TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: J.R. Rogers, Fire Administrator
REPORT BY: J.R. Rogers, Fire Administrator
SUBJECT: American Canyon Fire District Fire Code Adoption
RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt a Resolution ratifying Ordinance No. 2025-02 of the American Canyon Fire Protection District adopting the 2025 California Fire (Code of Regulations, title 24, part 9) and related model codes with appendices and amendments. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
The State of California revises its Building Standards Code on a triennial basis, which includes the California Fire Code. Pursuant to Health & Safety Code section 13869.7, et seq. (Code), a fire protection district may adopt building standards relating to fire and panic safety that are more stringent than those building standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal based on local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. The American Canyon Fire Protection District (District) adopted the 2025 California Fire Code with certain amendments pursuant to District Ordinance No. 2025-02.
The Code also requires that the legislative body in which the fire district is located must either ratify, modify, or deny the district’s ordinance. Staff has reviewed the amendments and recommends the Board ratify the District’s Ordinance, and delegate enforcing this Ordinance to the Chief of the District. The amendments are more stringent due to the urban environment and include:
1. Climatic: The American Canyon Fire Protection District experiences periods of high temperatures, accompanied by low humidity and seasonal high winds. These conditions create an environment in which the Fire District would need to fully commit available firefighting resources to the control and extinguishment of wildland fires. During such periods, the limited available firefighting resources may have greater difficulty in controlling fires in structures not having built-in fire protection.
2. Geological: The American Canyon Fire Protection District is located in a region that contains active fault zones: the San Andreas, Hayward, Calaveras, and Healdsburg-Rogers Creek. Three active faults are located within Napa County: the Cordelia, Green Valley, and West Napa. After a large seismic event, the potential for multiple fires occurring simultaneously will tax available firefighting resources. Built-in fire protection will assist in extinguishing or controlling fires in structures, which will increase the availability of firefighting resources after a seismic event.
3. Topographical: The American Canyon Fire Protection District is divided geographically into three parts by the north/south orientation of State Highway 29. The east and west portions of the District contain steep hillsides with residential development intermixed. These natural and man-made barriers can serve as severe impediments to the delivery of public safety services due increased response times and delays in fire suppression efforts due to flooding or traffic congestion. An extended response time allows fires to grow beyond the control of initial attack fire suppression resources. Built in fire protection in the form of automatic fire sprinklers has proven effective in controlling and extinguishing fires in the incipient stages.
Adopting the resolution will also transmit this information to the District and to the Department of Housing and Community Development. If approved, the effective date of these new regulations will be January 1, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed Ordinance amendment is not a project that has the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment and therefore is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In addition, the proposed Ordinance amendment is exempt under the definition of Project in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 (b)(3) in that it concerns general policy and procedure rule-making.