Rebuilding With Resilience

The County is helping neighborhoods ravaged by recent firestorms rebuild smartly, writes CSO Climate Resilience Officer Matthew Gonser.

What role is the County playing in fire recovery efforts? 

The County has been coordinating response and relief alongside the impacted cities, state and federal partners, and private philanthropy and nonprofits. This has included coordination of response and recovery task forces covering many important issues, such as schools, debris removal, health and social services, temporary housing, economic recovery, cultural and natural resources, watersheds, infrastructure, and rebuilding and long-term recovery. Elected officials and department leadership and staff have been on the ground with residents and businesses, participating in virtual and in-person meetings, at disaster recovery centers and now the one-stop permitting centers for those looking to rebuild.

The County maintains an extensive post-fire website, including information and resources for relief and recovery, rebuilding and permitting information and FAQs. It can direct residents to respective jurisdictions for rebuilding, electric and water utilities, school districts, etc. All County communications and updates are available here: recovery.lacounty.gov/ 

Can you explain all the overlapping jurisdictions and which County agencies are leading recovery efforts?

This one disaster created two major impact areas, about 24 miles apart (as the crow flies, or about 35 miles via the 10 or the 101/405), each spanning three jurisdictions (the County and two cities), with different water and electrical utilities, and with unique community, cultural, and topographical conditions. 

Altadena is the largest impacted unincorporated community. Other unincorporated areas include Kinneloa Mesa in the Eaton Fire impact area, Sunset Mesa in the Palisades Fire impact area along with other parts of the Santa Monica Mountains. Sunset Mesa sits perched above the Pacific Coast Highway between the cities of Malibu and Los Angeles, which were severely impacted by the Palisades Fire. The Eaton Fire also damaged structures in the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre.

The County is the lead for recovery and rebuilding processes in Altadena, and has responsibilities for other impacted areas, too. For example, the County Departments of Regional Planning and Public Works, along with Fire and Public Health, have permitting authorities for unincorporated areas like Altadena and Sunset Mesa. And the Fire and Public Health departments also have health and safety permitting responsibilities for the City of Malibu. There are also many local neighborhood groups engaging with government agencies and private philanthropy. 

What role is the Chief Sustainability Office playing in fire recovery and planning? What task forces are we part of?

The CSO has been actively engaged with multiple task forces. Our primary focus now is being part of the Rebuilding and Long-Term Recovery Task Force. The group will soon release a Resilient Rebuild Resource Guide to assist property owners and their design and building teams. We will provide guidance on how to build efficient and resilient structures and properties, including incentives and rebates for fire-wise and water-efficient landscapes and fire-resilient, energy-smart structures. 

Can you fill us in on some key milestones coming up in terms of policy or planning recommendations?

As of April 15, we have now passed the extended timeline for property owners to opt in for free debris removal support. This is a critical step toward rebuilding and progress is tracked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers here. There have been multiple initiatives to advance fire recovery recommendations, including those established by elected officials, those by private nonprofits, and from private membership organizations, as well as other public polling for what impacted residents and residents of the region think is important for resilient recovery. There is early alignment in certain ideas for short- and long-term recovery, and coordination is ongoing. 

What are some of the topic areas that CSO can offer guidance?

The CSO is sharing sustainability and fire resilience guidance for property-scale and neighborhood-scale discussions. Truly though there is a wealth of expertise in the region and a great desire to recover smartly and resiliently, and to bring these practices to other communities with fire risk. The collaboration and coordination are encouraging. Identifying resources to bring those good ideas to life remains mission critical.

How do we balance the needs of homeowners in the area – who are going through a lot of personal economic pain right now – with larger goals of community and regional sustainability?

This event really demonstrates what can happen when the conditions for fire ignition and extreme spread are present. The direct and indirect impacts from these catastrophic fires underscore the enormous challenge climate change poses in our region. Medium-term, we need to phase out fossil fuel use, which is causing extreme heat and weather whiplash, from rains to prolonged droughts. These conditions will lead to more frequent and more intense wildfires in the decades to come. We need to rebuild with that in mind and prepare appropriately. The strategies for safer and efficient buildings, properties, and neighborhoods in the fire-impacted regions are consistent with regional sustainability and climate resilience goals for the entire County.  But more resources are necessary to support these resilience efforts – both through the recovery process and beyond. 

What are some of the key lessons and takeaways from a resilience/sustainability lens that we have gained from this tragedy?

We have gained a greater understanding of the conditions that can transform a wildland fire into an urban conflagration.  As much as dry vegetation is fuel for fires, the management of properties and the materials and design of structures can also either facilitate or prevent more fire spread. This science and such standards will guide a resilient rebuild and must also inform retrofitting other neighborhoods with fire risk.

Buildings can catch fire from direct flame contact and radiant heat from nearby flames. Research on building destruction versus survival in wild-to-urban fires points to embers and small flames as the leading cause of ignition. Embers are burning pieces of airborne particles that can be carried more than a mile by the wind. They can cause spot fires and ignite buildings, debris, and other objects. A combination of fire-wise construction and landscaping, and community-scale practices, can help buildings withstand windblown embers by minimizing the likelihood of flames touching a building or any attachments and reducing the chance of fire spreading. 

The Resilient Rebuilding Resource Guide will be available at the County's recovery website. In the interim, two great resources are:

• National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA ®) Wildfire Division
• Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) - Wildfire Prepared Program

Both offer trusted information, clear and specific fact-sheets, and step-wise checklists for property owners to consider for either rebuilding or for retrofitting a property and building.

Building-hardening and defensible-space become exponentially more effective when done at a larger scale. When planning is done at scale across whole neighborhoods, residents cut fuel bridges, reduce fire spread, and improve resilience.  

How can we better prepare with our existing stock and infrastructure for the wildfires that are sure to happen in years to come?

We need to aggressively prevent ignitions caused by equipment and people during extreme fire risk conditions, or severe red flag warnings. This includes addressing large scale electric utility interventions as well as risks like fireworks, illegal campfires, discarded cigarettes and car tailpipes near dry vegetation. And we need to support fire resilient and efficient rebuilds, along with supporting property retrofits in other locations. 

And how we might think about rebuilding for the future in these fire zones?

Guided by soon-to-be-adopted new state fire hazard maps, design standards and building codes will change in certain areas. Enhanced safety measures will now be required in vulnerable neighborhoods. The Palisades impact area was already mapped within a high fire hazard zone, but most buildings were built prior to these more modern performance standards. Communities will be more efficient and resilient when rebuilding takes place under these updated codes. In the Eaton impact area, fire damage extended well beyond the newly expanded fire hazard zone, however. Without changes, most of the rebuilding will not be required to align with the most protective standards. Hopefully, our Resilient Rebuild Resource Guide can empower survivors with the information and financial resources to ensure property and community resilience for generations to come.