Contra Costa County
Fire Protection District
Overview for Community Leaders
City of San Pablo
City Council Presentation
April 18, 2022
Assistant Chief Lon Goetsch
LON GOETSCH
ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF
TRAINING AND SAFETY DIVISION
● 19 years of Con Fire Service
● 31 years’ fire service experience at all ranks
● Firefighter, Engineer, Fire Captain, Battalion
Chief, Assistant Chief
Con Fire, Your Fire “Department” in San Pablo
● Annexation Update
● Enhancing Capabilities
County-wide
● Fire Weather Outlook
● Safety Tips for Residents
● What “You” Can Do
● Questions
San Pablo 2022 Fire Experience – YTD
● 2022 Off to a Good
Start
● All Incident Types
Except One Below
2021 Experience
● While numbers are
small, rescues are
predicted to be up
Year-Over-Year
38%
87%
78%
50%
88%
80%
92%
66%
167%
89%
89%
Percent of 2021
Experience
Adjusted for
Full Year
Annexation Update
● Decades-long interest and years of
planning
● Con Fire poised to annex East Con
on July 1
● Immediate improvements to fire &
EMS services in east & countywide
○ New stations and crews
○ ALS EMS to be introduced countywide
○ Shortened response times
● Related West County Improvements
Similar Consolidation of Fire Services in W est County
● Contract for services model
planning
● Would bring Pinole Fire into
Con Fire family
● Con Fire and City of Pinole
leaders collaborating in effort
● Measure X funded
● Would include reopening of
long-shuttered Fire Station 74
Continual Fire Service Improvements
● Handcrew Worker Program “Crew 12”
expansion
● New apparatus support diverse needs
○ “Type 6” Wildland Fire Engines
○ Fire “Dozers”
○ Water Tenders
● New and improved stations
○ New FS 86 set to replace historic 86 in May
○ Renovated FS 4 reopening in Walnut Creek
○ Buchanan Field and ??? in planning
○ Three East County stations
● Evacuation goes digital
•ALERTWildfire Camera Network
•State-of-the-art high-res pan-tilt-zoom cameras
•10 or more cameras in Contra Costa, more coming
•Real-time, actionable intel
•Situational Awareness Tools
•Tablet Command response and incident management tool
•Pulsepoint
•Computer Aided Dispatch and NWS notifications
•Evacuation Planning – Zonehaven
Implemenation
•Grant-funded digitization project
•To bring major improvements to evacuation planning and conduct
FIRE SER VICE TECHNOLOGY ADV ANCES
Wildfire Threat Remains High
● Trend to ever-longer, less
predictable fire weather continues
● All indicators point to earlier,
dangerous season of fire weather
● No area of County is risk free, some
at heightened risk
● Contra Costa County is far from
immune to dangers
In Fact, In 2021…
● Wind-driven vegetation fires proved
dangerous across the County
● Displacing 50+ residents from
homes and apartments
● None were in the highest threat
zones
● Lack of preparation – weed
abatement and defensible space
creation – played a part in each
Beyond Wildfire Danger…
● Simple steps save lives in fires:
○ Working and tested smoke alarms
○ Sleeping with bedroom doors CLOSED
○ Regularly rehearsed home evacuation plans
○ Meeting points known to all residents
● Preventing the most common fires:
○ Use a kitchen fire extinguisher
○ Don’t overload electrical circuits
○ Use caution with ALL open flames
○ Follow space heater safety guidelines
● Carbon Monoxide safety:
○ Use CO monitors, test regularly
○ Maintain all heating equipment in good
working order
VISIT WWW.CCCFPD.ORG FOR MORE
SAFETY TIPS
•We can’t do it alone
•The FIRST first responder is the
resident who prepares in advance
•Property owners, families, neighbors
must work together – ahead of the
disaster
•This is the place to start for wildland
fire and other disasters…
RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT IS KEY
IN ANY DISASTER
References
● Con Fire Community Risk Reduction Info –
cccfpd.org/community-risk-reduction/
● Wildfire Prep – cccfpd.org/wildfire-prep/
● How to report weed abatement complaints –
cccfpd.org/exterior-hazard-complaint/
● Community Warning System – cwsalerts.com/
● Zonehaven “Know Your Zone” Evacuation Tool –
cwsalerts.com/know-your-zone/
● Residents Guide to Wildfire Prep & Evac –
cccfpd.org/residents-wildland-fire-guide/
Questions?
Zonehaven Evacuation Management Platform
Collaborative
ZONE-BASED