I attended the recent Zoom call conducted by the Marin County Planning Commission on the proposed stream conservation area ordinance for the San Geronimo Valley. The area of my concern was how the proposed ordinance would affect the ability of San Geronimo Valley residents to create defensible space around their homes and businesses in accordance with directives issued by state and local fire officials.  

As a lifelong resident of the valley and a career aerial firefighter for over 30 years, I limited the scope of my input to the fire threat that exists throughout Marin. I approached this issue from the standpoint that protecting the habitat of coho salmon and all the species that thrive in those environs does not have to conflict with common-sense measures to mitigate fire threat. 

The stream ordinance places unrealistic restrictions on any concept of effective vegetation management prescribed by state fire officials. The ordinance covers many issues; fire was the only issue I addressed, but the doctrine is so onerous and punitive in nature I doubt it would pass the test of the Eighth Amendment.  

What should be of great concern to us is how the ordinance conflicts with measures to create defensible space not only to protect homes from wildfire but to protect the forest and wildlands from house fires. As the ordinance was explained by county officials, my impression was that it addresses a world that exists in the realm of fantasy.  

The only way to survive a wildfire during extreme burn periods is to have taken all necessary measures to achieve success. Those measures can be likened to planning a battle: success or failure depends on extensive preparation, contingency planning, intelligence and economy of force. It is imperative that all Marin citizens prepare for the worst-case scenario because that is what is looming in our future.  

A fire that starts or burns through the San Geronimo Valley will not stay in the valley for long. During our vulnerable fall season, hot, dry desert winds reach the coastal counties and with them the potential for catastrophic fire. During these times, the valley can be considered a trigger point from which larger fires can be spawned. The fields of tall grass interspersed with homes, cars and ornamental vegetation that includes cypress, junipers and digger pines provide sources of ignition and propagation.  

Next, the riparian zone runs through the valley, populated by thick stands of bays and conifers coupled with an overburdened understory of ladder fuels that ignite readily, burn intensely and spread rapidly. The orientation of the valley is east-west, with steep slopes to the south covered with a forest of over-mature pines and large stands of volatile brush. The toxic mix of ignition, ladder and 10,000-hour fuels will burn rapidly to the top of the ridge and crown out. The embers and firebrands generated by this extreme event will ignite new spot fires everywhere up to a mile or more ahead of the main fire. Once it crests the ridge, the fire will impinge on the second largest stand of Sargent’s cypress in the state, a pyrophyte that will burn with lightning speed and great intensity. Beyond that there are decadent stands of manzanita and chaparral that haven’t burned in many years. Downwind of this fire is every major city and wildland-urban interface community in the populated hills of Marin. Thousands of lives and homes will be in the path of catastrophe. A quote from one of our retired fire chiefs sums it up: “Marin is a continuous, uninterrupted fuel bed from beyond our northern border to the Golden Gate Bridge.”  

Almost 40 years ago, when I was based at the Chico Air Attack Base, the firefighters referred to the city of Paradise as “the city that waits to die.” One day it did, and took a lot of people with it. Today Marin contains at least 10 Paradise fire scenarios within its borders. Marin has done a lot of good work clearing trees and brush from proposed escape routes and trigger points, and for that it should be commended. That same effort is required from every stakeholder, especially home and business owners, to make our communities defensible. The first step is to not make it illegal to do so.  

The best defense is to protect habitat by mimicking what nature would have done before human activity. One hundred years of successful fire suppression has given us a legacy of overburdened fuel loads. Natural fires would have cleared out the understory many times over the last century. Native Americans used fire to improve habitat and to bring in more wildlife to harvest as food. Fire breaks, covered fire breaks and safety zones at strategic locations can restore a balance once maintained by natural fire.  

The history of fire in the San Geronimo Valley provides a preview into our future if the necessary measures are not taken. Fires have burned through the valley several times in the last century. In the ‘30s, a fire that started in Ignacio burned down 35 homes in Woodcare. In 1945, a fire that started at the paper mill near where the Kent Lake dam is now located burned all the way to the base of Mount Tamalpais and stopped only after winds subsided. The mill where it started was located in the riparian zone and burned out the Big and Little Carson Creek drainage, contradicting assertions by N.G.O.s that riparian zones are less susceptible to fire because they are well hydrated. 

Who attended the meeting? The usual suspects. A network of nonprofits and focus groups. Mostly people who don’t live in the valley and who won’t be directly affected by the outcome. This stream ordinance as it relates to vegetation management closely mirrors one that existed in South Lake Tahoe, where the Angora fire destroyed 262 homes and 67 businesses. The after-action report cited the lack of defensible space and vegetation management as a primary factor in the inability of firefighters to save the community.  

I believe this meeting was merely a formality. I think we all knew what the outcome will be. But if fire has the final vote, all the efforts of well-intentioned people trying to save central coast coho will be for naught. For a species on the verge of an extinction vortex, the results of extreme fire behavior will be catastrophic. The products of combustion will sterilize the creeks and streams, leaving them devoid of all aquatic biota for an indefinite period.  

I have the greatest respect for the officers and firefighters of Marin, but they are seriously constrained in what they can say about how serious the fire threat really is. All firefighters are government employees and must follow strict protocol regarding public statements. Ironically, when disaster strikes, they will be the first ones assigned blame.  

In over 30 years of flying airtankers in thousands of fires, I have witnessed the complete destruction of whole communities far too many times. Knowing that people and firefighters are dying below you is almost more than a human heart can bear.  To survive the next catastrophic fire, we must come together to serve the needs of preserving vital habitat and providing the best defense against the ravages of extreme wildfire. Let’s not allow fire to have the final vote.

James Barnes lives in Woodacre.