Events

Marin Wildfire Forum: Countywide Collaboration Key to Maximizing Wildfire Prevention

Published

7 years ago

April 29, 2019

Free public event set for Saturday, May 4, in San Rafael

There are more than 260,000 people living in Marin County, served by 11 municipal governments and 16 fire agencies. But when it comes to wildfire, jurisdictional boundaries disappear.

“Like a flood or an earthquake, a wildfire knows no boundaries,” said Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber. “It’s imperative that we work together to prevent wildfire and to be prepared for wildfire for the good of our entire community.”

Assuring that countywide coordination will be a key topic during the Marin Wildfire Forum, scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 4, at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael.

Following the devastating fires that hit Sonoma and Napa in 2017, fire chiefs in Marin collaborated with other officials to develop the “Lessons Learned” report that created a roadmap for Marin’s own wildfire prevention and emergency preparedness efforts. The report emphasized that in addition to expanding on existing work, a coordinated countywide approach to wildfire prevention and community preparedness will be critical to meeting the local wildfire challenge.

“The fire chiefs have always been a cohesive group, but these recent fires have certainly brought us closer together,” Chief Bill Tyler, Novato Fire Protection District and current president of the Marin County Fire Chiefs Association told the Marin County Board of Supervisors recently. “These events make it very clear that we must address our wildfire challenge at a greater community level rather than by individual jurisdictions. We know it has to happen. Now it’s just about how to do it.”

The free countywide public forum is an opportunity for residents to learn about local wildfire prevention happening in neighborhoods throughout the county, vegetation management projects on open space lands, emergency preparedness efforts at the community level, and what needs to happen next to meet “Lesson’s Learned” goals. Attendees will also hear from former Paradise, California, resident Shannamar Dewey, learn what they can do to protect their home and property, and discover ways to work together to make Marin as wildfire safe and emergency ready as possible.

At the forum, Tyler plans to present work areas identified as best approached strategically and collaboratively across the county.

“The fire chiefs all agree that countywide participation and coordination is needed to ensure that we have the resources we need to be effective, that those resources are managed efficiently, and that communities throughout the county are as safe and resilient as possible,” Tyler said.

The forum is being hosted by the nonprofit FIRESafe Marin, the Marin County Fire Chiefs Association, the County of Marin, and Firewise USA. Although the forum is free to attend, attendees are encouraged to register online Embassy Suites is located at 101 McInnis Parkway in San Rafael.

Oakland Post

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Related Topics:Marin County wildfire prevention wildfire training

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Arts and Culture

Fayeth Gardens Holds 3rd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration at Hayward City Hall on Dec. 28

Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – Nguzu Saba – that support an ideal of community, beginning from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Those principles, in Swahili, are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (Collective Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

Published

1 day ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

The Pride and Joy Band performed at the first annual Kwanzaa celebration sponsored by Fayeth Gardens. Courtesy photo.

Entertainment, vendors, and special honors for Sankofa Lifetime Achievement awardees

Special to The Post

Celebrating Ujima, the principle of ‘Collective Work and Responsibility,’ Fayeth Gardens’ 3^rd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration will be held on Dec. 28, from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – Nguzu Saba – that support an ideal of community, beginning from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Those principles, in Swahili, are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (Collective Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

The free event at Hayward City Hall at 777 B St. will feature live entertainment, a guest speaker, awards for community activists whose work reflects the principle of Ujima, vendors and an honoring of the ancestors by Awon Ohun Omnira (Voices of Freedom).

On stage will be the Touch of Class Band, a New Orleans Second-Line Band, and the California Griot Storytellers. Bring the children to have fun in the Kids Korner.

Velda Goe, who has been celebrating Kwanzaa since it started in the 1960s, noticed there was no public celebration of the holiday in Hayward when she moved to the city in 2008.

“I started it a couple of years ago,” she said, “and hopefully it will continue just like the cultural events by other nationalities (in Hayward). The Afro-descendent people of Hayward deserve cultural recognition as well.”

Goe also believes it’s important that Kwanzaa gets its due because “there are so many misconceptions,” particularly by people of other nationalities, who are under the impression “that Kwanzaa is a cult, a religion, or replaces Christmas.”

The celebration, which is open to all, can have the effect of helping guests see that Kwanzaa’a principles and purpose are common to all

This year’s Sankofa Lifetime Awardees are:

Mrs. Freddye M. Davis: President of the South Hayward NAACP
•Baba Arnold X.C. Perkins: Co-founder of the Brotherhood of Elders
•Frederick Jordan,: Legendary founder of F.E. Jordan & Associates and the Design Engineer for the Charles P. Howard Container Terminal at the Port of Oakland + 1,000 Projects

Come dressed up in your best African wear to enter a raffle for a prize for best-dressed Afrocentric King and Queen.A free, healthy soul food lunch is available with an Eventbrite ticket, which can be found at for free lunch is available from for 11:30 to 12 p.m.

In its third year, the event is the brainchild of Velda Goe, founder of Fayeth Gardens, a community planting site to educate and provide a means for urban dwellers to grow healthy food for their families and develop life-sustaining eating habits.

Interested in being a vendor, volunteer, or sponsor? Reach out to FayethGardens@gmail.com

For tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fayeth-gardens-3rd-annual-kwanzaa-celebration-at-hayward-city-hall-tickets-1974966953322