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April 2026
From Seth Schalet, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council CEO
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The Forest Service is closing 57 of its 77 research facilities in 31 states. In addition to the 10 regional offices, the restructuring is gutting the Forest Service's entire scientific infrastructure. These labs, research stations, and experimental forests produce the science that underpins every fire management plan, every timber sale, every species recovery effort in the federal system. 6 of the 8 CA based research stations will close — these are: Fresno, Chico, Fort Bragg, Mount Shasta, Anderson and Hat Creek in Shasta County. In California, just two research facilities will remain, in Placerville and Riverside. Have a look at what and where all the cuts are taking place here.
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The last month has been bustling with new grant and technology product sales opportunities. We submitted our latest CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant Concept proposal to treat 1,040 acres, and we wait to see if it clears the first hurdle. If it does, we then get invited to submit a formal application. We could not have done this without our many partners and collaborators including Dudek, San Jose Water, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Auten Resources Consulting, Bodfish Ranch, Santa Clara County Parks and the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency.
We have also started work on a developing a new program we hope to secure funding for called The Regional Wildfire & Resilience Workforce Development Program, designed to strengthen, align, and scale the full ecosystem of workforce pathways supporting wildfire resilience, vegetation management, utility risk reduction, watershed stewardship, and public lands implementation.
We have another opportunity to secure new funds for our Wildfire County Coordinator Program and to apply for a new 2026 State Fire Capacity (SFC) Grant. All told, between our grants and technology products and services programs, we have $12,000,000 in our current March pipeline. As with any opportunity, "It ain't over till it's over" (thanks Yogi), so we keep our heads down and stay focused on delivering our current projects on time and on budget.
OK, enough from me this month. More from the SCCFSC team. Thanks for reading.
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Yours truly,
Seth Schalet
CEO, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
| | | South Bay Prescribed Burn Association | | | The South Bay PBA is excited to announce that we will be providing courses needed to obtain a Firefighter Type II (FFT2) certificate, along with additional community workshops including: |
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June 27, 2026: In person - FFT2 required S-130 field exercise
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June 27, 2026: In person - Work Capacity Test
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TBD: Online - How to navigate the Permit Process – Air Quality/Burn Permitting
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TBD: In person - pile burning workshop
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Start your training now!
Don’t wait. Take the steps to complete the 5 required prerequisite courses (online) by May 15th. Visit the South Bay PBA website for more details.
Available spots for the Firefighter Type II training and certificate being offered by the South Bay PBA are limited. Join our Listserv to get notified when the application opens and for details on opportunities as they develop.
The South Bay PBA is a collaborative program developed by the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council and regional partners. We want to acknowledge the California Coastal Conservancy and the California Department of Conservation for the funding they are providing to get the South Bay PBA established. This project would not be possible without their support.
| | | Wildfire County Coordinator Update | | | | | We are happy to announce that CAL FIRE will continue to fund the County Coordinator program through October, 2027. We anticipate receiving another $151,500.00 from the California Fire Safe Council to allow us to continue our efforts as Santa Clara County's Wildfire Coordinator. The new funding will pick up where our current leaves off on July 1 of this year. We will have more information in May’s edition of Fire Adapted Santa Clara County, so please stay tuned! | | | Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, through the California Fire Safe Council. | | | From the Field to Leadership | | | | | |
Nestor Valle, Senior Project Manager
I'm excited to continue growing with the Firesafe Council as a Senior Project Manager. Over the past 4 years I've had the opportunity to learn so much from our incredible team, our partners, and the residents we serve. In this new role, I'm looking forward to continuing our efforts to support our local communities build long-term resilience against wildfire.
| | | Community Ambassador Program | | | |
Think your neighborhood has what it takes?
Grab your neighbors, roll up those sleeves, and start your Firewise journey today—or take it a step further by joining our Community Ambassador Program and help lead wildfire preparedness efforts where you live.
Contact us at firewise@sccfiresafe.org to learn how to get started with the Firewise USA® program.
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New! Monthly Firewise Office Hours
Join us at noon on the first Friday of each month for our new virtual Firewise Office Hours. This is an open space to ask questions, share concerns, and connect with others about wildfire resilience and preparedness. Whether you’re part of a Firewise community or just getting started, we welcome the conversation.
Our first session will take place Friday, June 5th, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, Zoom — we hope you’ll join us and be part of the conversation!
Join Zoom Meeting
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Wildfire Community Preparedness Day – May 2nd
Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, held annually on the first Saturday in May, is a nationwide effort to encourage communities to take action to reduce wildfire risk. This year, join in on May 2nd in your community.
Here in Santa Clara County, the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council encourages residents to take simple steps that make a big impact:
- Clear vegetation and create defensible space
- Clean roofs and gutters
- Prepare an evacuation plan and Go Bag (including pets)
- Work with neighbors on community projects
- Every action—big or small—helps protect your home and community.
For More Information
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Chipping Program Registration Full!
Our Spring 2026 Community Chipping Program is at capacity, but a waitlist is still available for some areas.
Thank you to everyone who signed up for this program — we are looking forward to another successful season of hazardous fuel reduction!
Learn More
| | | Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative Forest Health Grant Update | | | |
Operations picked back up to full capacity in March. Denali Tree Service is on-site and making great progress in a short amount of time with over 30 acres completed in March. Even with the dense vegetation and warm weather, the crew is doing an excellent job and keeping work moving smoothly and efficiently. Read More
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Black Mountain-Purissima Road Evacuation Route Maintenance Project
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The Black Mountain-Purissima Evacuation Route Project was completed on April 9, 2026 after 4 days of work. Work included removing ladder fuels from grasses and shrubs, limbing up trees to raise the canopy height, and removing dead trees and limbs. Approximately 142 total cubic yards of hazardous fuels were removed. The project was completed in under 1 week (4/6 - 4/9).
Read More
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Elena - Fremont Evacuation Route Project
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The Elena - Fremont Evacuation Route Project currently in the pre-project planning phase. The project is set to start on Monday, May 4th and will be the third project of the series for the calendar year.
This project will treat approximately 9.7 miles of roadside vegetation. Read More
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Bluegum Eucalyptus
(eucalyptus globulus)
In California, bluegum eucalyptus are considered highly susceptible to fire, especially when in large stands. The bark readily carries fire to the crown, and the leaves contain oils that produce a hotter flame when burned (Skolmen and Ledig n.d.).
Eucalyptus trees produce a lot of embers and therefore have great potential to ignite spot fires, often over long distances (Skolmen and Ledig n.d.). Learn More
| | | In March we attended the International Association of Fire Chief’s Wildland Urban Interface Conference 2026, as it was back in Reno. Last year, it was held in Kansas City, and SCCFSC chose not to attend as it was beyond our nonprofit budget. This year, we sent two staff (Tony and Kailyn) to the pre-conference training sessions to attend the Assessing Structure Ignition Potential from Wildfire Training workshop, and they returned home as NFPA certified Harzardous Ignition Zone (HIZ) inspectors. Andrea, Seth, and Amanda attended the regular session and had partner and vendor meetings throughout. | Reno WUI 2026: LAHCD, SCCFSC & SWCA dinner, Fire Aside dinner with Amy Berry, Brian Glass & Krisy Mercado and Stanford University's Rich Dean and Cody Hill receiving their 2026 Wildfire Mitigation Awards, and Mark Brown with Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority also receiving the 2026 Wildfire Mitigation Award. | Seth says, I would like to thank Jason Brooks of Fire Aside for inviting me to attend the Fire Aside WUI Conference Dinner where I got to see friends and partners, and hear the always compelling Amy Berry, CEO of the Tahoe Fund tell their journey into wildfire mitigation. I was also in the audience for the Communications and Special Event Planning - Panel Discussion session that included my friend Kristi Mercado, FirstNet Client Solutions Executive and Santa Clara County Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief, Brian Glass, who shared his extensive experience with FirstNet (Built with AT&T), and the First Responder Network Authority on wildfire incident command operations and for special events, like this year’s Super Bowl LXIII and the upcoming FIFA World Cup events. Shout-out to Chief Kim Zagaris, retired State Fire and Rescue Chief for the State of California, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) a position he held for 18 years. Kim has become a good friend, mentor and raconteur of emergency response stories since I’ve joined SCCFSC. He was in the room peppering the panelists with questions as usual. | For those of you that didn’t attend the Reno WUI conference, but still are interested in how fire agencies and emergency response teams plan for large-scale events, like the Super Bowl, there is a terrific FireRescue1 on demand webinar that also features Santa Clara County Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief, Brian Glass (the man gets around) titled: Webinar On-demand: Unified command strategies for large-scale emergency events. From the Super Bowl to the Olympics, veteran chiefs reveal how to build a unified command structure that holds under pressure — before the first siren sounds. | | | |
Wildfire & Water Utilities Podcast: How the Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council Helps Communities Prepare
Recently, I was honored to be a guest on the Wildfire & Water Utilities Podcast with Isaac Alatorre (Portable Pipeline Systems) and co-host Jim Wollnbrinck, who also serves as a Santa Clara County FireSafe Council board member. We spoke about how Fire Safe Councils help communities reduce wildfire risk—and how that support intersects with water utilities and other critical infrastructure. The conversation focuses on collaboration, mitigation strategy, and practical ways utilities can engage in prevention and preparedness efforts that improve resilience. Watch/Listen here.
| | | Nestor Valle, Sr. Project Manager, (pictured below on right) and Tony Kapule, Project Coordinator (pictured below on left) recently delivered an engaging presentation to a San José State University Fire Ecology class offering students an inside look at the work of the FireSafe Council. Their presentation highlighted the mission and impact of Fire Safe Councils, with a focus on the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council’s current programs and active contracts supporting wildfire preparedness and community resilience. | | | The FireSafe Council was proud to attend the CERT 5K Family Fun Run at Almaden Lake Park. The event saw a great turnout, providing a valuable opportunity to connect with residents and share important resources that the FireSafe Council offers. Throughout the morning, the FireSafe Council engaged with attendees, answered questions, and helped spread awareness about creating safer, more resilient communities. It was a successful and rewarding event that highlighted the importance of working together to reduce wildfire risk. A huge thank you to Supervisor Lee for inviting us to the event. | | | The Santa Clara County Fire Department will be hosting five Community Wildfire Preparedness Workshops and the FireSafe Council will be hosting a resource table to support our partners. Come and see what it is all about! Learn More | | | Board Meeting Guest Presenter Lineup | | | Join us this Tuesday, April 21st at 1:30pm via Zoom to listen as Dr. Yifang Zhu will share her study on Indoor and Outdoor Volatile Organic Compound Levels during and after the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires. | May: Jackson Yip, Cofounder of Paladin Industries, will present and demo Paladin’s Initial Attack (IA) platform. IA includes evaluating the fire, patrolling, monitoring, determining what additional resources are needed and implementing suppression actions to stop the fire and protect both firefighters and public safety. | June: Jay Balagna, MPH, MPhil, RAND School of Public Policy, is the lead author of Accelerating Technological Innovation Across the U.S. Wildfire Management System and will present on these findings. | July: Hussam Mahmoud will make a repeat appearance at our monthly Board meeting series. Since his first appearance three years ago, he picked up a fancy new title, Craig E. Philip Endowed Chair of Engineering, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Director, Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy, and Climate. Hussam will present on the recently released study he chaired, Wildfire Modelling and Artificial Intelligence. | September: What happens if EV charging stations burn in a wildfire, or low charged EV batteries die and start clogging the roads because they run out of juice? Join us for this insightful presentation to review an emerging issue and study all Emergency Managers, City Planners--and EV owners should read: The green gridlock: Projecting the unintended wildfire evacuation risks of EV adoption study | Khondhaker Al Momin, E.I.T is a Ph.D. Candidate in Transportation Engineering at the University of Oklahoma, and the lead author of a recent study examining the unintended wildfire evacuation risks associated with increasing electric vehicle adoption, integrating infrastructure dependency, evacuation modeling, and system-level risk analysis. | | | |
Did you know that you might be able to double—or even triple—the impact of your gift?
Many employers sponsor matching gift programs, which means they will match any charitable contribution made by their employees.
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SCCFSC is a local 501(c) non-profit organization that relies on funding from local partners and residents of the wildland-urban interface areas. While federal and state grants provide a significant amount of support for ongoing projects, donations from the local community is crucial to our success.The SCCFSC appreciates every donation, large or small. When you donate to Santa Clara County FireSafe Council, you are helping us and yourself by mobilizing the people of Santa Clara County to protect their homes, communities and environment from wildfires.
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