Sonoma Mountain residents fighting fire with fire trucks

The ground on Sonoma Mountain has been saturated for months, with snow falling last week on its higher elevations for the first time in years.

But no amount of winter rains have dampened the fear of fire.

Residents of this potentially fire prone area are preparing for their worst nightmare by launching a fundraising campaign for a new fire engine to be housed at the Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue Authority’s Station Four in the Diamond A neighborhood – and by taking first steps toward establishing two new California Fire Safe Councils.

A Type 6 fire engine, which is especially effective in fighting wildfires and can be driven off road, costs approximately $250,000. Diamond A residents have already raised $57,800 toward a goal of $125,000, with the Fire & Rescue Authority expected to match that amount. We are “highly, highly likely” to provide the additional funds, according to Fire Chief Steve Akre. Had Measure Y passed – it failed by nine votes in the November election – “we would absolutely have had the money for this apparatus,” he said.

“We are committed to find a way to make it happen,” Akre said, explaining that the additional funds for the Type 6 would have to be approved by the district board of directors, which begins its budgeting process in April.

Residents Bill and Gerry Brinton are establishing a Fire Safe Council that would encompass the area bordered by London Ranch Road on the north end of the mountain – including the areas surrounding Morningside Mountain, Hill and Chauvet roads and the Sobre Vista neighborhood, which are all the west side of Arnold Drive – for a total of about 400 homes. The original plan was to also include the Grove Street/Diamond A area, but the long-established Diamond A neighborhood association is taking steps to form a separate Fire Safe Council for its approximately 200 homes.

The Brintons organized a meeting for Sonoma Mountain residents at Sonoma Golf Club on a rain-drenched evening last month, hoping to attract 150 attendees and filling the room to capacity. “There is strength in numbers,” Bill Brinton said, encouraging attendees to sign up to help with the formation of a Sonoma Mountain FSC. “This is our night to begin moving forward to make our community more prepared for fire. This is a going to be a large project and we all need each other.”

California Fire Safe Council is a nonprofit that encourages grassroots movements, providing a framework for communities to establish local FSCs that will allow them to become “fire safe, fire wise and fire adapted.” Fire Safe Councils can apply for grants to help secure funding for projects such as fuel-reduction removal and building firebreaks. They also provide a way for communities to promote defensible space and create communication and evacuation plans.

California now has 150 such councils, with one, the Mayacamas FSC, already established in the Valley.

“You can clean up your property but if your neighbors can’t or don’t want to it doesn’t do you any good,” said Brinton, noting the tree trimming and brush removal can be time consuming and expensive. The FSC would provide a means for applying for grant money to help keep roads clear of encroaching trees and shrubs.

The Brintons expressed concern that many of the roads leading up the mountain are narrow and provide only one way in and out. “We learned from the Paradise fire that escape routes need to be wide and reasonably clear. And we need a map that shows what the highest potential risks areas are and where to go if you can’t get out,” Gerry Brinton said.

Last summer the Diamond A Neighborhood Association held a fire safety fair, and organizer and volunteer firefighter-in-training Dave Duncan invited the Mayacamas fire department to bring its Type 6 fire engine. This started a conversation between residents and Chief Akre about the possibility of acquiring one for the Diamond A Station 4 firehouse, which already has a Type 1 engine that is primarily designed for structural fires, and a Jeep. The firehouse is operated by the Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue Authority and is unstaffed, with three Diamond A volunteer firefighters assigned to the house, including Duncan.

Duncan sent an email to Diamond A residents last November asking for donations for the Type 6 engine. After receiving about $30,000 in tax-deductible donations to the Sonoma Volunteer Firefighters Association earmarked for the truck, a fundraising committee was formed and Diamond A residents Joe Lieber, also a volunteer firefighter, and Marcelo Defreitas, former Sonoma Alcalde, joined the effort. Defreitas designed a mailing that included a response form and donation envelope and hand delivered it every home in January. Donations doubled, and are still coming in.

“If there’s a fire on the hill the Type 6 can prevent it from spreading. It can help stop the fire from the very beginning,” Defreitas said.

“Anything about fire is the topic up here,” Duncan said, explaining he hopes that is why people will continue to donate. They have not asked for any specific amount, but the most common donation is $1,000.

Duncan explained that the Type 6 is built on a Ford truck frame, is four-wheel drive and is easy to maneuver. It does not require a commercial driver’s license, which the Type 1 does. It can carry about 500 gallons of water.

Beside the Maycamas Type 6, which is not part of the Fire & Rescue Authority, a Type 6 will arrive in Glen Ellen in June, and will be in a SVFRA firehouse on Sonoma Mountain Road. The engine was purchased by the department with funds that were donated entirely by the community after the October 2017 wildfires.

“They did not have a fundraising campaign in Glen Ellen,” Akre said. “This was totally a show of community support after the fires.” He said he admires what the Diamond A community is doing. “A Type 6 would be highly functional in that area.”

“The No. 1 hot button in Diamond A is evacuation,” Duncan said, explaining that in the event of a fire residents in the area are advised to shelter in place if possible or go to the 8-acres of open space in the neighborhood recreation area adjacent to the fire station. “First responders trying to get up don’t want panicking people trying to get down,” he said, noting that is why it is best to follow any advance evacuation orders.

It is also why the more firefighting power that exists on the hill, the safer it is for everyone.

For more information about the Fire Safe Council contact bill@lasonrisafamily.com. For information about donating to the Type 6 fire engine contact dduncan@dcdco.com.

Editors Note: Carole Kelleher and her husband live on Sonoma Mountain and have donated to the Type 6 Fire Engine Campaign.