Feb. 15, 2023, Palo Alto, Calif. — After a century of fire exclusion, ecosystems and communities across Western North America now face a growing threat from extreme wildfire. In part, this reflects changes in climate that have yielded hotter, drier seasons. Other factors contribute too: ecosystem fragmentation, historic clear-cutting, pathogens and invasive species, increasing sprawl and development at the wildland-urban interface, and a related increase in human-caused ignitions.

Impacts of extreme wildfire range from the erasure of ecological heterogeneity across tens of thousands of acres at a time, to the backsliding on decades of air quality public health gains, with millions of people across Western North America now annually exposed to dangerous levels of fine particulate matter.

To address this growing challenge, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is launching a new initiative that will invest $110 million over the next six years as the first of two planned phases to support the Wildfire Resilience Initiative.

“Wildfire is a growing and imminent challenge in Western North America and around the world. The wildfire challenge and many scalable solutions sit at the intersection of our interests — conserving nature, catalyzing scientific advancements, and preserving the special character of the Bay Area,” said Aileen Lee, chief of programs at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “If we want to be proactive about adapting to the reality of living with climate change, how we prepare and respond to wildfire risk will make a critical difference.”

Transforming the role of fire in our landscapes

Fire was once an integral, healthy element within many Western North American landscapes. For these ecosystems to thrive, fire needs to be able to play its essential role, and that means both reducing extreme wildfire events and, when conditions allow, increasing beneficial fire — through cultural burns, prescribed burns, and managed wildfire. Ecological benefits include ecosystem integrity, habitat and biodiversity conservation, and reduced net greenhouse gas emissions. Yet not all wildfire policies have advanced at pace with scientific understanding.

In the last 100 years, Western North America has traded many small fires for fewer, catastrophic, large fires. Persistent fire suppression has unintentionally made people and communities more vulnerable to wildfires, not less. Although the scientific community recognizes the need for more lower intensity fire to burn, public attitudes and legitimate concerns about safety and property have made it difficult to implement new policies and practices to promote active use of beneficial fire.

“This initiative aims to help speed a systemic and strategic transformation in the role that fire plays — and is understood to play — across Western North America,” said Genny Biggs, program director at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “Sustained wildfire resilience will mean increased ecosystem health and community security. Ultimately, we want communities to be able to coexist with fire, not as an unwanted, destructive threat, but as an essential, vital part of our landscapes.”

Strategic investments

In order to achieve these goals, strategic and coordinated investments will be crucial. Success in this field will require better technology and systems, to know where all fires are and to predict their behavior more accurately. It will require successful demonstrations of wildfire resiliency that can be systematically planned and implemented at scale, to sustain healthy fire-adapted ecosystems and safeguard fire-prone communities. Through upstream interventions that reduce the risk of severe and detrimental wildfires, and increase beneficial fire, our fire-adapted ecosystems and fire-prone communities will become more resilient.

In the dynamic context of our changing climate, we believe that reaching a long-term vision of wildfire resilience across Western North America — a point at which the total annual area burned is burned by beneficial fire — will require not only a shared understanding of the transformations that are needed, but also time and patience, potentially over multiple decades.  

Targeted philanthropic funding can help realize that vision by supporting:

• Integration of wildfire resilience efforts across sectors

• Increased knowledge and understanding of wildfire and changing fire regimes through a multidisciplinary, coordinated fire research agenda

• Accelerated advances in science, technology, and data integration that make the most difference for improved early fire detection, consequence assessment, and response

• Aligned incentives and stakeholders to implement wildfire mitigations that ensure that communities can coexist with the impacts of wildfire and smoke

• Tested, adapted, and demonstrated fire and ecosystem stewardship models to avoid the conversion impacts of extreme wildfire events and instead burn under appropriate and beneficial conditions in the context of a changing climate

• Science-based key indicators, implementation dashboards, and outcome scorecards of wildfire resiliency for watersheds and counties in Western North America

• A framework that inspires others to collaborate and/or invest in ways that augment and accelerate collective goals

Nancy Watkins, Frank Frievalt and Dave Winnacker are leaders of a strategic alliance formed to address wildfire risk to communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

In this Q&A-style article, Watkins, who is a consulting actuary, interviews Frievalt and Winnacker, who are experienced as fire chiefs in California, about their views on what insurance actuaries and insurers should know about wildfire risk today, how they can work with fire professionals and other stakeholders to navigate insurance market disruptions and to drive down wildfire risk in the WUI.

We're excited to share that WUI FIRE Institute Director Frank Frievalt was recently a guest on the "All Things Wildfire" Podcast, Episode 15 - A Strategic Approach To Wildfire Protection. In the episode, Frank discussed crucial topics such as ignition reduction strategies, wildfire protection for WUI communities, actuarial science, and post-fire reconstruction.

Chief Frievalt (ret.) has served since 1979 with Special District, City, County, State, and Federal fire agencies in roles from Firefighter to Fire Chief.  He holds a M.S. from Oklahoma State University in Fire and Emergency Management Administration, and currently serves as Director of the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Institute at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.  Frank is an SME for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Wildfire Advisory Council, and previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Western Fire Chiefs Association, with an emphasis on the development of resilient Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) communities.  His work is grounded in aligning key stakeholders around a core set of parcel and community level mitigations that will disrupt the fire pathways which lead to conflagration.  He is pursuing the actuarial valuation of risk mitigations, for both the public and private sectors, because we share the same desired outcome, minimizing property loss to the peril of wildfire.

Summary of Qualifications

Broad public service career working for federal, state, city, and special district organizations, serving in positions from firefighter to fire chief. Areas of strength include organizational leadership and development, personnel management and development, stakeholder identification and inclusion, conflict resolution and interest-based negotiation, training and curriculum development, budget management and analysis, public policy analysis, project management, and incident management.

During the past six years, I have been deeply involved in policy, legislation, finance, actuarial science, fire science, catastrophe modeling, mitigation, and response analysis related to the Wildland Urban Interface. I am strongly committed to the concept of stewardship in managing public affairs. My overall qualifications represent an intentional life-long commitment to balance among operational experience, administrative capacity, formal education, and credibility among my peers.

Education

University of Nevada, Reno

Ph.D., Political Science, 2017

GPA: 3.67

Major in Public Administration, Minor in Public Policy. All coursework and comprehensive exams completed, withdrew during dissertation (50% completed) for family health reasons. Dissertation focused on the alignment of academic theory & curriculum with practitioner preferences for the development of future fire service leaders in North America.

Oklahoma State University

Master of Science, Fire and Emergency Management, 2004

GPA: 4.0

Thesis focused on local government implementation of the National Incident Management System as required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5.

Cogswell Polytechnic College

Bachelor of Science, Fire Administration, 1999

Summa Cum Laude

Bakersfield Community College

Associate of Science, Fire Science, 1986

Choate Rosemary Hall

Secondary School Diploma, Preparatory School, 1980 David T. Laymen Award

Primary Work Experience

President, Phronesis Applied, LLC: 2011-2014, 2021-Present

Professional consulting services. Projects have included a university level academic professional development program for fire service leadership, undergraduate adjunct instruction in public policy, development of recruitment, examination, selection processes for local government, WUI focused legislative and policy development in California, private grant funding management and administration, professional conference presentations, research in catastrophe modeling, actuarial application of risk mitigations, research and evaluation of graph theory as a predictive model for structure to structure spread in WUI high-density built environments.

Fire Chief, Mammoth Lakes Fire Protection District: 2012 – 2022

Led approximately 60 personnel in a combination fire district, including planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting. Collaborate and negotiate with and incorporated Town that is co-terminus with, but distinct from, the district. Served as the CalOES Operational Area Coordinator for Mono County (essentially a rural emergency manager; served as Chair of the local California Incident Command Certification System Committee.

Division Chief of Operations, City of Sparks Fire Department: 1987 – 2011

Promoted through ranks from Firefighter to Division Chief of Operations and Acting Fire Chief. Awarded Firefighter of the Year, Employee of the Year. Selected for numerous special assignments for the department and city. Held assignments in the Fire Prevention Bureau, and Training Division and Hazardous Materials Team. As Operations Chief, led 90 personnel across three battalions; managed budgets ranging from $9 to $11 million. Served as a Duty Chief for Region I of the Nevada Division of Emergency Management.

Adjunct Instructor, University of Nevada, Reno: 2011-Fall Semester

Instructor for undergraduate public policy course while enrolled as a Ph.D. student.

Sierra Front Incident Management Team: 2004– 2005

Division/Group Supervisor for the Sierra Front Type II Incident Management Team. NWCG Red Card qualifications and assignments included Division/Group Supervisor, Strike Team Leader, and Resource Unit Leader.

Acting Emergency Management Coordinator, City of Sparks: 1999 – 2001

Initiated NIMS Incident Command System training in anticipation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 and served on the selection committee for Emergency Management Coordinators for the City of Sparks, and Washoe County. Served on the Local Emergency Planning Commission. Responsible for all administrative duties for the Emergency Management Program Grant.

Fire Academy Commander, Truckee Meadows Community College: 1999 – 2003

Academy Commander for the full-time Northern Nevada Fire and Rescue Academy, Instructor on Letter of Appointment. Duties included budget management, extensive scheduling, cadet performance, disciplinary actions, program management, and fill-in instructional duties as needed. Assisted students with programs of study, job applications, competitive civil service examination preparation.

General Partner, FIRE TRACS, LLC: 1995 – 2000

Consultant for industrial clients (e.g., Uniroyal, Syntex Pharmaceuticals, Portland Gas & Electric, Tektronics, Bahamas Oil Refining Corporation) on emergency response, management, policy, curriculum, and training at the response team and corporate level. Industrial incident consequences (e.g., environmental, financial, fatalities) to the community, and the mitigation of training. Community stakeholders sought out to help clients better understand unintended consequences of industrial accidents.

Curriculum Design & Instruction, University of Nevada-Reno, Dodd/Beals Fire Protection Training Academy: 1989 – 1994

Instructor and curriculum design for domestic and foreign petroleum and chemical industry clients, especially those related to hazardous materials and flammable liquids. Prioritization and scheduling of facility resources. Provided leadership and development to staff instructional cadre of 30+.

Instructor, Nevada State Fire Marshal Office: 1989 – 1994

Instructor for the state in fire, hazmat, and firefighter safety topics. Students were primarily full-time and part-time emergency responders.

Fire Station Manager, U.S. Bureau of Land Management: 1983 – 1987

Wildland positions from Firefighter to Station Manager (GS-6). Twice received the Federal Employee Achievement Award. Close work with rural, agricultural, and second homeowner stakeholders on fuels reduction and defensible space.

Emergency Medical Technician, Clovis Ambulance, (Helms Creek Pumped Storage Plant, PG&E): 1985—1986

Extended duty rotations during the winter at 7000’-9000’ in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains for a large subterranean hydroelectric construction project. Experience operating in heavy snowfall, and with ground and air transports.

Firefighter, California Division of Forestry & Tulare County Fire Department: 1979 – 1982

Seasonal Wildland Firefighter, Volunteer Firefighter.

Projects

Subject Matter Expert, Moore Foundation Wildfire Advisory Council (MWAC): 2022-Present

Recruited to serve on a ten-person SME team to develop a new philanthropic vertical (Healthy Ecosystems & Resilient WUI Communities) within the Foundation portfolio. The resulting proposal, a 12-year, $200,000,000 package supporting various enabling outcomes for HE&RC, was reviewed and adopted by the Moore Foundation Board on 11/1/22. My specific responsibility was Insurance & Policy Alignment for Community Mitigations that Matter. Within this part of the proposal, $35,000,000 to $50,000,000 is targeted for WUI community scale adoption, implementation, and maintenance of parcel and community mitigations, impacts of initial response, fire pathway disruption and modeling, including their nexus to accurate pricing of risk in the insurance industry and inclusion in grant scopes of work.

Senior Policy Advisor, Western Fire Chiefs Association: 2022-Present

Wildfire Policy Committee. Project lead for Multi-state WUI Mitigation Alignment Project (grant funded, 48-months, $579,871). The project seeks to gain alignment among four states (plus California; see WUI Task Force Lead below) in the western US behind a core set of parcel and community level mitigations. The project design is born from a nested policy construct of desired outcome, mitigation policy components, and risk policy components. The objective is to create a tipping point of policy diffusion and market price signaling that will drive the balance of states with WUI risk to adopt a minimum core set of mitigations (“mitigations-that-matter”). These MTM would become imbedded in grant scopes-of- work and integral to rate plan submissions. Currently engaged with California, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, and Nevada.

WUI Task Force Lead, California Fire Chiefs Association: 2018-2022

Provided guidance on legislation, policy, and strategic planning on issues related to reduction of property loss in the WUI across public and private stakeholders, primarily to the State Fire Marshal, California Department of Insurance, Property Insurance Associations in California, and the California Fire Chiefs Association (CalChiefs). Managed $150,000 award from Factory Mutual, through WFCA, to develop strategies for reduced property loss in the WUI.

Public Safety Power Shut-Off Advisory Committee, Southern California Edison: 2018-2020

Served as a fire representative to the SCE PSPS Committee, providing input and recommendations to the utility. Risk mitigation strategies, prioritization, concepts of risk transfer, community outreach and education, analytic metrics, and consequence management were primary issues.

Incident Commander for Type-III All-Hazards Incident Management Team: 2019 – 2022

Developed the first IMT in Mono County, including formation documents, initial training, and team selection. Team activated March 15, 2020, to August 1, 2022 for regional COVID-19 response. Served 11 months as the EOC Director for the COVID-19 response under Unified Command (Town of Mammoth Lakes, Mono County, Mammoth Lakes Fire Protection District).

President, Emergency Management Section of CalChiefs: 2019 – 2022

Selected to revive a dormant section of CalChiefs. Recruited an executive board, drafted a new constitution and bylaws, overhauled website, established annual sponsorships with Genasys and FirstNet, served on the California Office of Emergency Services Standardized Emergency Management System Advisory Board, created integrated board collaboration with California Emergency Services Association.

Regional Radio Communications Working Group: 2018 -2022

Worked with regional partners to rebuild aged Very High Frequency (VHF) system. Recruited FirstNet/AT&T to accelerate network build schedule as a public/private cooperative model in rural US areas, evaluated integration of Land Mobile Radio (LMR)/Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) cellular coverage and cross band devices and application of mesh networks. Worked with California Radio Interoperability System on novel local government expansion of the network, including integration of FirstNet Mission Critical Push-To-Talk (MCPTT).

EMS Blue Ribbon Committee for Mono County: 2017-2019

Selected to serve on a Board of Supervisors advisory committee charged with development and submission of sustainable EMS system design and organizational development.

Mammoth Area Government (MAG) Group: 2013-2016

Hosted and facilitated a quarterly workshop for 20+ Mono County regional executives to collaborate on regional issues (e.g., legislative, environmental, economic, public safety, professional development).

California Senate Bill 1162: 2015-2016

Worked extensively with Senator Berryhill’s office to write this legislation; allowed transfer of excess funding in PERS Miscellaneous account to paydown unfunded accrued liability (UAL) in public safety PERS account. Passed unanimously by the legislature, vetoed by the Governor on contested recommendation of the California State Finance Director.

Assistance to Firefighters Grant: Vehicle Acquisition: 2014-2016

Successfully wrote, and was awarded, a $600,000 grant for replacement of an outdated Type I engine. Vehicle acquisition is the most competitive among AFG categories.

Program Manager, Leadership Excellence Challenge: 2009-2012

Managed a limited-entry leadership development two-year pilot program that included a robust series of presentations, working dinners, guided readings/discussion forums, and a multipart assessment center with participants from regional fire and law enforcement agencies. Program recognized for graduate and undergraduate credits at the University of Nevada, Reno.

FEMA Fitness Grant: 2008-2010

Integrated a federal grant with the City’s Cardiac Wellness Program to leverage resources into a seamless fitness/wellness program. Program adopted.

National Incident Management System Focus Group: 2003-Spring

Invited as a subject matter expert (OSU Graduate Student researching the implementation of HSPD-5) to attend a national focus group on design of the All-Risk National Incident Management System, held at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Internship with Nevada Division of Emergency Management: 2004-Spring

Assisted in research and development of improved Mass Casualty Incident planning and coordination among the counties and municipalities of Nevada.

Seminar with Belfast Fire Brigade: 2002-Spring

As part of graduate school program, was selected to attend a ten-day seminar in Northern Ireland, hosted and attended by their Fire Brigade. The experience greatly expanded my knowledge and appreciation of European emergency response methods, systems, and organizational practice and policy. Of cultural importance, the experience taught me a great deal about effectively dealing with religious, political, and ethnic diversity within the fire organization, even when the community is literally at war with itself.

Articles & Papers

“Catastrophe Models for Wildfire Mitigation: Quantifying Credits and Benefits to Homeowners and Communities.”

Fall 2022, Casualty Actuarial Society research paper with CoreLogic and Milliman. Requested to write a forward to the article.

“Outdoor Structure Separation Experiments (NOSSE): Preliminary Test Plan.”

NIST, January 10, 2022, contributing author of article about the Structure Separation Project, a multi- level project to assess structure-to-structure fire spread in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) communities.

“Balancing Technical Prowess with Soft Skills for Effective Fire Service Leadership.”

FireRescue1, February 25, 2020; the article discusses the risks of mistaking technical skills for leadership skills in the contemporary fire service as we increasingly rely on technology in the course of service delivery.

“Wildfire Response: A Conversation with a Fire Chief.”

Insurance Information Institute, September 12, 2019; the article addresses homeowner insurance in the WUI from the fire service, insurance, and citizen perspectives in an attempt to align risk mitigation with public policy.

“Will the Fire Service Court-Martial Our Billy Mitchell’s?”

FIRE ENGINEERING, April 2, 2015; the article discusses the professional and organizational dangers, benefits, and necessity of challenging accepted doctrine when technical change outpaces political change.

“So, You Want to Make a Change?”

FIRE ENGINEERING, September 29, 2013; the article suggests a framework of considerations, sequence, and prerequisites for intentional and enduring organizational change.

“Directives on My Watch.” (Initial article, editor request for an additional four-part series)

FIRE ENGINEERING, July 8, 2013; the article discusses the content and benefits of a concise and durable personal statement of intent in a leadership role.

• Part 1, October 23, 2013: “Organizational Matters.”
• Part 2, November 26, 2013: “Operational Matters.”
• Part 3, February 4, 2014: “Personnel Matters.”
• Part 4, April 24, 2014: “Matters of Public Trust.”

“Is it Time Your Department Shifts its Focus from Rules to Values?”

FIRE RESCUE, July 2006; article shares the results of a series of community-centric stakeholder focus groups inquiring about, and implementing, the capabilities and characteristics that were most desired of their fire department.

“The Forecast for Financial Responsibility of Fire Suppression in the Wildland Urban Interface.”

Unpublished position paper requested by the Sparks City Manager for possible use in the state legislature regarding fiscal policy change for wildfire funding and reimbursement in Nevada.

“Clarification and Prioritization of EMS Issues.”

Unpublished position paper focused on the history, policy, administration, and financial considerations of a Public Utility Model EMS system; paper requested by the Sparks City Council.

Presentations

Catastrophe and Climate Change Panel; APCIA Advocacy Planning Conference: 2022

Chicago, IL. Panelist for a discussion on growing wildfire risk, mitigation strategies, and paths to resilience.

Wildfire Knowledge Alignment Expert Working Group Presentation, Hoover Institute, Stanford University: 2022

Presentation about the cyclical interaction (Kaizen) of fire science, catastrophe modeling, actuarial science, public safety (response & prevention), data collection, data use, and fire reconstruction. Session revealed the missing segments to the desired state, after which I was able to promptly secure a 2-year $200,000 research grant from de-obligated sources to close the segment.

“Where Do WUI and Insurance Costs Intersect?”: 2022

Fire District Association of California Conference presentation on a policy construct of public/private shared interests, and solutions, using parcel and community level wildfire mitigations.

Wildfire Risk Alignment Stakeholders Meeting: 2021

Strategic presentation and interactive meeting held during the CalChiefs Conference arguably established the basis of mitigation alignment in California, and included Factory Mutual Global, California State Insurance Commissioner’s Office, Personal Insurance Federation of California, American Property Casualty Insurance Association, Insurance Information Institute, Insurance Services Organization, California State Fire Marshal’s Office, California Fire Chiefs Association, Fire Districts Association of California, California League of Cities Fire Chiefs Section, California State Association of Counties, Rural County Representatives of California, California Fire Safe Council, National Fire Protection Association, Institute for Business and Home Safety, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“PTT Over Cellular & MCPTT: Not Just Theoretical Anymore.”: 2020

International Wireless Communications Expo, May 20, 2020, webinar discussion on integration of LMR and LTE technologies.

Fire District Association of California Annual Conference: 2016 – 2020

Various presentations on administrative and leadership topics at the Leadership Development Symposium, and Certificate of Achievement Seminars.

“Directives on My Watch.”: 2015

Presentation on benefits and development of a personal statement of intent for leaders; delivered to national and international fire service professionals attending the Fire Rescue International conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The Cavitation of Fire Service Leadership Development.”: 2012

Presentation on leadership development shortfall delivered to international fire service professionals attending the Fire Rescue International conference in Denver, Colorado.

“Easy-Company Leadership.”: 2011

Presentation on leadership, applying lessons from the 101st Airborne, “Easy” Company, WWII, delivered to western fire service professionals attending the fire conference FireShowsReno, Reno, Nevada.

“Our Sisyphean Task: Delivering Authentic Public Sector Leadership on the Unstable Footing of Partial Private Sector Comparisons.”: 2011

Invited to present at the Mammoth Area Government (MAG) monthly meeting (September). Presentation focused on appropriate use of best private sector business practices without compromising first principles of democratic governance.

“Introduction to the Leadership Excellence Challenge.”: 2011

Presentation on a 2-year pilot program for leadership development, delivered to western fire service professional attending the fire conference FireShowsReno in Reno, Nevada.

“The Leadership Excellence Challenge.”: 2011

Presentation on a 2-year pilot program for leadership development, delivered to national and international fire service professionals attending the Global Leadership Forum, Fire Rescue International conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Step up or Step Aside.”: 2010

Presentation on encouraging line personnel to enter into leadership roles, delivered to western fire service professionals attending the fire conference FireShowsReno in Reno, Nevada.

“The Essential Community Input Project.”: 2007

This was a community-centric project to support our department shift from being rule-driven to value- driven. The project was submitted to the Innovations Group and selected for presentation at the 2007 Transforming Local Government Conference in Bellevue, Washington.

“Overview of the U.S. Fire Service Role in the Management of Traffic Related Emergencies.”: 2006

Requested by the School of International Studies, University of Nevada-Reno, to present to a delegation of government and civic leaders from Turkmenistan. Reno, Nevada.

Boards, Committees, Associations

• Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Wildfire Advisory Council: 2022-Present
• Western Fire Chiefs Association, Executive Board as California State Director; Concurrent role on CalChiefs Executive Board: 2020 – 2022
• CalChiefs Emergency Management Section, President: 2020 – 2022
• Western Fire Chiefs Association, Wildfire Initiative, Policy Committee – Insurance Section: 2018 – 2022
• California Incident Command Certification System Chair, CalOES Region VI, Mono County Operational Area: 2018 – 2020
• Southern California Edison Public Safety Power Shut-Off Advisory Committee: 2018-2020
• Fire District Association of California, Zone 5 Director, Second Vice President, First Vice President: 2016-2022
• IAFC Professional Development Committee: 2015-2016
• Mono County Blue Ribbon Committee on Emergency Medical Services: 2015-2017
• National Wounded Warrior Center Advisory Committee, Disabled Sports of the Eastern Sierra, Mammoth Lakes CA: 2013 – 2022
• Western Fire Chiefs Association, Nevada State Director: 2011-2012
• National Codes and Standards Association, WFCA representative: 2011-2012
• Nevada Fire Chiefs Association: 2011-2012
• Chair, Executive Board, Leadership Excellence Challenge: 2009-2012
• Chair, Fire Advisory Board, Truckee Meadows Community College: 2005 – 2007
• Operations Committee, Regional Public Safety Training Center; Concurrent member of the RPSTC Master Planning Sub-Committee: 2003 – 2007

Recognitions

• Western Fire Chiefs Association Excellence Award: 2022
• Leadership Award, CalChiefs Emergency Management Section: 2022
• Volunteer of the Year Award, Fire District Association of California: 2022
• Community Leadership Award, Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce: 2021
• Leadership Award, Northern Nevada Fire Chiefs Association: 2013
• Best Instructor, Northern Nevada Fire & Rescue Training Academy: 2002
• Firefighter of the Year, City of Sparks and Elks Lodge: 2000
• John G. Langon Meritorious Service Award, Lions Club: 1999
• Life Saving Recognition (drowned infant resuscitation), City of Sparks: 1993
• Federal Employee Achievement Award, Bureau of Land Management: 1987
• Federal Employee Achievement Award, Bureau of Land Management: 1986

ROSEMEAD, Calif., March 27, 2023 — Southern California Edison today submitted its 2023-25 Wildfire Mitigation Plan- link opens in new window to California’s Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety. SCE has reduced the probability of wildfires associated with its utility equipment by 75%-80% since 2018. This is a significant improvement within a short period and the company’s long-term public safety goals continue to be ambitious.

This year’s plan details the company’s strategy to continue grid hardening with covered conductor, also known as coated wire, and undergrounding more power lines in locations with the highest wildfire risk.  

“We plan to further reduce the risk of wildfires and the impact of Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) in this three-year phase of the WMP through grid hardening and customer care programs, building on the steady work we have completed over the past few years,” said Steven Powell, president & CEO of SCE. “We understand the impact our customers in high fire risk areas have faced from the threat of wildfires and the PSPS program that prevents wildfires.”

• Company has reduced the probability of catastrophic wildfires associated with its equipment by about 75%-80% since 2018
• Company’s new three-year wildfire plan demonstrates operational progress, outlines critical work ahead

The 2023-25 plan includes a range of measures and key staples from previous plans. These include grid hardening primarily through the installation of covered conductor, enhanced vegetation management and advanced monitoring and alert systems to enhance situational awareness during dangerous weather events — all of which are vital to preventing ignitions from utility infrastructure. The plan further outlines the continued use of drones and helicopters to inspect more than 250,000 structures each year in high-risk areas to determine the potential need for repair or replacement. 

“My city has been identified by the state of California as being in a high fire risk area. As such, I appreciate Southern California Edison’s annual wildfire plan and its collaborative efforts toward reducing the threat of wildfires in our community,” said City of Thousand Oaks Councilman Robert Engler. “Grid hardening, vegetation management and the deployment of resources like the Quick Reaction Force Helitankers are indicative of Edison's efforts to reduce fire exposure to cities like my own.” 

The plan prioritizes the installation of covered conductor in areas of higher wildfire or PSPS outage risk. SCE plans to install more than 2,850 additional miles of covered conductor during this plan period. By the end of 2025, the company expects to have replaced more than 7,200 miles, or about 75%, of overhead distribution power lines in high fire risk areas with covered conductor.  

“Our 2023-25 plan builds on the significant progress of our wildfire mitigation program over the past four years — progress that is necessary as we witness the devastating effects of extreme weather,” said Jill Anderson, executive vice president of Operations for SCE. “Our wildfire mitigation efforts will add resiliency to the electric system as we navigate a changing climate and move toward increased electrification in the economy.”  

SCE has identified specific high-risk areas across its service area where the undergrounding of power lines will be prioritized. The company is evaluating several hundred miles of power lines for undergrounding and plans to complete about 100 miles by 2025 to address the high risk presented by limited exit and entry points to communities, extreme potential consequences and other factors. 

Over the next plan period, SCE will continue to focus and prioritize much of the company’s efforts on vulnerable communities and those areas that have been impacted by PSPS, particularly for Access and Functional Needs customers. SCE will also evaluate and refine its stakeholder coordination and customer outreach programs based on feedback received from these stakeholders. 

Lastly, SCE is expanding its partnership with fire agencies in its service area by moving to a year-round Quick Reaction Force (QRF) of aerial firefighting resources. The QRF includes helitankers, reconnaissance aircraft and equipment to bolster firefighting. These capabilities help to reduce a fire’s consequences, provide service resilience to customers and protect electrical infrastructure. 

Visit edison.com/wildfire-safety- link opens in new window for more information regarding SCE’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan.

About Southern California Edison 
An Edison International (NYSE: EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.  

Feb. 15, 2023, Palo Alto, Calif. — After a century of fire exclusion, ecosystems and communities across Western North America now face a growing threat from extreme wildfire. In part, this reflects changes in climate that have yielded hotter, drier seasons. Other factors contribute too: ecosystem fragmentation, historic clear-cutting, pathogens and invasive species, increasing sprawl and development at the wildland-urban interface, and a related increase in human-caused ignitions.

Impacts of extreme wildfire range from the erasure of ecological heterogeneity across tens of thousands of acres at a time, to the backsliding on decades of air quality public health gains, with millions of people across Western North America now annually exposed to dangerous levels of fine particulate matter.

To address this growing challenge, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is launching a new initiative that will invest $110 million over the next six years as the first of two planned phases to support the Wildfire Resilience Initiative.

“Wildfire is a growing and imminent challenge in Western North America and around the world. The wildfire challenge and many scalable solutions sit at the intersection of our interests — conserving nature, catalyzing scientific advancements, and preserving the special character of the Bay Area,” said Aileen Lee, chief of programs at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “If we want to be proactive about adapting to the reality of living with climate change, how we prepare and respond to wildfire risk will make a critical difference.”

Transforming the role of fire in our landscapes

Fire was once an integral, healthy element within many Western North American landscapes. For these ecosystems to thrive, fire needs to be able to play its essential role, and that means both reducing extreme wildfire events and, when conditions allow, increasing beneficial fire — through cultural burns, prescribed burns, and managed wildfire. Ecological benefits include ecosystem integrity, habitat and biodiversity conservation, and reduced net greenhouse gas emissions. Yet not all wildfire policies have advanced at pace with scientific understanding.

In the last 100 years, Western North America has traded many small fires for fewer, catastrophic, large fires. Persistent fire suppression has unintentionally made people and communities more vulnerable to wildfires, not less. Although the scientific community recognizes the need for more lower intensity fire to burn, public attitudes and legitimate concerns about safety and property have made it difficult to implement new policies and practices to promote active use of beneficial fire.

“This initiative aims to help speed a systemic and strategic transformation in the role that fire plays — and is understood to play — across Western North America,” said Genny Biggs, program director at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “Sustained wildfire resilience will mean increased ecosystem health and community security. Ultimately, we want communities to be able to coexist with fire, not as an unwanted, destructive threat, but as an essential, vital part of our landscapes.”

Strategic investments

In order to achieve these goals, strategic and coordinated investments will be crucial. Success in this field will require better technology and systems, to know where all fires are and to predict their behavior more accurately. It will require successful demonstrations of wildfire resiliency that can be systematically planned and implemented at scale, to sustain healthy fire-adapted ecosystems and safeguard fire-prone communities. Through upstream interventions that reduce the risk of severe and detrimental wildfires, and increase beneficial fire, our fire-adapted ecosystems and fire-prone communities will become more resilient.

In the dynamic context of our changing climate, we believe that reaching a long-term vision of wildfire resilience across Western North America — a point at which the total annual area burned is burned by beneficial fire — will require not only a shared understanding of the transformations that are needed, but also time and patience, potentially over multiple decades.  

Targeted philanthropic funding can help realize that vision by supporting:

• Integration of wildfire resilience efforts across sectors

• Increased knowledge and understanding of wildfire and changing fire regimes through a multidisciplinary, coordinated fire research agenda

• Accelerated advances in science, technology, and data integration that make the most difference for improved early fire detection, consequence assessment, and response

• Aligned incentives and stakeholders to implement wildfire mitigations that ensure that communities can coexist with the impacts of wildfire and smoke

• Tested, adapted, and demonstrated fire and ecosystem stewardship models to avoid the conversion impacts of extreme wildfire events and instead burn under appropriate and beneficial conditions in the context of a changing climate

• Science-based key indicators, implementation dashboards, and outcome scorecards of wildfire resiliency for watersheds and counties in Western North America

• A framework that inspires others to collaborate and/or invest in ways that augment and accelerate collective goals

Nancy Watkins, Frank Frievalt and Dave Winnacker are leaders of a strategic alliance formed to address wildfire risk to communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

In this Q&A-style article, Watkins, who is a consulting actuary, interviews Frievalt and Winnacker, who are experienced as fire chiefs in California, about their views on what insurance actuaries and insurers should know about wildfire risk today, how they can work with fire professionals and other stakeholders to navigate insurance market disruptions and to drive down wildfire risk in the WUI.