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California Fire Siege
Fire Events and Policy

1996
CAL FIRE and the Office of the State Fire Marshal publish “California’s I
Zone,” a nationally recognized in-depth study of past and projected problems of
wildland/urban intermix fires.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection developed the
“California Fire Plan,” a framework for reducing costs and losses from wildfire.
The Fire Plan emphasized that residents need to be involved in planning for fire
safety. Fire Safe Councils were established. State and federal funding was made
available for civilian-supported fuel reduction projects. The U.S. Forest Service
(USFS) amended the program to include training for local fire service personnel
in firefighting tactics in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).

2000
In August 2000, President Clinton directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and
the Interior to develop a plan to respond to severe wildland fires in order to
reduce their impacts on rural communities, and to assure sufficient firefighting
capacity in the future. The Secretaries developed the National Fire Plan (NFP)
to increase firefighting capabilities to better protect natural resources, to reduce
the threat to communities adjacent to federal lands, and to reduce the cost of
fighting large fires.

2001
The U.S. Forest Service began implementing key points of the National Fire
Plan by building up fire preparedness and suppression resources beyond
historic levels. NFP assigned the highest priority for hazardous fuel reduction
treatments to communities at risk, and other important local features, where
conditions favor uncharacteristically intense wildfires. California Wildfire
Coordinating Group (CWCG) identified communities at risk from wildfire and
recorded them in the Federal Register.

2002
The Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST) was organized to address
public safety and forest health issues on both public and private land in San
Bernardino and Riverside counties. This was one of the most extensive, pre-
event planning efforts to ever take place. The three part strategy deals with: 1)
emergency preparedness response, 2) fuel reduction around communities and
key evacuation routes, and 3) long-term planning and treatments to restore
forest health.

In San Diego County, new county fire code required 100-foot clearance around
structures, and the Forest Area Safety Taskforce (FAST) was formed.

2003
Local, state and federal agencies focus on identifying priority WUI areas
in California to establish better protection strategies that will result in
meaningful changes in fire behavior and mitigate the severity of fire effects at
a watershed scale. These strategies are consistent with the interagency report:
“A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities

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