Letter: Preventing another Camp Fire - South Lake Tahoe a very high fire hazard severity zone

As we close out a challenging year for California’s fire service, leadership from California Fire Chiefs Association, Fire Districts Association of California, League of Cities Fire Chiefs Department and Metro Chiefs met this week with Governor-Elect Newsom’s staff to set the stage for 2019 and establish a working relationship with the incoming administration.

Calling public safety one of the Governor-Elect’s highest priorities, staff for the Governor-Elect sought out our ideas about how to improve public safety response and enhance community resiliency in the face of worsening wildfires and other climate-driven disasters.

During the extended meeting, fire chief leaders discussed local EMS delivery, further strengthening California’s Mutual Aid response through the expanded use of pre-positioning and modernizing dispatch communications. We also discussed the need to continue progress on addressing growing safety threats through long-term solutions such as prevention, education, vegetation management and growth planning. We left the meeting with a deep appreciation of the Governor-Elect’s commitment to leading ongoing, critical work in these areas.

As we look ahead, it’s clear that 2019 will be another busy year for policymaking to address increasing threats to our communities. CalChiefs is proud to partner our fellow fire chiefs organizations, organized labor and local government groups to ensure our voices are heard at the highest levels of California government.
We invite you to share our social media posts about this important meeting on Twitter (click here) and on Facebook (click here).

- Jeff Meston, President,California Fire Chiefs Association and South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief

In the photo above: Left to right: Fire Chief Dan Stefano (President, League of Cities Fire Chiefs Dept.), Fire Chiefs Steven Hall (FDAC President), Fire Chief Ed Rodriguez (CalChiefs President-Elect), Fire Chief Jeff Carman (Metro Chiefs President), Fire Chief David Rocha (incoming Metro Chiefs President), Fire Chief Jeff Meston (CalChiefs President), Fire Chief Mark Hartwig (CalChiefs Immediate Past President), Fire Chief (retired) Tracey Hansen (CalChiefs Executive Director)