conservancy

Pictured here: a time-lapse video of prescribed burn participants creating blackline around the targeted burn unit at the Preserve.

A total of 44 acres successfully burned in Nov. 2023

Fuel reduction, improving ecological health and building camaraderie with our cooperating partners are among the many benefits to prescribed burning

(video illustrates firing operations during a prescribed burn at the Preserve)

Increasing Situational Awareness

The Preserve has two sets of ALERT California cameras (Hall's Ridge and Peñon Peak) to monitor fire activity and confirm smoke checks. Click around to check out ours!
A custom interactive Preserve map (link below) contains authoritative live data to monitor fires in the area. In addition, turn on and off different layers to view fire districts, live rain forecasts, smoke, wildfire historical burn scars and more!

Interactive Preserve Wildfire Map

Here is a clip from one of our wildfire cameras capturing the entire duration of a prescribed burn at the Preserve in Nov. 2023.

Oak woodland after a low-intensity prescribed burn at the Preserve around the burn unit perimeter, where ladder fuels and leaf litter have burned, reducing wildfire risk.

Thermal Imagery from a CAL FIRE drone of a prescribed burn at SLP — CAL FIRE used a thermal camera drone to monitor for hotspots throughout prescribed burning operations. Here you can see heat signatures (the brighter the hotter) otherwise hidden by tree canopy.

A heard of 120 cattle graze a 2,800-acre footprint throughout the Preserve year-round, eating just over a million pounds of forage each year; a conservation grazing program lead by the Santa Lucia Conservancy.

HOMEOWNER ACTIONS

[AUDIO SUBTITLES] Our homeowners play an important role in fire preparedness and mitigation. Every homesite has a fuel management plan which is customized based for specific vegetation and homeowners are responsible for implementing the latest home hardening techniques to reduce wildfire vulnerability.

HOMEOWNER RESPONSIBILITIES

Preserve-wide Fuel Management Standards were established in 2004 with specific guidelines for treating each vegetative habitat type to preserve the natural beauty of the landscape
Lot-specific fuel management plans (FMPs) combine these Standards with optimal defensible space regulations that go above and beyond the State minimum requirements and are customized for the outside perimeter of each home
FMPs are required and annually enforced

Defensible space distance required for each habitat type

All new homes are also required to adhere to the California Building Code, Chapter 7A
In the event that homeowner responsibility is neglected, protocols are in place to allow the local fire agency to perform abatement and bill homeowners afterwards

NON-COMBUSTIBLE ZONE

The most critical of all the zones
Incorporated since 2004
Liberal use of hardscaping recommended
Wood mulch and dead leafy debris not allowed on ground or roof and gutters

LANDSCAPING ZONE

Landscaping zone includes only native plants and requires active maintenance
Dead branches removed, no structure overhang and ladder fuels removed

DRIVEWAY ZONE

Driveways are maintained to clear vegetation and ensure safe passage for fire suppression

GRASSLAND ZONE

Grass is mowed below 4 inches in height at least once per year

OAK SAVANA ZONE

Grass is mowed and ladder fuels reduced beneath tree canopies
Branches limbed up to 8 feet high

OAK WOODLAND ZONE

Limbs are pruned up to at least 8 feet off the ground
Leaf piles do not exceed 4 inches
All dead, dying and diseased branches removed

OAK-SHRUB WOODLAND ZONE

Ladder fuels are typically more prevalent in unmanaged oak woodlands (as shown in the background of this photo)
The goal of this zone is to convert to an oak woodland zone (as illustrated in the foreground of this photo)
Reduce ladder fuels within this zone
Prune tree limbs that are smaller than 3 inches in diameter to a height of 8 feet off the ground

CHAPARRAL ZONE

Well-spaced shrubs that are short in stature

COASTAL SCRUB ZONE

Similar to Chaparral Zone

ONGOING AWARENESS, PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Emily standing beside her coworkers before a morning briefing for a prescribed burn at the Preserve.

[AUDIO SUBTITLES] Few communities incorporate wildfire risk in their initial planning, often leading to tragic consequences. Even fewer communities commit the resources and attention to protecting their properties and collaborate with their members to mitigate the risk of structure loss like the Preserve. I hope you have seen how the initial planning of the Preserve combined with the ongoing efforts of community members and staff materially reduce the risk of a wildfire entering our community, the risk of structure ignition if a wildfire were to start in the community, and facilitate the rapid and coordinated suppression of threats. If you have any questions, my contact information is shown below. Thank you.

SUMMARY POINTS

The Preserve was planned with wildfire risk in mind
Initial infrastructure investments reduce risk of spread and enhance suppression capabilities
Community wide efforts include fuel management, fire breaks, training and monitoring
Homeowners have fuel management plans and are monitored for compliance
Structures are hardened to all latest vulnerability research

CONTACT

Emily Aiken, Preserve Fire & Fuels Management Specialist

EAIKEN@SANTALUCIAPRESERVE.COM