2024 Fire Safety, Prevention and Preparedness Video
View the Video-- Another PPNA exclusive
2023 Fire Safety, Prevention and Preparedness
View the Video
Read the Forum Q&A and Chat Room, with links
We know from experience that finding your inspection dates in Accela is neither simple nor intuitive. If you've paid your PPNA dues, we'll get your inspection date for you. Send us this email.
Here's a Town Hall produced by the fire department with more detail about inspections.
And to learn more about preparing your home and becoming fire safe, the Oakland Fire Safe Council has a wealth of information. Visit them.
2022 Fire Safety, Prevention and Preparedness
Fire Safety Town Hall May 2022: Your home, our neighborhood
The pass code is 6+c3AN.9
Fire safety is a top priority for PPNA.
PPNA initiatives
- For three decades, we've been diligently working to get our utility wires undergrounded. This has involved lobbying state legislators, testifying before councils and commissions, orchestrating community letter wrting campaigns and organizing community outreach teams. PPNA hosts a monthly meeting with all involved utilities and the City to keep the project on track.
- Though we lost our hard-fought battle to have 100% of PPNA undergrounded, we were successful in getting our major streets and evacuation routes included in the project. The Chelton corridor was particularly problematic, with PG&E avering it did not qualify for the funding rules that make our project affordable; we fought, and fought hard in multiple venues to get PG&E's decision overturned. We WON when our Councilmember, Sheng Thao, prevailed during one-on-one meetings at the state utility commission.
- We've hosted several fire safety forums and webinars (click here for copies of the presentations) to boost awareness of and knowledge about fire safety within our borders
- We borrow dumpsters from Waste Management for property owners' use in clearing fuel loads at home and to reduce fuel load throughout the year in our open spaces. We typically fill at least five giant dumpsters each year with flammable green waste
- We partner with the City and fire safety councils working to design and fund projects to increase our safety, reduce fire danger, and to promote community involvement and adherence to safety standards
- We strive to improve emergency vehicle access on our skinny, snakey streets through safer parking campaigns
- We were on the groundfloor of an intiative to pull together different cities in Contra Costa and Alameda counties to pool resources and expertise through a regional wildfire protection district
- We've pushed the city to hire more tree maintenance staff and to better tend the fire load in city-owned open spaces
- We support French Broom-pulling parties, especially along Skyline
- We are launching Firewise Commuinities in PPNA. Our pilot project is along Skyline and Castle, where neighbors are trained, then volunteer to make their surroundings safer. Once a neighborhood is certified, property owners can apply for lower insurance rates at such agencies as State Farm.
- We maintain key partnerships with organizations that share our goals and concerns, such as
PPNA works in close partnership with the City
Our our closest wildfire prevention partner is Oakland Firesafe Council. Together, we worked hard inside City Hall to elevate wildfire prevention to a top City priority. We co-signed letters, met with legislators and city staff. Progress is promising:
- On 11/19/2019, the Council passed a resolution declaring wildfire safety a priority and establishing a multi-disciplinary approach to designing and funding initiatives.
- On 9/15/2020, the City Administrator's office submitted a report to the Mayor and Council that addresses the history of efforts, dysfunctions and priorities for moving ahead. This report gives great background and demonstrates how critical it is to approach wildfire prevention across city departments and a variety of agencies. Download a copy of the report here. It's thorough, well-written and bodes hope for integrated planning and implementation.
- The Wildfire Prevention Roundable was formed, with experts across departments and across city and county lines. Fire chiefs from every single city in the East Bay join the conversation each month.
We worked with the fire department to better explain vegetation management standards and inspections, and helped them improve the process so it's geared toward gaining compliance rather than imposing punitive fees.
We continue to watch movement toward establishing a renewed Wildfire Assessment District in the high risk fire areas of Oakland. Once the City completes and passes its long-term Wildfire Prevention Plan, what the district could/would fund will be clearer to voters and can be put on a future ballot.
Resources to stay up to date on current fire status
- CAL FIRE Active Incidents
- Alameda County Emergency Alerts (we URGE you to sign up to receive information on local incidents, evacuation alerts...)
- ABC7 Hourly Updates
- NBCBay Area Evacuation Updates
- San Francisco Chronicle California Fire Tracking Map
- PG&E outage tracker
Resources to get--and stay--prepared
- Your top priority: Make a GO BAG, and an Emergency Preparedness Kit
- Oakland Fire Safe Council
- Oakland Community Preparedness & Response Program--webinars, guides, resources
- CAL FIRE Ready for Wildfire
- Alameda County Public Health - Wildfire Preparation
- Is your insurance adequate? Is renewal threatened? United Policyholders (UP) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to be a trustworthy and useful information resource and a respected voice for consumers of all types of insurance in all 50 states. UP doesn't take money from insurance companies.
Air Quality Resources
- Tips on staying safe in unhealthy air quality
- Air quality for our area
- Bay Area weather from the National Weather Service
Public Safety Power Shutoff Info
- Status of local Public Safety Power Shutoff
Manage your vegetation, reduce our fuel load
- One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire A 15-minute YouTube presentation with valuable tips and information on protecting your home and surrounding area from wildfire.
- Inspections and compliance standards
- Year round protection and prevention calendar
- Reducing wildfire risk --city fact sheet