ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Elk Grove and Galt are “well prepared” in the case of a wildfire, Cosumnes Fire Department Chief Felipe Rodriguez said during a presentation to the district board last week. 

The comment came during a wildfire preparedness presentation given to the Cosumnes Community Services District board around the same time several community agencies across the country are reassessing their wildfire preparedness in the wake of the devastating wildfires in Southern California in January. 

The fire department also had similar presentations scheduled for the Elk Grove City Council and the Galt City Council after press time. 

“I feel very confident after speaking to our chief and just my knowledge of this area and being in this Central Valley here for the last almost 26 years,” Rodriguez said. “I have seen what can happen out here and we have a little difference in our topography than the Pacific Palisades.” 

Fueled by powerful winds and dry conditions, a series of wildfires erupted on Jan. 7, ripping through the Los Angeles area. The fires started in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood east of Malibu, as a brush fire before growing to almost 23,500 acres, according to CAL FIRE. 

Shortly after, the Eaton Fire and the Hughes Fire erupted near a canyon in the national forest lands north of downtown Los Angeles and near Castaic Lake. Combined, the two fires burned over 24,400 acres. Other smaller fires also erupted in Los Angeles and have been completely contained.

According to Los Angeles County fire officials, 29 people died in the fires, 17 in the Eaton Fire and 12 in the Palisades Fire, in addition to an untold number of significant injuries. 

“I understand there are many types of fire,” Rodriguez said. “But based on what occurred in Los Angeles in the beginning of January, I think it’s very fitting that we allow our community to know where we are at in Elk Grove, Galt and all the parts of Sacramento County.”

Rodriguez pinpointed areas at Stonelake Refuge, rural east Elk Grove, rural areas of Galt and seasonal waterways where water tends to dry up throughout the year as potential “influence” areas, but none that compare to “very-high-risk” areas associated with the wildfires in Southern California.

Rodriguez added that fireworks, especially those that explode in the air, cause a greater risk. He said the department tends to stage additional resources around that time to respond to any potential fires but noted that multiple fires at one time could stress resources.  

“We have nine fire engines; we may staff a few extra, but if we have 20 or 30 fires at the same time you can’t get to all of them,” Rodriguez said. 

He also noted areas without hydrants, namely in older parts of the service area that run off wells, as a greater risk. 

Currently there are about 1,701 hydrants across Elk Grove that are inspected every three years, 5,631 hydrants for Sacramento County Water Agency that are inspected about every three to five years and 1,152 in Galt. An inspection schedule for Galt is currently under development, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez highlighted mitigation factors, including the investment of $11 million into new fire equipment over the past three years, a fire apparatus replacement plan, the addition of 30 new firefighters since 2020 as well as a strategic plan to combat a large fire. 

The department is also currently seeking accreditation through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.

Rodriguez said they are lucky to have plentiful access to water in the region, an issue that plagued firefighting efforts during the Palisades fires. 

There are multiple tanks across the South Sacramento and Elk Grove areas with over 30 million gallons of storage capacity, which work to maintain consistent water pressure during high-demand periods. 

“I have a lot of confidence in the water systems here,” Rodriguez said. 

District 5 Supervisor Pat Hume in his February newsletter provided an update on the region’s water systems and said that the Sacramento County Water Agency collaborates with the Cosumnes Fire Department and the Sacramento Metro Fire District to ensure that the systems are ready for fire season and can support emergency response efforts. 

He said the water agency recently met with the Cosumnes Fire Department to reaffirm systems capacity, review storage tanks and hydrant tanks, and to maintain proper communication channels for operational or maintenance issues. 

“I sincerely hope we never see another catastrophic fire like that again, where resources are stretched to capacity, but I’m confident that our leaders at the County Department of Water Resources and all the local fire departments, fire fighters and fire responders are learning what they can from these tragic events in order to maintain the highest level of fire safety for Sacramento County,” the newsletter read. 

The presentations came around the same time that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to “further prepare for urban firestorms.” 

The executive order directs the state board of forestry to increase work to adopt regulations known as “Zone 0,” which require an ember-resistant zone within five feet of structures located in the highest fire severity zones. 

It also directs the state fire marshal to release updated fire hazard severity zone maps for areas under local government responsibility, which will add 1.4 million new acres of land into the two higher tiers of fire severity. The move will lead to updated building and local planning requirements for those communities, per the release. 

Lastly, the executive order requires the CAL FIRE and Cal Office of Emergency Services to work with local, federal and tribal entities on improvements to the federal resource ordering system for wildfire response. 

In a statement, Gov. Newsom said, “we are living in a new reality of extremes.” 

“Believe the science and your damn eyes,” Newsom said in a statement. “Mother Nature is changing the way we are living, and we must continue adapting to those changes. California’s resilience means we will keep updating our standards in the most fire-prone areas.”