On Monday, Nov. 1, the Santa Rosa Fire Department declared an end to the city’s 2021 wildfire season which began back in May, far earlier than usual due to California’s statewide drought. This news comes following an increase in rain across Sonoma County, starting with light rain on Oct. 17 and growing to an ‘atmospheric river’ a few days later.
According to the City of Santa Rosa’s website, where the Fire Department’s official statement was posted, the city received around 11 inches of rain in the month of October alone, not relieving the threat of the drought but largely reducing the risk of the fire season.
Despite this official end to the city’s fire season, the SRFD encourages the community to remain diligent in their efforts to reduce the threat of future fire seasons.
“During the off-season, the Fire Department encourages residents, especially those who live within or around the City’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) area, to take steps to prepare properties in anticipation of an active wildfire season next year,” read the SRFD’s statement, “Residents are asked to maintain defensible space around the homes by addressing new growth of vegetation that includes brush and tree limbs.”
The statement also included a comment on this year’s fire season from Chief of the Santa Rosa Fire Department, Scott Westrope.
“Fires were driven by weather, critically dry fuels under drought conditions and ranged from small spot fires to 50 acres in size. We planned and prepared for a busy season and thank our community for maintaining defensible space and keeping seasonal grasses cut and in compliance with our Weed Abatement Ordinance,” stated Westrope.
On Nov. 2, with an end to the city’s fire season, the SRFD also suspended their annual weed abatement inspection, which required Santa Rosa residents to keep their weeds and seasonal grasses down to a height of four inches or shorter.
Following the SRFD’s statement, PG&E said they would be pausing their fire prevention plan which involved power lines turning off when anything made contact with them. While the plan was successful, it angered many Sonoma County residents as it resulted in an increase in power outages and sudden blackouts that could last up to hours.
This 3-month prevention plan, which began back in September, was largely a result of PG&E’s involvement in the 2019 Kincade Fire which resulted in over 77,000 acres being burned, hundreds of homes lost, and around 200,000 people forced to evacuate.
CAL Fire had concluded the fire was started by a PG&E transmission line that broke due to high winds. In April of 2021, 33 criminal charges were filed against the company.
On Wednesday, Nov. 3, it was announced that PG&E had reached a $125 million settlement with California’s energy regulator over the tragic 2019 Fire.
A statement from the California Public Utilities Commission broke down the distribution of the settlement funds.
“Under the proposed settlement, PG&E shareholders would pay a $40 million penalty to California’s General Fund and incur an $85 million permanent disallowance for cost recovery for the permanent removal of abandoned transmission facilities within its service territory, for a total of $125 million,” read the statement.
While other Sonoma County City Fire Departments have yet to release any statements addressing an end to their city’s wildfire season, this news, along with the rain, comes as a welcomed relief to many Sonoma County residents who face the severe threats of wildfires each year.
