CONTRA COSTA COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
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4005 Port Chicago Highway, Suite 250 • Concord, CA 94520-1180 Telephone: (925) 941-3300 • Fax: (925) 941-3309 • www.cccfpd.org 000.
September 13, 2022
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Lewis T. Broschard III, Fire Chief
RE: Fire Chief’s Report
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Labor Day Weekend Excessive Heat.
We mobilized our resources to prepare
ahead of time to protect residents from
this potentially life-threatening prolonged
high heat event. In addition to taking
necessary steps to protect firefighters
and maintain their mission-ready posture
throughout the weekend, we used
multiple communications platforms to
urge residents to make their own
preparations to keep their families,
neighbors, and pets safe. As part of this effort, we urged, with considerable success, open space operators across the District to close these areas to the public to reduce health emergency and fire risks.
Fire Station Openings. Last month, we
achieved two milestones related to our
inventory of fire stations. First, on August 12,
we opened the new Fire Station 86 in Bay Point
months ahead of schedule. This new fire
station is purpose built to accommodate our
heaviest equipment, including our fire dozers,
in addition to its engine and crew. The value of
FS 86’s size has already paid off with the
stationing of Dozer 220 there during the Labor
Day weekend’s heatwave-influenced heightened fire danger. FS 86 is strategically located at the entrance to Highway 4 making it an
ideal location for dispatch to wildfires across east
county.
On August 29, we cut a ribbon and pushed an engine
into the newly refurbished Fire Station 4 in southern
Walnut Creek. The station had been shuttered since
the Great Recession in 2013 and its reopening had
been eagerly awaited by fire and elected leaders and
residents alike. The presence of Engine 4 and crew in
Fire Chief’s Report – September 13, 2022
this unincorporated area, accessed by narrow winding roads, is expected to improve response times considerably. The reopening was timed to ensure the presence of a valuable firefighting resource ahead of the historic height of fire season danger in September and October.
Operations Updates. In August, we implemented our new system of overall shift supervision by the three new District Chief (assistant fire chief rank) positions as a result of the leadership reorganization shared last month.
With the reopening of Fire Station 4 in Walnut Creek late last month, we began staffing a complete new engine crew – a total of nine firefighters across our three shifts. Engine 4 will be supplemented with a Type 3 wildland firefighting engine once modifications have been made to the station’s 1956-sized gate to accommodate our 2022-sized engine. In the meantime, the Type 3 will be available nearby should it be needed by the crew for wildland firefighting duty.
Hazmat Update. Hazmat 87’s full complement of equipment and supplies was completed last month, and it is now ready to be officially designated as a Type 2 Hazmat apparatus by the state.
Our team participated in the Hazmat Challenge last month, a state Office of Emergency Services annual teams training conference.
Marine Program Update. It was a busy month for our marine program with two calls for water rescues. One involved a boater stranded with medical issues, and, the other, a boat fire with three passengers on board.
The District now has a representative working on the state Office of Emergency Services FIRESCOPE committee that addresses statewide typing and threat/ resource analysis. This is a favorable reflection on our growing role in statewide fire service delivery.
Rescue Program Update. Our firefighters must be prepared to effect any manner of rescue on a moment's notice as was recently demonstrated by a complex storm drain confined space rescue this past spring in Antioch. To ensure our rescue program specialists are ready when the call comes, we conduct a wide array of rescue training throughout the year. Last month, these trainings included two Colorado Association of Stormwater and Floodplain Managers trench rescue classes at our Training and Safety campus in
Concord. This type of rescue is increasingly likely with the level of construction work and maintenance at industrial facilities across our District.
Fire Chief’s Report – September 13, 2022
Training Update. In August, as part of our post-annexation reorganization, we on- boarded and deployed the second of our now two Training Safety Officer positions.
These critical roles were needed to support the expanded scope of our annexation- expanded District.
The training leadership team, including our new training chief, completed a trip to Long Beach Fire and Orange County Fire Authority last month designed to examine best practices for our entry-level fire recruit academies.
The Training Division completed and logged a total of 4,706 hours of company-level training in August.
Marsh Fire Update. At the beginning of the month, we became aware of two small hotspots that had rekindled at the scene of this stubborn peat fire. The fires were sufficiently small as to represent no health threat or fire danger and were smoldering in an area outside that flooded last month. We dispatched Crew 12 to the scene where they were able to access and extinguish them.
Pinole Fire Contract for Service Initiative. We continue to work with City of Pinole executive staff, County Counsel, and the County Administrator’s Office. District and City staff and County Counsel are finalizing drafts of the service plan and contract for service with a projected November signing date. We are hopeful that the contract could be implemented as early as the first quarter of 2023.
Fire Prevention Update. The Bureau’s
Community Risk Reduction Unit conducted a
webinar last month designed to share with our
residents the benefits and how to take
advantage of the Firewise USA program that
is being used by neighborhoods to improve
their fire resiliency. Residents from across the
District participated in the webinar, and it has
since been posted online for viewing by
others. The Bureau is examining this first effort
to determine how to best communicate program benefits to still more residents.
The Bureau conducted interviews to fill the remaining Inspector I and II vacancies with two internal candidates being promoted to Inspector II.
Defensible space brochures were finalized in July and distributed door-to-door to more than 500 Lafayette residents in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ) there. This marketing campaign will continue through the rest of the year to all residents of VHFHSZs in the District. The door hangers consist of educational materials for defensible space, the Zonehaven digital
Fire Chief’s Report – September 13, 2022
evacuation tool, the county Residents Guide to Wildfire Preparation & Evacuation, and the Firewise USA program.
Vegetation management continues with completion of the Martinez olive grove shaded fuel break by Crew 12 last month.