The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District will hold a district-wide community meeting on Tuesday, April 1 about the Fire Hazard Severity Zones, including a presentation on the updated Local Responsibility Area maps
According to the CONFIRE, Fire Chief Lewis Broschard and Fire Marshal Chris Bachman will present the Fire Hazard Severity Zones maps along with an opportunity to provide public comment before the maps are adopted by the fire district.
Meeting Details In Person:
April 1, 2025
6:00 pm to 7:00pm
1025 Escobar St., Martinez
Maps by area:
- LRA Antioch Map
- LRA Brentwood Map
- LRA Clayton Map
- LRA Concord Map
- LRA Danville Map
- LRA El Cerrito Map
- LRA Hercules Map
- LRA Lafayette Map
- LRA Martinez Map
- LRA Moraga Map
- LRA Orinda Map
- LRA Pinole Map
- LRA Pittsburg Map
- LRA Pleasant Hill Map
- LRA Richmond Map
- LRA San Pablo Map
- LRA San Ramon Map
- LRA Walnut Creek Map
Q&A
Why are there maps?
- Government code 51178 requires the state to identify moderate and high severity zones in addition to very high.
- Previous LRA maps only contained very high.
- These maps may include new areas that were not previously identified by the state fire marshal.
What are the requirements for the fire protection district?
- Government code 51178.5 requires local agencies to make the information available for public review and comment.
- Public comments can be submitted with the staff report to your governing body at the time of ordinance adoption.
- Government code 51179 requires the local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high zones within 120 days.
What can the fire protection district do for these new maps?
- Government code 511 79 does not allow local agencies to decrease the level of fire hazard severity zone or to remove areas from the recommended map.
- Government code 51179 does allow a local agency to include additional areas not identified by the state fire marshal. The fire protection district is not adding any areas to the maps.
- The comment period is specifically for comment and the comments cannot be used to decrease or remove areas from the recommended map.
Expedited Hazardous Vegetation Reduction and Ecological Restoration in East Contra Costa County under California Vegetation Treatment Program
The Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD) and partners are beginning a project to increase wildfire resilience in Eastern Contra Costa County. Under the California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP), and in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE), East Bay Regional Park District, California State Parks, Contra Costa Water District, and Contra Costa Flood Control and Water Conservation District, the CCRCD will develop a Project Specific Analysis (PSA) for 16,000 acres of grassland and oak woodland habitat. The PSA will act as a compliance tool for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and allow for expedited implementation of wildfire resilience projects such as prescribed burning, prescribed herbivory, and mechanical fuel reduction treatments.
In addition, over the next 5 years the CCRCD and CALFIRE will implement an assortment of the wildfire resilience projects outlined in the PSA on the East County project area. Prescribed fire in particular is a critical, cost-effective, and ecologically restorative tool that the CCRCD and CALFIRE will use to mitigate the risk of severe wildfire across 1,000 acres of the project area. Among other tools, prescribed fire will reduce hazardous vegetation near wildland-urban interface communities, control invasive vegetation, and provide a space for local fire departments and land managers to train with using fire as a land management tool.
The project area encompasses state responsibility wildland and wildland-urban interface areas deemed “Very High” and “High” fire hazard severity by CALFIRE in April 2024. The CalVTP is a statewide program that increases the capacity of public agencies to plan and implement ecologically restorative fuel reduction, amplifying existing efforts to reduce catastrophic wildfire. Read more about the CalVTP and other projects completed under the program at https://calfire-umb05.azurewebsites.net/projects-and-programs/calvtp-homepage-and-storymap/.
For more information about the CalVTP project in East Contra Costa County, please visit ccrcd.org/wildfire or contact Zoë Fung at [email protected].
The CCRCD wishes to thank our funder, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, for the Wildfire Prevention Grants Program that makes this project possible.
