By Chris Cullander and Jennifer S. Pellman
BPWA has been accorded the status of a Fire Safe Council. This status will increase awareness of the value of Berkeley’s paths, and it may also be a source of funding for developing them for safety and use.
Fire Safe Councils are grassroots, community-led organizations that help protect residents from the dangers of catastrophic wildfires. BPWA already works on this important issue — it’s part of our mission. And since we also met the administrative requirements to become a Fire Safe Council, we applied. The California Fire Safe Council provides technical assistance and support to local councils, and its Grants Clearinghouse distributes support from regional, state, federal, and private funding programs.
Fuel breaks and accessibility: Most of Berkeley paths sit inside a 10-foot-wide public right-of-way. These paths can act as fuel breaks for low-intensity, ground-based fires. Our paths can also be an extension of the defensible space of adjoining structures, and they have provided firefighters with rear or side access to the properties that abut a pathway.
Evacuation: Since the paths are often the fastest routes to safety, they are a natural fit for inclusion in the two evacuation walk-out routes recommended by the Berkeley Fire Department. BPWA is working to add handrails and lighting to the paths, which will help in the evacuation of vulnerable communities in the very-high wildfire hazard severity zones of Berkeley. Vulnerable communities in the Berkeley hills include seniors, people with disabilities, and all residents living near or on narrow roads that are easily blocked or difficult for fire vehicles to navigate.
BPWA as a Fire Safe Council: The focus of our Fire Safe Council is the paths. Becoming a council did not require BPWA to change its name, mission, or structure, and it will not require additional reporting (unless we manage to get a grant!). Unfortunately, residents will not be able to obtain funding for neighborhood projects through BPWA unless the project directly involve the paths.
BPWA’s mission includes maintaining the paths, building new paths, offering free guided walks (such as our recent Escape from the Hills event), educating people about the paths, and publishing a map of the paths.
For general information, visit California Fire Safe Council, and see a map of Fire Safe Councils (use MS Edge browser; Firefox doesn’t work).