By Richard Halstead
The Marin Independent Journal (California)

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — Marin County residents are not clearing enough space around their homes to protect against wildfire, and most local fire agencies are not doing enough to motivate them, according to a new Marin civil grand jury report.

"Marin residents are exposed to unnecessary fire risk due to widespread lack of compliance with, and enforcement of, residential vegetation management codes," the grand jury concludes in its report. It said the county needs "more resources and political will É to achieve significant progress."

It found that most vegetation management inspections are cursory, and some jurisdictions — "Novato in particular" — perform almost no inspections except those resulting from complaints and owner requests.

"Novato's approach is strictly educational, versus the government coming down and saying, 'Hey, we're going to make you do it,'" said Novato Fire Protection District board member Brad Beedle.

Marin County Fire Chief Ken Massucco said his department doesn't fine home owners who fail to meet county requirements for vegetation management.

"Although we do issue warnings, we've never gotten into issuing citations," Massucco said. "We try to work with the homeowners on a plan that may take a couple of years to really create defensible space, because of the cost factors involved."

The grand jury acknowledged that cost is a significant hurdle in getting homeowners to meet vegetation management requirements. It estimated that "several thousand dollars is not an unusual amount to initially create a defensible space, even without tree removal." And "many hundreds of dollars annually is common for ongoing maintenance."

Massucco said staff time is also an issue. Inspections are done by engine companies, he said.

"We generally try to at least do a 'through-the-windshield' inspection of most of the homes in our jurisdiction," said Marin County Fire Marshal Scott Alber.

The grand jury also reported that the definition of what constitutes defensible space and the type of vegetation that must be removed to achieve compliance varies among agencies. There are 17 separate fire jurisdictions in Marin.

It praised the San Rafael Fire Department, which adopted simple, clear vegetation management regulations last year and embarked on an aggressive three-year enforcement plan. The city also allocated $750,000 to clear and maintain vegetation on city property adjacent to residences.

"Cities have to come up with the money if they're going to solve this problem," said former San Rafael Fire Chief John Montenero, who spearheaded the effort.

Montenero said the fire jurisdictions in Marin need to adopt common goals for vegetation management.

"To get them all to agree on the same thing, that's the challenge," Montenero said. "And yet when you have a fire, it crosses borders really fast."

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