Work with regional partners to reduce hazardous fuels in and around Berkeley
- Support ongoing efforts by Berkeley Fire Department, East Bay Regional Park District, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, EBMUD, and other stakeholders to clear out hazardous and highly-combustible vegetation
- Support private sector groups like the Berkeley FireSafe Council in their efforts to remove hazardous fuel and advocate for greater urgency
Empower Berkeley residents to protect their homes and property
- Encourage neighborhoods to form Firewise Communities to spur home hardening & fuel reduction activities, create neighborhood-wide action plans, and improve coordination in advance of potential emergencies
- Support annual BFD fire inspections of properties, providing residents with personalized instructions
- Sponsor workshops & community meetings to educate residents on the biggest drivers of fire safety (and insurance retention)
- Collaborate with the Fire Department to seek grants, tax credits, and other financing to defray costs and help individual homeowners comply with inspections -- including partial transfer tax refunds on home purchases
- Work with CPUC and PG&E to restore neighborhood undergrounding programs and underground more power lines in high fire hazard zones across Berkeley
- Provide "Wildfire Prevention Champion" public recognition of individual residents and neighborhoods that are leading the charge in wildfire risk reduction
Ensure regular wildfire training of all Berkeley Fire Department personnel
- Support BFD’s efforts to train and educate personnel on the latest wildfire prevention and firefighting science
- Support BFD’s efforts to perform joint exercises with neighboring fire departments that will respond in event of wildfire
Publicize evacuation plans and routes
- Ensure residents know the routes out of the Hills (including pathways as well as streets) in event of a wildfire
- Collaborate with local hotels and motels to provide accommodation in the event of a disaster
- Encourage proactive early self-evacuation (especially for elderly and disabled residents)
- Implement street parking restrictions on Red Flag Days
- Conduct annual community evacuation drills
Work with the state Insurance Commissioner and legislative leaders to stabilize the home insurance market
- Support the Insurance Commissioner’s effort to write enhanced regulations that accurately assess wildfire risk, while requiring insurers to cover more homeowners in high fire hazard areas
- Ensure that risk models also take into effect fire mitigation efforts by individual residents, neighborhoods, and all regional partners