Wine Country Times

As California residential and developed areas expand closer to forests and natural areas, problems with wildfires continue to rise.

More fires are expected due to intentional or accidental human ignitions, and natural burns will be impossible to let run their course because of their proximity to homes and people. 

California State Sen. Mike McGuire (D—North Coast) wants to see this problem remedied. 

"Half of the buildings lost over the last decade in wildfires were in the Wildland Urban Interface, built under current fire code standards," Sen. McGuire said in an April 3 tweet. "We must change the way we build in high fire risk zones, and if certain commonsense health and safety requirements can't be met, we shouldn't be building at all."

The Wildland Urban Interface, or WUI, is the transitionary space between primitive, unoccupied land and a human development.

McGuire introduced Senate Bill 12 in December of 2020, a legislation that calls for the State Fire Marshal to impose new standards on WUI developments to ensure the area can withstand wildfires. According to the senator's tweet, 2 million of the state's 4.5 million homes in the WUI are at high or extreme risk from wildfire likelihood. 

SB12 passed through the Senate on March 30. McGuire co-chairs the Senate Wildfire Working Group, a group that works to make wildfire legislation a priority. 

Last week, the legislature announced the largest early budget action in California history: Over $500 million invested in wildfire prevention, response and resiliency. 

“California is experiencing a never-ending crisis every summer and fall, losing tens of thousands of homes over the last decade and millions of acres of land burned over by mega fires," Sen. McGuire said. "The Legislature and governor are moving with speed to pass the largest early budget action in state history investing in wildfire prevention and response. We know this half-of a-billion dollar investment will help make communities safer. And, there’s more work to come with a second round of funding this summer and a bold legislative package from the Senate that will focus on keeping California fire safe. We’re grateful to Pro Tem Atkins and Gov. Newsom for their leadership on this critical issue, there’s much more work to come!”