The Richmond Standard

Richmond Fire Chief Aaron Osorio advocated for community education over enforcement when it comes to city properties that are at risk for wildland fires.

The chief made this recommendation at Richmond City Council on Tuesday while summarizing how his department is addressing the potential for destructive wildfires, a topic that is on everyone’s minds amid the devastating Greater Los Angeles wildfires.

The City Council voted to form an ad-hoc committee of councilmembers and city staff to work on wildfire preparedness and mitigation, to conduct community outreach and to assess what is needed to best prepare city neighborhoods impacted by wildfires, including possible enforcement on at-risk properties.

Osorio says a lot is already being done in terms of wildfire preparedness in the city. He advocated to increase community education on wildfire risks, prevention, and response, particularly at a time when the nation’s attention is on the subject.

“I think we need to balance what we’re seeing on TV, what we’re seeing in the media,” the chief said. “There’s a lot of misinformation that has gone on about how [the Greater LA fires were] handled. So, I think really being able to have the community ask questions would solve a lot of the concerns.”

According to the state, areas designated within the “high severity zone” for wildfires exist primarily in the Carriage Hills and May Valley areas of Richmond.

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Areas considered at high risk for wildfires encompass about 8% of the city, Chief Osorio said. He noted other areas of the city face different emergency risks, such as industrial incidents, shoreline and marine responses and the impacts of earthquakes including liquefaction.

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