Congressman Sam Liccardo unveiled a regional partnership targeting wildfire preparedness in the West Santa Clara Valley that includes Los Gatos, Saratoga, the Santa Clara County Fire Department and the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council. About a quarter of Los Gatos and a quarter of Saratoga residents live in the Wildland Urban Interface, increasing exposure to wildfire risk. Local leaders urged homeowner action, home hardening and vegetation management. Demonstrated tools include a BurnBot vegetation masticator and N5 smoke sensors. The FireSafe Council partners with Ororatech, San Jose Water and NASA Ames for detection, mapping and ember analysis. Vegetation clearing projects in the Los Gatos Creek Watershed are funded by $15 million in CalFire grants.
If you live in the Wildland Urban Interface, you need to roll up your sleeves and do your part, not just to protect yourself, but to protect your neighbor, said Seth Schalet, CEO of the Saratoga-based nonprofit FireSafe Council. Schalet demonstrated some new technologies to mitigate wildfire risks at the press conference, held at St. Joseph's Hill Preserve in Los Gatos.
The council also works with NASA Ames Research Center to analyze embers and vegetation that can create far-reaching embers. Partnerships with San Jose Water, Santa Clara County Parks and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District have spurred vegetation clearing projects in the Los Gatos Creek Watershed to reduce the risk of a wildfire and improve forest health, funded by $15 million in CalFire grants.
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