In the wake of California’s most destructive fires in history, Thermaguard® applauds CALFIRE’s 45 day report, in which it displays proactivity towards reducing the impact of future fires on vulnerable communities.

These rural communities include persons in poverty, over 65 or under 5 years of age, with a disability, and households without a car.

CALFIRE, with assistance from approximately 70 other government and non-government agencies and entities identified a range of projects including removal of hazardous dead trees, vegetation clearing, creation of fuel breaks and community defensible spaces and ingress and egress corridors.

With over 100 lives lost in 2017 and 2018, and an unprecedented trajectory of contributory factors, it is heartening to the team at #thermaguard that the protection of human life is recognised as paramount in the report.

"California experienced the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in its history in 2017 and 2018. Fueled by drought, an unprecedented build up of dry vegetation and extreme winds; the size and intensity of these wildfires caused the loss of more than 100 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and exposed millions of urban and rural Californians to unhealthy air.

Climate change, an epidemic of dead and dying trees,and the proliferation of new homes in the wildland urban interface (WUI) magnify the threat and place substantially more people and property at risk than in preceding decades. More than 25 million acres of California wildlands are classified as under very high or extreme fire threat, extending that risk over half the state.

Certain populations in our state are particularly vulnerable to wildfire threats. These Californians live in communities that face near-term public safety threats given their location. Certain residents are further vulnerable given factors such as age and lack of mobility. The tragic loss of life and property in the town of Paradise during the recent Camp Fire demonstrates such vulnerability.

Recognizing the need for urgent action, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-05-19 on January 9, 2019. The Executive Order directs the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), in consultation with other state agencies and departments to recommend immediate, medium and long-term actions to help prevent destructive wildfires.

With an emphasis on taking necessary actions to protect vulnerable populations, and recognizing a backlog in fuels management work combined with finite resources; the Governor placed an emphasis on pursuing a strategic approach, where necessary actions are focused on California's most vulnerable communities as a prescriptive and deliberative endeavor, to realize the greatest returns on reducing risk to life and property." Executive Summary

Read full report here: http://www.fire.ca.gov/downloads/45-Day%20Report-FINAL.pdf

Article Source: http://www.fire.ca.gov