On Monday, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District held a wildfire preparedness press conference – focusing on current wildfire conditions, preparedness strategies and coordinated resources.
Interim Fire Chief Lewis Broschard called it an “important day” saying it felt like the first day of summer and spoke about mitigating fire risk, creating defensible spaces, and mitigating hazards around fire risk.
“The reality is preparedness is a shared responsibility because there is only so much that we can do. There is only so much of us that can respond to an incident, but there are thousands upon thousands of homeowners that can take action that can improve not only their individual situation, but also for their neighborhood, their community and for Contra Costa County as a whole,” said Broschard.
He noted while several hills in the county are still green, that will change in the next several weeks.
“Most likely by June, we will be very busy with response to wildfires,” said Broschard who noted it is a year-round process for preparedness.
Broschard shared they have unique resources that include bulldozers to hand crews to helicopters that augment fire attack.
Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Chris Bachman shared that this is the time that residents and agencies can work together to prepare for the upcoming wildfire season and the first thing the communities can do is weed abatements – including a deadline of May 15 for East Contra Costa County and June 1 for the rest of the county. He urged residents to prepare the buffer zone around the home by knocking down weeds and tall grass.
“The core message is to make sure you prepare your home, prepare your family and prepare to evacuate if necessary,” said Bachman. “This includes signing up for the community warning system to give you alerts.”
According to Wildland Battalion Chief Tom Zurflueh shared over the past few months, is studying the forecast and with the recent rains and warm weather, its increased the grass fuel loads – grass is more of a risk as fire season approaches.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in fires, and vegetation fires so with the increased grass crop, we are going to see a bit more fire behavior, fires are going to be harder to put out so its going to take more increased efforts,” explained Zurflueh who also acknowledged later in the fire season they will be dealing with El Nino and high winds, higher temperatures which will bring higher fire behavior.
According to data, CONFIRE has responded to the following vegetation fires:
- 2025 – 190
- 2024 – 261
- 2023 – 211
- 2022 – 243
Meanwhile, Chuck Stark, Deputy Fire Chief of Operations, shared they have 41 fire companies staffed daily – including 4-wheel vehicles and other apparatus available, they also have two hand crews (20 workers) based out of Byron and Martinez. They have a Type II bulldozer which maintain fire trails and provides fuel breaks—staffed full time starting in June (24-hrs per day).
“The biggest addition has been the Type II helicopter,” said Stark noting they are in partnership with PG&E who pay some of the freight on having it available. “The helicopter will be available May 1 through end of October if not longer. “They have a capacity of 375 gallons of water and able to dispatch to the fire, get their, give us intelligence from the air and stop dropping water and stop forward progress while protecting structures… the goal is to keep fires small and turn the mop up over to crews and get crews ready for the next fire.”
Broschard said the fire district was ready and they learn from every summer about how they can improve emergency service delivery to all communities but also cautioned the public needs to do their part.
“We can only do so much, we need the public to do their part,” said Broschard. “We need them to take responsibility and accountability for their properties, maintain their properties free of dead and dying vegetation, create that defensible space, work with their neighbors and collaborate for a more community focused effort at reducing the threat of wildfire.”
He also called on each community to have their own specific plan for their needs to ensure preparedness, especially in a time of evacuation to prevent them being part of an incident or compounding the incident.
Weed Abatement Reporting:
Here are the following weed abatement deadlines:
- East County – May 15, 2026 (Includes the following communities: Antioch, Bay Point, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, the Township of Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Marsh Creek, Morgan Territory, Oakley, Pittsburg
- Central County – June 1, 2026 (Includes the following communities: Clayton, Clyde, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill, Rossmoor, and Walnut Creek)
- West County – June 1, 2026 (Includes the following communities: East Richmond Heights, El Sobrante, Hercules, North Richmond, Rodeo, San Pablo, unincorporated Pinole, Tara Hills, and Montalvin Manor)
More information: Click Here
