Fire officials declare end of wildfire season in Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa fire officials on Monday declared an official end to this year’s threat of severe wildfires, largely due to favorable conditions in forested areas, recent rains, and more on the way.

The announcement is specific to Santa Rosa and means residents no longer have to keep their properties in compliance with the city’s weed abatement ordinance, said Santa Rosa Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal.

But the declaration also puts some residents, particularly those living in wildfire-prone areas, at ease, he said.

“Even though the purpose of it is tied to our weed abatement ordinance, we found that residents actually like knowing when the risk has been significantly reduced, and in some cases breathe a little easier,” Lowenthal said in an email.

Santa Rosa declared the official start of this year’s fire season on June 6.

During the off-season, Santa Rosa fire officials encourage residents, particularly those who live in or near the city’s wildland urban interface area, to prepare their properties in advance of next year’s wildfire season. Maintaining defensible space around homes by getting rid of new vegetation growth, including brush and tree limbs, can slow the spread of wildfire.

“The Santa Rosa Fire Department responded to dozens of vegetation fires this year,” Santa Rosa Fire Chief Scott Westrope said in a statement Monday evening.

Westrope said containment of these fires was aided by “the proactive steps property owners continue to take by maintaining defensible space and keeping seasonal grasses cut, in compliance with our Weed Abatement Ordinance.”

“It's encouraging to see how far our community has come since the 2017 wildfires and that these preventive measures are truly helping to make Santa Rosa wildfire ready,” Westrope wrote.

Under the city’s weed abatement ordinance, once fire season is declared, property owners must cut weeds and grasses that are over four inches in height and maintain compliance for the duration of the season.

The ordinance applies to property owners in the Wildland Urban-Interface Area; developed properties with more than half an acre of unimproved land; and vacant lots, including those in the fire rebuilding areas.

City fire officials said they anticipate pile burning will be permissible in late November in permitted locations within the city limits.

The Santa Rosa City Council in March 2021 approved an ordinance allowing property owners to burn vegetative debris piles as a limited method to reduce the threat of wildfires. Officials said that given the appropriate weather conditions, such burns (which require permits from the city fire department) can rapidly eliminate debris.

On Monday, Cal Fire also said that the local wildfire danger has been greatly reduced. But officials warned that people should remain alert. Cal Fire several years ago stopped designating a beginning and end to wildfire season, recognizing that blazes can occur any time of the year.

“In the last few weeks, we've had no major fires that have sparked up in the areas that Cal Fire has responsibility for, but we want people to know that wildfires can burn year-round, even when it rains and the weather is cooler,” said Cal Fire spokesman Jason Clay.

Clay said Cal Fire’s vegetation management programs have likely greatly reduced the number of acres burned across the state in 2022. He said this year, 7,288 fires burned a total of 362,370 acres, compared to last year when more than 8,000 fires burned 2.4 million acres.

The National Weather Service on Monday said the extended outlook for the North Bay is favorable through November in terms of rainfall and cooler weather. The weather service’s Climate Prediction Center on Sunday said the probability of rain in the North Bay was above normal for Nov. 14-20.

“The longer term trends through the remainder of the month appear to remain below average temperatures and potentially a slightly above average probability of precipitation,” said Roger Gass, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

This week’s storm is expected to bring the North Bay, including Sonoma County, up to an inch and a half of rain, he said, with the heaviest expected overnight between Monday and Tuesday.

After sunrise Tuesday, there could be lingering showers and possibly even “a thunderstorm or two through the day on Tuesday, as well,” he said, though not as widespread as what was expected Monday night.

Gass said the storm system should clear out Wednesday. The rest of the week could see temperatures during the overnight hours drop to below freezing in inland parts of the North Bay. “We could (see) subfreezing temperatures both Thursday and Friday morning,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.