Sonoma County gets access to state funding for Kincade fire response, recovery

Millions of dollars in state aid was officially approved Tuesday for Sonoma County, which is facing at least ?$11 million in costs related to the Kincade fire - the largest in county history.

The decision to authorize disaster money for Sonoma County came from the state’s Office of Emergency Services, and offers the possibility of 75% cost recovery.

An initial assessment showed $6.3 million in ?county-borne costs, as well as ?$4.7 million in firefighting costs passed to the county.

With the state offering to cover three-quarters of those costs, the county’s bill drops to ?$2.75 million - for now. Officials stress that the current totals are preliminary, and the county has six months to document costs or work eligible for reimbursement.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s disaster declaration opened the door for the state-funded relief, and Tuesday his administration confirmed that relief would come - no small step, local officials say.

“It is a big deal,” said Michael Gossman, deputy county administrator for Sonoma County. “It’s a good thing for the county. It’s never guaranteed.”

Local officials credit local legislators including state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, for their advocacy in obtaining the money for Sonoma County. In an interview Tuesday afternoon, McGuire emphasized the efficacy of teamwork.

“Since Day 1 of the Kincade fire, (state and local officials) have been attached at the hip in their response, and we’re going to be attached at the hip in recovery,” McGuire said.

The Kincade fire burned 77,758 acres, and destroyed 374 ?structures, including 174 homes, according to Cal Fire. ?The county’s aid request to the state said 434 structures had been destroyed or damaged, including 209 homes.

Although mostly rural in nature, the blaze also prompted the largest mass evacuation in county history, with 186,000 people being ordered out of harm’s way.

The state money will pay for, among other things, part of the county’s hazardous waste removal program, as well as damage to county infrastructure and smoke damage to schools in northern Sonoma County.

Homeowners and their insurance companies remain on the hook for their own recovery costs, including debris removal.

The Kincade fire occurred amid ongoing recovery efforts from the 2017 North Bay fires, and large floods in two of the past three years.

The county’s costs, even with federal and state aid, have reached $43 million for those disasters, and the Kincade fire stands to push that figure above $50 ?million, Board of Supervisors Chairman David Rabbitt said.

“We don’t have an alternative source of funds to take care of these unforeseen disasters,” Rabbitt said. “So it’s important to get those dollars to allow the county to take care of the business of the county. The county’s been under a lot of strain … .”

The county has ?$44.2 million in reserves - about half what county leaders would like to have squirreled away, and just barely enough to cover costs related to disasters preceding the Kincade fire. County officials made that point in requesting aid from the state.

“The resources of the county are depleted and the resource deficit, together with the need to maintain daily operations and responsibilities of county government make it extremely difficult for the county to shift further resources to this disaster,”

Sonoma County Administrator Sheryl Bratton said in a letter sent Nov. 15 to the state, “The county is very concerned that without state assistance in response to the Kincade fire, we will be unable to continue all the baseline, day-to-day services that the county provides to the residents of Sonoma County.”

The letter also requested a waiver allowing fire debris to be taken to local landfills, a waiver that has since been granted, Gossman confirmed via text message.

You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or at tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @tylersilvy.