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Woodside Fire marshal announces Sept. 11 Ladera evacuation exercise, new chipping and fuel-reduction support
Summary
The fire marshal briefed the committee on enforcement of vegetation notices, June chipping statistics, a new cost-recovery chipping option, a fuel-reduction assistance program for seniors, and a full-scale evacuation exercise planned for Sept. 11 in the Ladera area.
Kim, the district fire marshal, told the committee the district has been issuing notices to homeowners for hazardous vegetation and reiterated that private mitigation contractors should be carefully vetted.
Kim announced a full-scale evacuation exercise on Sept. 11 focused on the Ladera area to test resident evacuation, traffic bottlenecks and agency coordination; the exercise will use WEA (Wireless Emergency Alert) messaging and include structure triage training for responding fire units. "We wanted to follow-up with doing the evacuation," Kim said, noting participating agencies include Menlo Park Fire, Redwood City Fire and the county sheriff's office.
The marshal also reported June chipping activity for Portola Valley (54 piles chipped, 53 cubic yards reported for Portola Valley Ranch in June) and districtwide totals, and said a newly adopted master fee schedule will allow additional chipping services at cost-recovery rates. Kim described a fuel-reduction assistance program aimed at seniors and residents on fixed incomes that would deliver on-site support at cost recovery.
Kim reviewed recent local fires, described alerting distinctions (SMC alerts vs. WEA) and provided statewide wildfire figures presented to the committee: 3,473 wildfires and about 102,918 acres burned year-to-date, with 41 structures lost and no fatalities reported at the time of the update.
The committee asked clarifying questions about alerts, coordination with Woodside Fire and the relationship between Town enforcement and mitigation programs; Kim encouraged residents to follow the district Instagram feed for preparedness resources and said the district will provide more information about the Sept. 11 exercise and resource-kit distribution.
