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Solvang forum urges Santa Ynez Valley community wildfire protection plan
Summary
Local officials, the Fire Safe Council and county fire leaders urged neighborhoods to form Firewise/Fireways groups and sign up for a community wildfire protection plan (CWPP) to coordinate fuels work, unlock grant funding and improve evacuation planning.
City Councilmember Liz Arona and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartman on Tuesday convened a wildfire-preparedness forum in Solvang that drew municipal leaders, county fire officials and representatives of the Fire Safe Council to press for neighborhood-level action and a valleywide community wildfire protection plan.
Organizers told roughly two hours of participants that the valley’s patchwork of private property, agricultural land and public open space requires coordinated planning to reduce fuels, harden homes and improve evacuation routes. “Resilience is built on relationships,” Supervisor Joan Hartman said, urging neighborhoods to organize and volunteer for Fireways/Firewise activities.
A community wildfire protection plan is a locally developed blueprint that evaluates fire hazard and risk on a community scale, prioritizes hazardous-fuel treatments, and recommends measures such as structure…
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