Santa Rosa officials describe CWPP, ignition-free rules and water-system steps taken since the Tubbs Fire

Santa Rosa officials told a legislative Select Committee that a series of local policy and operational changes since the 2017 Tubbs Fire have materially improved the city’s ability to prevent and respond to wildfire, but that gaps remain.

Paul Lowenthal, Division Chief Fire Marshal for Santa Rosa, described the city’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) — completed just before the 2020 Glass Fire — as a detailed, local roadmap containing 64 action items and nine objectives. Lowenthal said the city used the CWPP to justify and design local ordinances, add staff capacity, and require ignition‑resistant rebuilding in the wildland‑urban interface. “We actually established a local ordinance called an ignition free zone where we required that those homes be rebuilt with 3 feet of ignition free,” Lowenthal said, adding that Oakmont and other communities supplemented city rules with tighter inspections.

Jennifer Burke, director of Santa Rosa Water, described practical steps taken after the Tubbs Fire to reduce contamination risk and keep water systems running during emergencies: rethought backup‑power fuel choices (diesel tanks replacing propane for generator viability), upgraded and replaced generators through hazard mitigation grants, built an ongoing emergency training and coordination subcommittee with Sonoma Water and contractors, and published a wildfire concept-of-operations checklist (reestablish pressure, flush, test) to guide recovery. She said those changes helped avoid contamination problems in the 2020 Glass Fire when the checklist was applied.

Panelists warned, however, that vegetation changes and maintenance demand ongoing attention: new regrowth, bay and Scotch broom proliferation, and the persistence of dead and dying trees near roadways and right-of-ways require sustained removal and follow-up. Lowenthal and Scott Orr (Permit Sonoma) both said the work is implementable but resource‑intensive, and that cities and counties need faster access to grants and simpler reporting requirements to keep projects moving.

The committee’s record shows local technical solutions are ready; legislators asked staff to explore how state support can reduce administrative friction and fund maintenance to preserve those local gains.