Solano Fire Safe Council Kick-Off Meeting

A Letter from Supervisor, John M. Vasquez

This week I had the privilege of helping introduce the Solano Fire Safe Council to members of the public during its first community meeting Wednesday.

The countywide Fire Safe Council will serve as an umbrella to support existing Fire Safe Councils (FSC’s), such as the Pleasants Valley Fire Safe Council and Green Valley Fire Safe Council and any future FSC’s that are formed across the county. Fire Safe Councils are important, community-led groups of residents who help educate their neighbors about wildfire preparedness and work closely with their fire district or department to design and implement projects that make their communities more resilient in the ever-present threat of wildfire.

The formation of the Solano Fire Safe Council is a partnership between Solano County and the Solano Resource Conservation District (SRCD) and was made possible through a grant from the statewide California Fire Safe Council and Cal Fire’s 2021 Wildfire Prevention Grants Program. This will allow the Solano Fire Safe Council to hire a County Coordinator to assist the SRCD in developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan as well as lend support to existing and future FSC’s. The County Coordinator will serve as a resource to FSC’s to coordinate projects and help with grant writing.

Among those in attendance Wednesday were city and district fire chiefs and personnel, FSC presidents and members, non-profit animal evacuation response team members, county staff as well as SRCD and California Fire Safe Council representatives. Myself and District 3 Supervisor Jim Spering, who sit on the Board of Supervisors ad hoc committee on fire, also spoke to the need for coming together as a county to address wildfire.

Wednesday’s kickoff was the first step in establishing the Solano Fire Safe Council. I will share more information about future meetings as the governance structure and organizational leadership are still being developed.

In the wake of the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex Fire, one thing I heard from residents who were forced to evacuate was that there was no coordinated method to tell folks how to safely evacuate or direction on where to go. The Community Wildfire Protection Plan is designed to address such a concern, as it will be a community driven process that not only identifies projects such as fuel reduction near homes, but also address issues with signage and evacuation planning.

In addition, Solano County is in the process of implementing a system called Zonehaven. If you’ve followed the development of large wildfires in the news recently, you may have heard reference to specific “zones” being evacuated or residents in those zones being advised of evacuation warnings. Many counties across the state have implemented Zonehaven and this mapping tool will aid our residents and first responders when the time comes to issue alerts to residents by prioritizing areas that are most at-risk.

I would like to thank those that came out to the first Solano Fire Safe Council meeting and I look forward to seeing participation in the countywide effort and our local FSC’s grow. I believe the combined efforts of the county and our residents will go a long way toward making us better prepared for the next disaster. As always, if you have any questions or would like additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff.

John Vasquez, Supervisor

Gone But Not Forgotten!

W.W. Porter

Department:  Woodland, CA 

Last Alarm:  July 1, 1892

During the infamous fire of July 1, 1892, W.W. Porter was a firefighter who was working with his team at the Opera House to retrieve the water hose where it was stuck. Before the hose could be removed, the north brick wall of the Opera House fell on him, killing him instantly. His passing remains the only on-duty death the Woodland Fire Department has experienced.

William Anthony Young

Department:  Vallejo

Last Alarm: July 10, 2010

William Young spent a career of 31 years moving up the ranks as firefighter, engineer, and fire investigator to become a Captain for the last eight years of his career. Bill died in 2010 after a long battle with job-related cancer.

Arthur W. Koch

Departments: Fairfield, CA

Rank: Sergeant 

End of Watch: July 29, 1984

Age: 34

Cause: Gunfire

Years of Service: 5

Description: Sergeant Koch was shot and killed after being

ambushed while responding to a shots fired call.

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Be who you needed when you were a teen! PAL uses traditional recreational programming (fun and choice based) as a gateway to engage teens in programming and activities that support the development of the social and emotional skills required to develop a positive self-identity and become productive and active members of our community.  As a PAL Center volunteer, you are on the front lines of creating fun and engaging experiences for local teens!

 Bring your talents to the Fairfield PAL Teen Center and give local teens a place to go and grow by:

• Hosting the front desk to make sure all members sign in and out
• Distributing daily snacks and following funders recruitments
• Answering phone calls
• Assisting with games leadership, leading craft projects, and hosting contests and activities
• Introduce new games and activities

May also depending on interest:

• Deal cards for card games
• Host nail painting seminars
• Lead dominos tournaments
• Teach billiards clinics and host tournaments
• Instruct hair braiding workshops
• Facilitate skin and makeup clinics
• Other workshops and sessions based on interest