Warnings: Grand juries told 3 hard-hit counties long ago about firefighting concerns
Long before infernos hit Wine Country and other parts of Northern California this week, grand juries in three affected counties raised concerns about poorly maintained roads that could impede access to rural areas hit by disaster, difficulties recruiting and training volunteer firefighters and budget deficits that were “depleting” fire department reserves.
It’s unclear whether these deficiencies, seen in Napa, Sonoma and Butte counties, impacted initial local responses to the deadly wildfires that are projected to cost billions of dollars. Some experts say the flames spread by unrelenting winds, low humidity and years of drought-parched vegetation were impossible to prepare for or predict under any circumstances.
“We’re fighting two forces of nature: fire and wind,” said Michael McLaughlin, California director
for the Western Fire Chiefs Association. “And when they work in tandem, there’s not much as humans we’re able to do to curb that.”
In Sonoma County, a 2013 civil grand jury report that examined the county’s disaster readiness found that many rural roads were in disrepair after years of neglect and underfunding, with some “deteriorated to a crisis condition.” Impassable roads, the report noted, “can hamper emergency response, evacuation, medical care, and fire response efforts.”
“If you have dangerous roads or bridges, there are all kinds of concerns,” said Michele Steinberg, wildfire division manager for the National Fire Protection Association. “Can we get in? Can the people trying to leave get out at the same time? And can the firefighters themselves leave when they’re done dealing with the fires?”
The report said Sonoma County would need to spend $920 million on street maintenance over the next decade. To address the poor condition of roads, the Board of Supervisors adopted a plan in 2014 designed to improve more than half of the county’s roadways within a decade, focusing first on heavily trafficked thoroughfares, but recent county reports show much work still needs to be done.
Whether the crumbling rural roadways affected emergency vehicles trying to reach fires in the area is not known. Local officials were unable to respond immediately to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, the Napa County Fire Department, which is responsible for combatting blazes in unincorporated communities and some towns, has faced long-standing challenges with its firefighting program.
As in many rural fire departments, most of the staff in Napa County are volunteers. The agency, which oversees nine volunteer companies and five full-time paid stations, is run by the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
As one Cal Fire official noted in a 2012 report: “Napa County cannot survive” without volunteer firefighters, who are cost-effective and often first at the scene in rural areas.
Two years ago, the Napa County civil grand jury found that training and certifying volunteer firefighters was an “ongoing struggle,” since classes were sparse and offered at inconvenient times for people with full-time jobs.
Recruiting and training volunteer firefighters is a problem nationwide, as the ranks have experienced a long-term decline. When veteran volunteers retire, it has become harder to replace them — particularly since their responsibilities have grown.
“In the old days, you taught people how to put water on a fire, the basics of how to attack a home or structure fire. But now a huge percentage of calls to the fire department have nothing to do with fires,” Steinberg said. “The job also calls for paramedic-type work, hazmat response — which is very complex — fire-prevention eduction in the community and in schools.”
While many departments have problems staffing volunteer fire programs, the Napa County grand jury also uncovered shortcomings particular to the local agency.
In 2015, the grand jury said an advisory committee set up to review concerns about the Fire Department was meeting irregularly and not publicly posting many of its agendas. At the time, county officials and committee members pledged to fix the issues.
The same year, the grand jury pointed out that volunteer firefighters who worked “cover assignments” — in which they did a shift alongside Cal Fire crews — were not being promptly paid by the county for their hours. It took from three to nine months for volunteers to be reimbursed, the investigation found, and required multiple steps.
When the grand jury recommended that firefighters be paid within 30 days, county officials rejected the suggestion, saying the state was responsible for compensation.
Napa County Fire Department officials were unable to respond immediately to requests for comment from The Chronicle on the issues, and what has been done to address them.
To the north, in Butte County, where fires this week had scorched nearly 15,000 acres as of Friday, local officials were warned just months ago that a budget shortfall of roughly $3 million was having serious impacts on fire operations.
Butte County — whose Fire Department is the largest in the state north of Sacramento and also uses a mix of Cal Fire and volunteer crews — has faced a “depletion of reserves to meet the increasing costs of basic fire protection,” according to a grand jury report released this year.
Residents and fire personnel told grand jury members that they feared that budget issues could result in longer response times, increased reliance on volunteers, and a lack of resources to train volunteers.
At two Butte County fire stations, investigators on the local grand jury also found “notable structural and utility deficiencies,” including high levels of bacteria, nitrates and sediment in the water. At one station, the amount of coliform bacteria made it impossible to use the water for drinking, personal hygiene, laundry or cooking, the grand jury said.
At the time the report was issued, Butte County’s contract with Cal Fire was close to expiring, and the county was deciding how to move forward.
Butte County officials were unable to immediately respond to a request for comment from The Chronicle about the issues.