Central Marin Fire Chief gives update on wildfire mitigation, warns residents to treat it as countywide issue

Central Marin Fire Authority Chief Reuben Martin told the Corte Madera Town Council on Feb. 16 that wildfire mitigation is a countywide effort and urged residents to treat vegetation and home hardening work as an urgent priority.

Martin summarized work funded by Measure C and the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA), described ongoing inspections and voluntary abatement programs and outlined how funding is divided into core projects, local mitigation and defensible-space assistance. “Fire knows no boundary,” Martin said, urging homeowners to participate in inspections and the MWPA grant programs designed to reduce risk.

The update covered three program areas: countywide core projects that fund things such as evacuation-route clearing and detection systems, a local mitigation bucket used for direct homeowner assistance, and a defensible-space program that conducts home evaluations and reinspections. Martin said the Greater Ross Valley Shaded Fuelbreak — a 38‑mile, roughly 150–250‑foot treated zone across several jurisdictions — is now largely in maintenance after heavy upfront work and that the program has completed roughly 70% of the targeted fuelbreak in the initial phases.

Martin described the combined inspection surge used across…