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Tulare County wildfire coordinator outlines statewide gains and asks board to consider program extension
Summary
The county’s wildfire coordinator described progress in building local wildfire resilience—coordinating funding, Firewise communities and GIS tools—and told the board it will consider extending the program with added funding and deliverables in July.
Doreen Alves, Tulare County’s California Fire Safe Council wildfire county coordinator, told the Board of Supervisors on June 30 that the program’s focus is turning statewide wildfire resilience strategies into local projects, building partnerships and helping communities secure funding and technical support. She said the position connects local priorities with Cal Fire and county fire agencies and delivers outreach such as Firewise support, workshops and a county project dashboard.
Alves described measurable results from county coordinators across California, saying that "as of September 2025, county coordinators have helped secure more than 104,000,000 for wildfire mitigation and preparedness, engaged over 10,000 organizations, educated more than 970,000 individuals, and established over a 100 new Firewise Communities and Fire Safe Councils." She framed those statewide metrics as evidence that a relatively small investment in local coordination can produce larger returns for counties.
Denise England, grants and resources manager with the county’s Resource Management Agency, introduced Alves and said Tulare has participated in the program since 2021 and relies on the coordinator to build local capacity and position projects for funding. Alves highlighted local achievements: three nationally recognized Firewise communities (Badger, Upper Tule and Sequoia Crest), a community wildfire protection plan used to prioritize projects, and development of GIS mapping and a forest‑health web tool to support planning.
Alves told the board that because the program has shown success across the state, legislation has been introduced to establish the wildfire county coordinator role permanently as part of a long‑term wildfire resilience strategy (she referenced "Senate bill 973" as the bill number cited in the presentation). She said the board will have the opportunity in July to consider an extension of Tulare County’s coordinator program that would add funding and expanded deliverables to support continued local implementation.
Board members praised the coordinator’s outreach and partnership work and thanked England for early leadership in the program. The item was presented for information; no formal vote took place on the extension during the June 30 meeting. The staff presentation and board comments focused on continued collaboration with Cal Fire, regional partners and community organizations to reduce wildfire risk across Tulare County.
