TO: Napa County Climate Action Committee
FROM: David Morrison, Special Projects Director
REPORT BY: Ryan Melendez, Planner II, Sustainability
SUBJECT: Presentation from Napa County Fire Administrator, David Shew, and Napa County Chief Building Official, David Giudice on fire resiliency strategies and efforts in Napa County
RECOMMENDATION
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PRESENTATION: Staff requests that the Climate Action Committee receive a presentation Napa County Fire Administrator, David Shew, and Napa County Chief Building Official, David Giudice on fire mitigation efforts in Napa County.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California
Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
California and wildfires have been intertwined for all recorded history. Nearly all of California’s ecosystems have evolved to adapt to fires or are even dependent on fires to maintain ecosystem function and health. Fire can act as a catalyst for promoting biological diversity and healthy ecosystems, reducing buildup of organic debris, releasing nutrients into the soil, and triggering changes in vegetation community composition. Through decades of land management practices, such as wildland fire suppression and human expansions to wildlands and wildland-urban interfaces (WUI), many ecosystems have been altered, resulting in imbalances between wildfires and ecosystem interactions. For example, in forest ecosystems, dense tree cover and the effects of more frequent drought and other climatic change have led many areas to become more vulnerable to pests, disease, and more intense fire. The removal of natural fire from an ecosystem can lead to excess fuel buildup and changes in vegetation composition, which can increase the risk of uncharacteristically large high-severity fires.
Increases in uncharacteristically large wildfires can exacerbate impacts on both ecosystems and human communities. Expanded areas of high-severity fire can impact tree regeneration, soil erosion, and water quality. Communities continue to be impacted directly, through destructive fires in the Wildland-Urban Interface (i.e., areas where homes are built near or among lands that are prone to wildland fire), and indirectly, through poor air quality over large areas of the state.
Climate Impacts of Wildfires:
Changes in fuels, climate, and ignition patterns affect wildfire behavior, and climate change is just one factor that can exacerbate those changes. In addition to increasing the length of the wildfire season, climate change is amplifying drought frequency and severity. Drought causes moisture stress in vegetation, which leads to higher susceptibility to wildfire. Although California has received abundant precipitation in recent years, this rainfall does not necessarily erase the effects that years of severe drought have had on vegetation. Since vegetation may still be recovering from moisture stress during drought conditions, the high susceptibility to wildfire persists despite the greater amount of precipitation. Because of climate change and interrelated changes, the size and intensity of wildfires in California have increased in recent history. Fifteen of the 20 largest wildfires in California have occurred since 2000, and ten of the most costly and destructive fires to life and property have occurred since 2015.
The Napa region’s history is also intertwined with fires. From 1939 through 2016 (57-year period), 230,639 acres in Napa County burned. From 2017 through 2020 (3-year period) 443,199 acres have burned. Since 2017, 60% (sixty percent) of Napa County has burnt (Napa RCD).
Not only does climate change directly and indirectly affect the frequency and intensity of wildfires, but wildfires then also release greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particulate matter, and other pollutants that impact climate and human health. According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s rough estimate of GHG emissions by wildfires in Napa County during the 2017 and 2020 wildfire seasons, 1.57 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2e) were released in the 2017 Sonoma Complex Fire, and 2.75 MMTCO2e were released in the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex Fires for a total of 4.32 MMTCO2e.
For reference, the Napa County Regional 2019 Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory Memo prepared by Ascent Environmental, Inc. estimated a total of 1.22 MMTCO2e emissions per year across all sectors in all jurisdictions. This means that the wildfires created GHG emissions equal to 1.25 times the emissions for the County and cities and town in 2017, and 2.25 times the amount in 2020.
- BAAQMD Estimates of Wildfire Emissions (2017 and 2020) in Napa County.
- BAAQMD Estimates of Wildfire Emissions (2017 and 2020) in California.
Health Impacts of Wildfires:
In addition to climate impacts, wildfires can also affect human health and safety. Most research on the detrimental health effects of air pollution have not been wildfire specific. Additionally, there is only limited evidence about the potential health impacts due to exposures from repeated, multi-day wildfire smoke exposures or multiple, consecutive fire seasons. However, wildfire smoke measurement and epidemiology are active and growing areas of research.
Most of what we know of wildfire health effects focus on particulate matter (PM). Fine particles from smoke and coarse particles from ash are respiratory irritants that can cause coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. PM may also affect the body’s physiological mechanisms that remove inhaled foreign materials from the lungs, such as pollen and bacteria, and may cause systemic inflammation that can affect multiple organs. Studies of ambient air pollution have found that exposure to fine and coarse particles is linked with increased risk of premature mortality and aggravation of pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
Particulate matter exposure primarily affects the heart and lungs. Extensive scientific evidence has demonstrated health effects in response to short-term (i.e., daily) particulate matter exposure ranging from eye and respiratory tract irritation to more serious effects, including reduced lung function, pulmonary inflammation, bronchitis, exacerbation of asthma and other lung diseases, exacerbation of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure, and even premature death. Strong positive associations have been found between wildfire smoke exposure and exacerbations of Asthma, COPD, Bronchitis, and Pneumonia. Studies have linked fine PM to increased risks of heart attacks and sudden death from cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, or stroke. The epidemiological data specifically linking wildfire smoke exposure to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been mixed, although several recent studies identified elevated risks of specific health outcomes, including emergency department visits for: Ischemic heart disease, Dysrhythmia, Heart failure, Pulmonary embolism, and Stroke.
Most healthy people generally recover quickly from wildfire exposure, while sensitive populations are at greater risk. The risk of health effects due to wildfire smoke exposure appears to vary throughout a lifetime, being generally higher in childhood, lower in young adults, and increasing in middle age through older age as the prevalence of heart, lung, and metabolic disease increases. Pregnancy is also a period of unique vulnerability for both the pregnant person and developing fetus. Others may experience more severe symptoms due to biological factors (e.g., life stage or pre-existing medical condition) and extrinsic, non-biologic factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, lack of access to adequate housing, lack of access to healthcare, etc.).
Wildfire Adaptation and Resiliency:
While wildfires will continue to impact and change Napa County’s and California’s landscapes, climate, and impacts to residents, there are strategies that we can take to better prepare for wildfires and their adverse effects.
David Shew is the Fire Administrator for Napa County and will present on a 30-year Fire Resiliency Plan. Following David Shew’s presentation, the Napa County Chief Building Official will present on updates to building codes and construction materials to mitigate fire risk and other strategies that building departments, developers, and residents and businessowners can take.
Since the Fire Administration Team began their jobs on October 31, 2023, the staff has spent six months engaging with various groups in numerous meetings across the County. These meetings have resulted in an engaging dialogue about the role of the new Fire Administration, and staff has listened to ideas about past, current, and future ideas about fire resiliency. These conversations have culminated in a vision of a more fire resilient future for Napa County.
This presentation today will describe what that future may look like, outline a proposed plan composed of five key tenets to help achieve the plan, and describe how the current efforts being performed across the County today have provided a solid platform on which to continue. This plan will involve funding initiatives, policy and code adoptions, public education, vegetation management, and upgrades to our built environment and infrastructure. The plan is designed to span a thirty-year period to ensure these new actions are firmly in place, and more importantly, that there is broad acceptance to these social impacts and paradigm shifts that will occur.
David Giudice is the Chief Building Official for Napa County and will present on an overview of Wildland-Urban Interface Code Requirements, areas of structures that are vulnerable to fires, and types of materials and methods used in new construction to mitigate fire risk.