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June 2026
From Seth Schalet, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council CEO
| | | Yes, this is a “Dub Nation” town, but congrats to the New York Knicks, 53 years of waiting. For us, the wait is over because the Wildfire Resilience Index is now live. | | | |
May 2026 Bay Area Wildfire Activity
The key Santa Clara County wildfires in May 2026 were the Curry Fire (San Jose) and the Prunedale Fire (Gilroy). Both were relatively small, quickly contained, and caused no reported injuries or structure losses. Thank you to our fire agency partners.
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May was a busy and fruitful month for new project activity. We were informed by CAL FIRE that our Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative Forest Health Grant Phase 3 Concept proposal project was green-lighted to move forward with a formal application under both the CCI and Prop 4 funding pools.
Additionally, we pressed send on our Regional Wildfire and Resilience Workforce Development Program application. Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCCFSC) is the lead applicant. The Regional Wildfire & Resilience Workforce Development Program is a coordinated, employer-aligned workforce initiative that formalizes, funds, and scales the full ecosystem of workforce pathways supporting wildfire resilience, vegetation management, utility risk reduction, watershed stewardship, and public lands implementation. The Program functions as a system-level workforce coordination and delivery framework — managing multiple entry points, training pathways, and career pipelines while building organizational and private-sector capacity across the businesses and entities that deliver wildfire resilience work. Thank you to all participating partners and the over 25 letters of support we received from elected officials, regional fire service agencies, municipalities and other aligned organizations.
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We are hearing a lot about the potential for a historic El Niño event in 2026 and what that means for not just wildfire risk, but other climate driven risks. My friend and rockstar climate scientist, Daniel Swain, has written the best explanation I have read and I want to link it here: Special update: Rising odds of a strong-to-historic El Niño event in 2026, with growing likelihood of significant regional-to-global scale impacts.
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California's Wildland Urban Interface: A Structural Look Book
I am linking a post from Stanford University’s Bree Evans, Wildfire Policy Legal Fellow, Woods Institute & Stanford Law School.” Excited to announce the launch of CEPP's Look Book and Look Book Dashboard!
Two helpful resources are available to explore this information: the Wildfire Hazard Look Book, which provides an overview of the classifications, and the Interactive Dashboard, which allows you to view hazard zones on a map.
My special thanks to my colleagues Avery Bick, PhD and Qiao Kang for their guidance, technical support, and wisdom throughout this project.” We hope to have Bree share this with us as a future guest presenter.
| Shout-out to Congressman Sam Liccardo for taking the fight to FEMA on the inequities of how FEMA has been allocating critical wildfire resilience grants from their Hazard Mitigation Grant program, particularly penalizing blue states and specifically, California. FEMA slowed grants intended to help states such as California and Colorado prepare for and prevent wildfires, a Washington Post analysis showed. Upon learning of this, Congressman Liccardo took the lead with his fellow legislators and is seeking clarity regarding the status of pending Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Read their letter here. | In closing, I recommend reading not just Daniel’s article, but all the other research articles, presentations, podcasts and stories I found this month that I have included in this newsletter. Onward and upward as they say and now, let’s hear from the team. | | | |
Yours truly,
Seth Schalet
CEO, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
| | | Igniting a New Era of Leadership | | | |
Stephen Harrington, who leads the Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaboration (LGCWC) Forest Health Grants was recently promoted to Director of Forest Health and Prescribed Fire Programs. In his expanded role, he will continue oversight of the CAL FIRE Forest Health grant and also direct the new California Coastal Conservancy grant to establish the South Bay Prescribed Burn Association (SBPBA).
Stephen has been with the SCCFSC for four and a half years implementing $14.5 million Forest Health Grants, guiding the now completed West Santa Clara Landscape Resilience Project PSA, and working on long range forest health planning.
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In addition to Stephen's work at the FireSafe Council, his experience in environmental consulting, land conservation, and a Master's Degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of the Environment, position him well for the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of his new director position.
When he is not working on forest health, he can be found cycling, taking photographs, fly fishing and traveling with his family.
| | | South Bay Prescribed Burn Association | | | Community Ambassador Program | | | |
Our Community Ambassador Program officially kicked off in May with a well-attended training session, bringing together residents interested in helping build wildfire resilience throughout Santa Clara County.
In addition to our regular Ambassador trainings and meetings, we are hosting a series of educational presentations open to anyone interested in learning more about wildfire preparedness and community resilience.
We look forward to seeing you at these upcoming events!
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Upcoming Educational Presentation
📅 July 14, 2026 | 4:30 PM
Join Sharon Smith from the California Department of Insurance for an informative presentation on California's homeowner insurance landscape. Topics will include the current insurance crisis, resources available through the California Department of Insurance, and key market and legislative updates affecting homeowners.
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Firewise Office Hours
📅 Friday, July 10, 2026 | 12:00–1:00 PM
Have questions about Firewise USA? Join our monthly Firewise Office Hours to get answers, learn about the recognition process, and discuss ways to reduce wildfire risk in your neighborhood.
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Chipping Program
Closed til Fall!
The Spring 2026 Community Chipping Program officially concluded on Friday, May 22nd.
Thank you to everyone who participated.
If you didn't get a chance to register this time around, we will have another program running in the fall — stay tuned for more information! Learn More
| | | Redwood Estates Chipping Depot | | | |
On Saturday, May 2nd, we hosted a Spring Chipping Depot for the Redwood Estates community. It was a successful day of fuel reduction, with over 60 pickup truck loads of brush chipped!
A huge thank you to our collaborators at Redwood Estates and Denali Tree Service, and a massive shout-out to the community for showing up and keeping up participation throughout the day.
| | | Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative Forest Health Grant Update | | | |
Work within the Guadalupe Division continues to progress steadily with support from Denali Tree Service. Vegetation treatment work within the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in Los Gatos along Kennedy Trail has been completed, and the crew has now moved to the Cherry Springs area. Vegetation in this section is less dense and consists primarily of oak woodlands, which should allow work to proceed efficiently. We anticipate completing this area in a relatively short timeframe. Read More
| | | Picture blow: Treated area along Kennedy Trail, Los Gatos. | | | |
City of Palo Alto Roadside Maintenance Project
| | | Between May 18th and May 29th, the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council in collaboration with The City of Palo Alto and in partnership with Brush Hog Tree Care, completed roadside vegetation treatment along Arastradero Road, and also completed mowing along Los Trancos Road and Page Mill Road in the City of Palo Alto. We appreciate the community’s patience and cooperation as work was carried out along the area. Learn More | | | |
Altamont Road Evacuation Route
Maintenance Project 2026
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Maintenance on the Altamont Evacuation Route Project was completed on June 12, 2026.
Maintenance work was completed on Friday, June 12th, covering approximately 5.6 miles of the evacuation route. Work took place June 8th – 12th, with operations paused on June 11th due to a Red Flag Warning and heat advisory. Learn More
| Before and After picture below of low-growing tree branches and excess vegetation that were cut away from the lower portion of the trees to create a separation between the tree canopy and ground fuels. | | | |
Los Trancos / Ramona Road Escape Route Project
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The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council, in partnership with Fire Safe San Mateo County, has begun a joint Escape Route Project in the Santa Cruz Mountains along the shared border of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Work started June 2nd and focuses on roadside vegetation treatment and hazard tree removal along Los Trancos Road from the Alpine Road intersection to the Palo Alto/Portola Valley border, with additional tree removal at Firethorn Way and along Ramona Road. Woodside Fire hand crews and Jericho Project crew members are working together on the ground to carry out the roadside treatment work. This project will improve evacuation route functionality, reduce wildfire risk, and support the development of a connected escape route system across both counties. We appreciate the community's patience as work continues in the area. Learn More
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Chemeketa Park Roadside
Vegetation Clearance Project
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The Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council is planning a roadside clearance project in the Chemeketa Park community, located in southern Los Gatos within the Santa Cruz Mountains. The implementation of this project will be completed in one phase and serve to enhance fire resiliency by reducing vegetation in the community and improving the functionality of the escape route during an evacuation, making it safer for travel. The SCCFSC is planning to begin the project in late-August, 2026. Learn More
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Tanoak
(notholithocarpus densiflorus)
The tanoak is an evergreen tree in the beech family, which includes chestnuts, oaks, and beeches. Despite the name and the fact that they produce acorns, tanoaks are not considered true oak trees. With its flammable leaves and position in the subcanopy, tanoaks have adapted to catch fire easily. Small trees usually burn back to the burl, while larger trees typically survive but sustain burn scars. Learn More
| | | On Friday, May 15th, the SCCFSC team gathered at our "world headquarters" — the Saratoga Fire Station — for our quarterly staff retreat and strategic planning session. The day featured a series of informative presentations and collaborative discussions focused on organizational priorities and future planning. Highlights included a year-to-date financial update from CFO Chris Sommerfield, program and project updates from Amanda, and a strategic overview from Seth covering staffing, grants, technology partnerships, and 2027 budget planning. The team also participated in collaborative discussions on key organizational initiatives. Rounding out the day was an excellent presentation from Jackson Ricketts on our partnership with AirMetrix, the services they provide, and the potential benefits they offer to our clients. Thank you to the entire SCCFSC team for your preparation, engagement, and contributions to a productive and successful retreat. | | | The Santa Clara County Fire Department will be hosting their next Community Wildfire Preparedness Workshops on July 15th at Cupertino Community Hall 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 in July for Hussam Mahmoud as he 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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