Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grants Program

2002 Request for Proposal

Section A: Organizational Information

(Please do not retype the proposal form. Responses should be typed on this document.)

Organization Name:

Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation aka Coastside Fire Safe Council

Project Name:

Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Detection-Wireless Alarm System

Contact Person/Title:

Oscar Braun, Executive Director

Organization Address:

1589 Higgins Canyon Road

City, State, Zip:

Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

County:

San Mateo

Phone:

(650) 726-3307

Fax:

(650) 726-2799

Email:

oscar@saveourbay.org

Latitude of project location:

41.1

Longitude of project location:

131.9

Grant Amount Requested:

$57,920.

Have you previously applied for a Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grant?

Yes No

Have you previously received a Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grant?

Yes No

Are you submitting multiple proposals for consideration?

Yes No

If yes, how many?

Two 2

If yes, rank this proposal in order of importance to your organization (i.e. 1^st of 5 proposals):

#2 Two

Describe the community in which the project will be implemented: It is no secret that the San Mateo County (SMC) Rural Coastal Zone (RCZ) stores the Bay Areas most valuable resources. The SMC RCZ wildland watershed is a State Responsibility Area (SRA) which includes the coastal unincorporated Rural Lands communities with approximately 6,161 residents and is also haven for a variety of habitats which supports the highest concentration of rare, threatened, and endangered species in the Bay Area. The San Andreas, the Lower & Upper Crystal Springs and the Pilarcitos Reservoirs, nestled between the Santa Cruz Mountains and Hwy 280 , are said to contain some of the purest drinking water in the United States. What is not well known is that the spectacular and beautiful surrounding rural landscape harbors a serious threat to this prized commodity. Long years without a major wildfire have allowed a serious buildup of biomass that could, according to the California State Auditor’s SFPUC February 2000 Report, fuel a catastrophic firestorm in a region that lacks a rapid fire response capability enjoyed by most inner-city fire departments. A major wildfire driven by blazing hot Santa Ana winds could explode over and beyond the eastern facing slopes above the reservoirs only to be stopped at our coastal waters edge after stripping the groundcover of its ability to hold back soil and long hidden pollutants when the heavy rains come. The last major wildfire in this SMC RCZ watershed occurred in 1946 which resulted in reduced capacity of the reservoirs because of the vast sedimentation that followed the fires. The GGNRA Fire Management Plan records describe the damaging 1946 wildland fire as having lasted for six weeks, completely burning down the small coastal community of Montara. The Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District alerted SMC RCZ coastal communities in 2001 that all the conditions that caused the disastrous 1946 wildfires currently exist in our coastal watershed. Unfettered public access, high temperatures, blazing hot winds, steep hills, excessive wildland vegetation, drought affected plants, narrow roads, slow wildland fire detection and densely populated wildland /urban interface (WUI) area  neighborhoods all contribute to firestorms.

Section B: Project Summary

Project Type (please refer to Background and Program Information for more details):			Hazardous Fuel Reduction
			Information and Education
			Risk reduction planning for communities
Provide a brief description of the fire safety hazards within the community:
The focus of this proposal is the wildland/urban interface of Half Moon Bay Coastside and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area/San Francisco Peninsula Watershed. The absence of a major wildfire over the last 100-years in this area has produced a dangerous buildup of biomass fuel, and typical fuel management practices have only been partially effective due to the 1999 mitigation prohibition ruling under the Coastal Act, lack of revenues and WUI communities support. As a result, the lives and property of the inhabitants of Half Moon Bay & Coastside communities as well as the Hetch Hetchy supplied drinking water of the entire Bay Area could be threatened within minutes of a wildfire ignition.
Have these hazards been identified in a local, state, or federal fire agency plan? Yes No
Name of agency:	CDF & HMB Fire District	Contact Person/Phone:		CDP Unit Chief Steve Wert 831-335-8700, HMBFPD Chief Steve Ashe 650-726-5213
Does your project serve “at risk” communities as identified by the California Fire Alliance? Yes No
Ambient would be responsible for the installation of a 4 units system that would create a defensive perimeter measuring ½ mile by 2-miles between Golden Gate National Recreation Area/San Francisco Watershed and Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation Fire Safe Council’s prescribed burn specialists under the supervision of HMBFPD would conduct a series of wildfire ignitions of 8’x8’ at unannounced intervals and different locations within the defensive perimeter during any 24-hour period for the 4-month test phase. The consistent detection of an ignition and the dependable transmission of a wireless alarm to a Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council receiver within 4-minutes would constitute a successful demonstration of the system. The FireALERT system also includes a medical emergency-lost hiker feature. The feature gives the receiver an exact location of a lost or incapacitated person within the wildland, potentially saving lives and the allocation of resources required to conduct large search and rescue missions. A successful demonstration of the FireALERT system would encourage the Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council to seek additional funding to enlarge the system. A larger system could expand the defensive perimeter to the other coastal communities [Montara, Moss Beach, Princeton, El Granada, Miramar, San Gregorio, Pescadero, etc.] that interface with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area/San Francisco Watershed and the Santa Cruz Mountains wildland. The larger system would permit the up linking of a wildfire detection alarm to satellite, and down linking it to an existing National Interagency Fire Center communication system. This would make it possible to rapidly deploy personnel and equipment to an exact location when an ignition was detected in the WUI area.
In this economy of scale production scenario, the cost of the system would be approximately $.50 per acre per year when amortized over the expected life of the system. A successful demonstration of a scaled up system could also promote its eventual inclusion in the wildland/urban interface building codes to improve the response time to wildfires in the wildland and encourage insurance companies to offer premium reductions when FireALERT systems are used in high-risk areas.
Describe how a Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grant would be used for this project:
The Wildfire Prevention Grant would be used to fund the FireALERT circuit board design and assembly; the FireALERT tooling design; the manufacture of 5 FireALERT units [includes backup spare] and 3 wireless receivers; the design and manufacture of FireALERT mounting columns; and the installation of 4 units. The Grant would also be used to fund Ambient’s engineering staff travel expenses to the field site and Coastside Fire Safe Council’s management expenses.
Briefly describe the population, including the number of people and homes, that will benefit from your project:
The Half Moon Bay Coastside WUI communities consists of approximately 28,000 residents in approximately 7,000 dwellings. The Benefit to the FireALERT sentinel system is that the coastal WUI communities would have a state of the art 21^st Century early warning fire alert system not currently deployed in the Coastal Zone WUI watershed area. Early Detection Is The Best DEFENSE Against a Catastrophic Wildfire.

List all private, local, tribal, state, and federal organizations involved in this project (If any federal, state or local government agencies are participating, please attach a letter of commitment to this project, which outlines their involvement and in-kind services they are contributing):

Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation aka Coastside Fire Safe Council

Ambient Control Systems

CDF

Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District

Local Fire Agency?

Does this project affect lands or communities near or adjacent to federal lands? Yes No (If yes, describe the land and ownership of the land (i.e. BLM, USFS, BIA, etc.)

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is federal land administered by the National Park Service.

Section C: Project Implementation and Evaluation

Describe how your organization will implement and complete the project (please include a brief timeline for project implementation):

Upon release of funds in late June of 2002, Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council would issue a purchase order to Ambient to commence design and manufacture of 5 FireALERT units. The target completion date of units and installation of system would be in late July of 2002. Upon completion of installation of system, Half Moon Bay Safe Council would conduct testing of the system on a random basis commencing in August of 2002 through the end of November of 2002. Incremental cash payments to Ambient would be based upon completion of assigned task[s].

Ambient would be responsible for the installation of 4 FireALERT units along a defensive perimeter measuring ½ mile in width and 2-miles long within the wildland area east of Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council’s prescribed burn specialists would conduct a series of wildfire ignitions of 8’x8’ at unannounced intervals/locations within the demonstration area during any 24-hour period for the 4-month test phase.

The consistent detection of an ignition and the dependable transmission of a wireless alarm to a Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council receiver within 4-minutes would constitute a successful demonstration of the system. Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council and Ambient would also attempt to trick the system into false alarms using an assortment of non-wildfire chemical signatures.

Ambient would provide a weekly, and a final report, of all system performance data gathered during the demonstration project as well as all other relevant wildfire detection-wireless alarm data discovered during the 4-month project. They would also post the information on their website. All reports would be reviewed and approved by Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation before release.

Upon a successful completion of the 4-month demonstration project, the Half Moon Bay Fire Safe Council would integrate the wireless alarm system into the local wildfire emergency network and pursue additional funding to expand the system to the other coastal communities on the Peninsula.

Describe the process you used in designing your approach to fire safety issues and your reasons for selecting this approach (i.e. describe how you assessed community needs, describe whether you worked with local California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection plans and/or local fire agency pre-fire plans):

The Half Moon Bay Coastside Fire Safe Council assessed the community needs with regards to safety by applying the goals and objectives of the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District, CDF, California Fire Plan and National Fire Plan. Ergo:The absence of a major wildfire over the last 100-years in this area has produced a dangerous buildup of biomass fuel, and typical fuel management practices have only been partially effective due to the lack of resources and a sensitive ecosystem. An early warning WUI FireALERT is the most cost effective way implement the objectives the California Fire Plan.

Describe the effect or change you anticipate the project having within the community (i.e. community safety, behavioral changes, etc.): The high risk level of the SMC coastal communities having a “catastrophic WUI wildfire” is very greatly reduced with the deployment of a state of art early warning FireALERT sentinel system.

Describe how you will measure the effectiveness of the project and the effective use of the Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grant:

The Coastside Fire Safe Council will measure the effectiveness of the WUI FireALERT defense perimeter project by the providing a consistent and reliable fire alert sentinel sy7stem of all “ wildland fire signatures” in the WUI SMC coastal area. Early detection is the greatest defense against a catastrophic WUI wildfire.

Section D: Budget Information

Project Revenue
	Grants		Donations		In-kind		Other		Total
Homeowners	$
Tribes	$
County grants/contracts	$
State grants/contracts	$
Federal grants/contracts	$
Foundation grants	$
Special events	$
Other	$
TOTAL REVENUE	$
Project Expenses - List expenditures in left column (i.e. chipper rental, hand crew labor, inspectors, project managers, dozers, etc.)
		Amount		In-kind		Other		Total
Salaries & wages		$
Employee benefits		$
Supplies		$
Equipment & maintenance		$37,000
Contractual/consulting fees		$14,920		20,400
Other Management Fees		$$6,000.
Other		$
Other		$
Other		$
Other		$
Other		$
TOTAL EXPENSES		$57,920.		32,400
Has this project been submitted or will it be submitted to any other funding sources? Yes No If yes, provide description, including name of funding source, below:

Please submit six (6) copies of your proposal to:

Sacramento Regional Foundation

ATTN: Community-Based Wildfire Prevention Grants Program

555 Capitol Mall, Suite 550

Sacramento, CA 95814

All proposals must be received by 5:00pm on March 29, 2002