As wildfire season is upon us, we want to highlight an amazing story from the 2019 Kincaid Fire. Greenbelt Alliance is excited to partner with Windsor Town Councilperson Deb Fudge and Deputy Fire Chief Matt Gustafson of the Sonoma County Fire Protection District who will share their frontline experiences of how greenbelts and smart growth helped save lives and homes from wildfire devastation.
As the 2019 Kincaid Fire blew down from The Geysers geothermal field on the flanks of the Mayacamas Mountains in Sonoma County, Healdsburg and the Town of Windsor were saved in large part by the green buffers adjacent to Urban Growth Boundaries where firefighters defended homes and businesses from the flames.
The fire line was held by 200 firefighters at Windsor’s northeast boundary where Foothill Regional park meets Town Limits. Nearly 200,000 people had to evacuate as more than 5,200 personnel and nearly a dozen agencies battled the flames. After two weeks the fire was contained without any loss of life.
Learn how greenbelts and smart growth can help our communities build resilience as climate change creates more frequent and more intense wildfires across the Bay Area.
The Future Climate is a series of short talks and Q&A with experts and Greenbelt Alliance on adapting to climate change through smart city planning and conservation. Grab a snack or a cocktail and tune in. Find upcoming webinars at [ Ссылка ]
About the speakers:
Deb Fudge was first elected to the Windsor Town Council in 1996. She worked with Greenbelt Alliance to pass a voter-approved Urban Growth Boundary that was renewed in 2017 just as the Tubbs Fire hit Sonoma County. Deb served on Greenbelt Alliance's public policy committee and is currently on the board of SMART. She is a green building consultant and former PG&E environmental specialist. Read more about Deb here.
Matt Gustafson is Deputy Chief for the Sonoma County Fire District. He served on the front lines of the 2019 Kincaid Fire and 2017 Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County. He has over 37 years of public safety experience in private, city, and special fire districts. He was previously Battalion Chief Fire Marshall for the Town of Windsor’s Fire Protection District and Rincon Valley Fires Protection District Manager. Read more about Gustafson’s leadership here.
