By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  County Fire inspectors examine a home's exterior looking for fire vulnerabilities.

June 14, 2022 (San Diego) - The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to establish a Home Hardening Program as part of a state pilot program to encourage homeowners to create fire-resistant homes.

By Julie Cart, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

Photo:  Camp Fire via U.S. Forest Service

March 27, 2022 (San Diego) - As record-breaking drought fuels another potentially dangerous wildfire season, the state auditor reported today that state officials are failing to hold California’s electric utilities accountable for preventing fires caused by their equipment.

By Miriam Raftery

July 3, 2021 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services is asking all County residents to fill out a survey about the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program.  The SDG&E program to shut off power during high fire-risk conditions has sparked controversy across the backcountry among residents left without electricity to power their homes, businesses, wells pumps, and other vital needs. The deadline to complete the survey is July 13.

The survey asks residents whether they received adequate notification of such outages and whether they experienced financial losses, among other details – the first step toward documenting impacts of the program and potentially leading to changes.

Source: Cal Fire and San Diego Sheriff

June 18, 2021 (San Diego) -- As we enter our summer fire season, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) are reminding the public, it is against the law to fly a drone near or over a wildfire. Firefighting aircraft could be grounded, disrupting critical fire operations. Time is of the essence. 

Click on the video to watch.

The areas given protection include these zip codes near the destructive Valley Fire in San Diego’s East County:  91901,  91905, 91906, 91914, 91915, 91916, 91917, 91935, 91962, 91963, 91978, 91980,  92021, 92019, 92021, 92040, and  92154.

By James Bikales, CALmatters

CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  A firefighter hoses down a burning home to help stop the spread of the fire to nearby homes in the Skyhawk community as the Shady Fire burns in Santa Rosa, on Sept. 28, 2020. Photo by Dai Sugano, Bay Area News Group

November 12, 2020 (Sacramento) - As this year’s historic wildfire season winds down, Californians living in fire-prone territory got temporary relief from another threat: they can’t lose their homeowners’ insurance policies for another year.

By Jose Eli Villanueva, County of San Diego Communications Office

October 24, 2020 (San Diego) - County emergency responders have a new tool to help keep homeowners in unincorporated areas safe during a wildfire or medical emergency. It’s called a Knox Box and when it comes to being prepared for disaster… this may be just the key.

Contact us to see if you qualify.

Call:  858-974-5744 

Email:  FireCRR@sdcounty.ca.gov 

Visit:  sandiegocounty.gov/sdcfa 

Source: California Dept. of Insurance

Photo: Creative Commons via Bing

October 16, 2020 (Los Angeles) -- With devastating fires continuing to burn across California, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is convening an investigatory hearing to initiate a series of regulatory actions that will protect residents from the increasing risk of wildfires. Commissioner Lara is taking action to stabilize the insurance market while protecting lives and homes, reducing catastrophic wildfire losses and increasing transparency for consumers. 

By Miriam Raftery

By Julie Cart, CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Residents evacuating from the Holy Fire near Lake Elsinore in 2018. Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG

November 21, 2019 (San Diego's East County) - When a fast-moving wildfire marched toward the town of Paradise more than a year ago, few who lived there were aware of it. Even though the community used the CodeRED automated emergency warning system, less than 40% of residents subscribed to the alerts.

By Julie Cart and Judy Lin, Calmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo by Naveen Nkadalaveni, Wikimedia Commons

October 27, 2019 (San Diego's East County) - Introduction:  if it seems that wildfires are burning nearly all the time these days, that there’s no longer a definable fire season in California, you’re right. Fourteen of the 20 most destructive fires in state history have occurred since 2007, and California has 78 more annual “fire days” now than it had 50 years ago.

East County News Service

October 16, 2019 (San Diego) -- Because fire season is now a year-round threat in San Diego, enlisting the support of community volunteers is critical to ensure the safety of the County. The Fire Safe Council of San Diego County is encouraging communities to create local fire safe councils to increase their neighborhood’s chances of surviving a wildfire. San Diego County currently has 41 community fire safe councils – the most of any county in the state – and they want to see that number grow.  

Source:  CAL FIRE

October 8, 2019 (Sacramento) - CAL FIRE firefighters are staffing up and preparing for the forecasted extreme fire weather across California. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings and fire weather watches for areas of northern, central and southern California. This will likely be the strongest offshore wind event so far this season.