January 2024

From Seth Schalet, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council CEO

Happy 2024 to all our readers and partners.

The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCCFSC) ended the year on a strong note, more than doubling revenues from the prior year. However, as we all know, there is much work to do in continuing to mitigate wildfire risk throughout the wildland urban interface (WUI) regions we serve, and to educate the public on current wildfire issues and trends. A key goal for SCCFSC is to do more in 2024 than we did in 2023, and to continue to support our partners efforts so that we can continue to fulfill our mission of mobilizing the people of Santa Clara County to protect their homes, communities, and environment from wildfires.

At the end of 2023 we announced an expanded partnership with N5 Sensors where SCCFSC will serve as the reseller for all their wildfire sensor products to all 200 or so Fire Safe Councils throughout California, helping our partners adopt and implement artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for early wildfire detection and risk reduction. We also announced a strategic alliance with Allied Disaster Defense to provide wildfire related home hardening and disaster mitigation services for our stakeholders throughout the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas in Santa Clara County and we look word to working with Allied to promote their services. Additionally, we ended the year announcing our partnership with Frontline Wildfire Defense. Our partnership expands Frontline’s AI-based Defense System 2 automated wildfire sprinkler protection availability for early detection and mitigation throughout SCCFSC’s service area. In December, we joined the Frontline team to see a demo of the system in action at one of their gracious Los Altos Hills customer installations. Reach out to us if interested and we are glad to connect you with Allied or Frontline’s customer service teams to answer your questions.

In this issue, we have included a half dozen or so articles, videos, and research papers I read from various sources that we hope you also find interesting on the latest trends in wildfire research, and stories on the human impact wildfire has on communities they touch. The links will take you there.

Now, let’s hear from the team.

Seth Schalet

CEO, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council

Pacific Madrone

(Arbutus menziesii)

Pacific madrone has low resistance to fire because of its thin bark. Thin bark provides little insulation from radiant heat, which usually kills the cambium around the base of the stem. Those trees that do survive post fire susceptibility to secondary attack by insects or disease. Learn More

Barbara Gonzalez

I am thrilled to be a new addition with the FireSafe Council as an HFR Project Coordinator supporting the chipping program in Los Altos Hills. I bring a B.S. in Environmental Science to our dynamic team, as well as supply chain management experience. 

With a passion for community development and climate resilience, I am eager to contribute to our collective expertise in supporting local wildfire resilience initiatives within our communities. I am also looking forward to learning more about Forest Health while working with an enthusiastic and inspiring team.



When not working I enjoy hiking, rock climbing, and creating paintings from pictures I take while traveling. 

Wet weather in our region slowed down work in Santa Clara County Parks project areas in December, however we were still able to complete 27 acres. Additionally, we worked on SJW project areas and completed about 6.5 acres of vegetation treatments in the Elsman Reservoir area. Work will continue in SCCP in the vicinity of Black Road and Skyline this month and near Elsman Reservoir on SJW property. Weather is looking more wintery for January and we anticipate operations to slow a bit. 

We are kicking off the Second Forest Health Grant, known as the "Second Collaboration", this month. Work, for now, is of the planning variety as we determine the appropriate permitting, refine our project maps and scope of the project. There are 841 acres of vegetation treatments identified over the next 4 years. Our partners for the Second Collaboration are Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, San Jose Water Company, Aldercroft Heights Firewise Community and Lupin Lodge. 

We are very excited to be working on both Forest Health Grants this year!

Before and after photos by Dave Manson of the John Nicholas Trail in Santa Clara County Parks..

We recently completed Phases I & II of an Escape Route project on a portion of East Dunne Avenue in Morgan Hill, CA that will be utilized for evacuation during a wildfire incident. Phases I & II of the East Dunne Project took place along a 5.6-mile stretch of East Dunne Avenue that begins near the entrance of Holiday Lake Estates and ends where East Dunne Avenue meets Findley Ridge Road. That stretch of East Dunne Avenue accounts for over 11 miles of treatable vegetation on the escape route when accounting for both the North and South bound sides of the roadway. The treated area of Phases I & II serves a main thoroughfare for residents to travel back and forth to work. Due to the lack of other roads in the area, East Dunne Avenue will be the only option for many residents to utilize in the event of a wildfire evacuation. Phase I & II Final Report can be viewed on project page. Learn More

The Black Mountain Road – Purissima Road Evacuation Route Project in Los Altos Hills, California, provides an important route of egress route for a significant portion of the Western area of the Los Altos Hills Community in the event of a wildfire evacuation. Project work days will be March 18th-22nd. Learn More

The California Fire Safe Council publishes a quarterly Newsletter called Mitigation Messenger. Their current issue has just been released and we are proud to announce that our Santa Clara County FireSafe Council CEO, Seth Schalet, is featured in this issue related to wildfire technology and resilience. Read it Here

• Crime Prevention & Home Fire Safety
• Thursday, January 18, 2024 · 11am - 12:30pm PST
• In-Person - Los Altos Hills Town Hall - Free
• Be Prepared for Disasters
• Thursday, March 7, 2024 · 6 - 7:15pm PST 
• In-Person - Campbell Community Center - Free

Learn More

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