SDG&E Partners with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to Promote Wildfire Resilient Communities

With fire preparedness top-of-mind for many, we are proud to partner with the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) FIRE Institute to help support its new fire science program.  

This program is the first of its kind in the country and is dedicated to creating wildfire-resilient communities by focusing on the Wildland-Urban Interface, the zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development, and how to manage fire threats in these areas.  

SDG&E environmental technology and regulatory lead, Chris Terzich explains that “SDG&E aligns with the Institute’s commitment to developing solutions for more effective preparedness and response operations through applied research and technology.”

Due to his involvement, since 2013, with the Cal Poly Natural Resources and Earth Sciences Department Advisory Council, Terzich is proud to have spearheaded our and other investor-owned utilities’ (IOUs) support for the research-oriented institute.  

“We welcome the opportunity to aid the organization’s goal to be the ‘center of excellence’ using a multi-disciplinary systems-based approach focused on education and research,” said Terzich. “We applaud the Institutes’ broad focus on the multi-faceted wildland fire problem, where the electric utilities are only one of many factors to be considered. The institute will have the ability to connect multiple public and private stakeholders to establish statewide research, collect and disseminate information, convene stakeholder dialogues, guide workforce education and training, and inform policy.” 

A Partnership to Build Resilient Communities

Cal Poly faculty and students will work alongside members of the IOUs and stakeholders on real challenges and issues to develop a model institute that mitigates the Wildland-Urban Interface fire threat in California. The objective of the institute is to reduce wildfire losses on an international scale via public education, applied interdisciplinary research and workforce development. 

The WUI fire risk mitigation’s approach lies in examining things from a holistic approach that engages agencies, practitioners, stakeholders, and scientists in the natural, built, and social environments.  

SDG&E is one of three investor-owned utilities providing funding to the institute that will hire a full-time Director to lead its commitment to the teaching and learning experience, interdisciplinary innovation and connecting of stakeholders for impactful WUI fire research.