2021 Annual Report: 75 Years of Service

The Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District was formed in 1947, making the year 2022 the Department’s 75 ^th anniversary. As we reflect on these years, I believe it is important to remember our humble beginnings, as well as the significant and meaningful progress we have made in three-quarters of a century.

In 1947, the nation had just emerged from the Second World War. The United States and the world were experiencing radical political, economic, and technological transformations that are still having an impact today. Closer to home, our valley and its people were focused largely on agriculture and were not likely to have seen the rapid change and growth on the horizon. Like the valley itself, the fire service looked much different than it does today. Much of this change is documented in historical photos throughout this report.

As the valley has grown and adapted, so too has the Santa Clara County Fire Department. The Department has worked to consolidate fire service throughout the region, maximizing the level of service while simultaneously minimizing costs. During the half-century stretching from 1947 until 1997, the Department's capabilities and operations expanded dramatically.  Emergency medical technicians, and eventually paramedics, were assigned to each apparatus operated by SCCFD. New tools and equipment - from ladder trucks to rescue vehicles to a type I hazardous materials unit - were deployed to serve an increasingly diverse and populous county. The Department grew to provide county fire marshal services, emergency management, and eventually 9-1-1 communications across Santa Clara County.  To better align with these new responsibilities, the Department adopted the name Santa Clara County Fire Department on its 50 ^th  anniversary in 1997.

Events following the Department’s 50th anniversary would prove just as unpredictable as those that came before. Global events and a steadily changing community once again required Santa Clara County and its fire department to adapt to meet changing needs. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 spurred the development and implementation of the Department’s Special Operations Task Force in 2002. This new group of specially trained and equipped firefighters brought skills in hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, and technical rescue that significantly increased the SCCFD’s ability to respond to evolving threats. 

As the first decade of the new millennium came to a close, wildfire emerged as a growing threat to the Western United States, and SCCFD quickly adapted. The Department deployed new vehicles, equipment, and training to ensure we could meet new threats, both within and beyond Santa Clara County. The past few years have added a worldwide pandemic to the ever-growing list of challenges to public safety. SCCFD has done more than just respond to the pandemic, becoming actively involved in direct mitigation efforts. From December 2020 through April 2021, the Department helped run the county Vaccine Clinic at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Shortly after, the Department deployed its personnel to provide in-home vaccinations to individuals unable to travel to the Vaccine Clinic. Throughout the pandemic, SCCFD has also provided testing to area first responders to ensure infections are caught early to avoid outbreaks.

Although much has changed over the past 75 years, many important things have remained steady. SCCFD has remained focused on and committed to the people of Santa Clara County above all else. Our personnel, the Department’s most important assets, have adopted and nurtured an attitude of “Courtesy and Service” that is as effective and important in an office building in 2022 as it was in a citrus orchard in 1947. The Department remains committed to providing the highest level of service possible by listening to and adapting to the needs of the population we serve and by providing transparency in all we do. It is an honor to serve the people of Santa Clara County. While the annual report that follows this message is very much a reflection on the past 75 years, it is also a reaffirmation of our commitment to you for the next 75.

Thank you,

Brian A. Glass

Acting Fire Chief

Santa Clara County Fire Department

The Department is structured around seven distinct service divisions: fire prevention, operations, training, administration and planning, support services, business services, and personnel services. Additionally, the Department is contracted to provide executive leadership to Santa Clara County 9-1-1 Communications and the Office of Emergency Management. The Department includes 335 budgeted staff positions, including sworn and civilian personnel.

All incidents begin with a call to the Santa Clara County 9-1-1 Communications Center. SCCFD is contracted by the county and is proud to have provided executive leadership to the County 9-1-1 Communications Center since 2017.

• SCCFD provides a broad range of emergency responses, including fire suppression, technical rescue, HazMat mitigation, and emergency medical services (EMS). SCCFD operates out of 15 stations. Minimum daily emergency response staffing consists of 66 career fire personnel on 24-hour shift assignments, operating 19 pieces of front-line apparatus and three battalion chief command vehicles.

The Fire Prevention Division provides fire plan reviews, inspection services, and permit processes for the served cities, towns and unincorporated areas of the county. It is also responsible for fire investigations, HazMat compliance, and community education, and risk reduction.

In 2021, the Fire Prevention Division participated in the 2024 International Code Council (ICC) review and code adoption process. Select staff were part of the State Fire Marshal's working group responsible for reviewing and submitting changes to proposed tent regulations to improve life safety measures. Staff members attended the virtual ICC code hearings in April 2021 and voted on proposed fire and building code amendments. In alignment with the strategic goal of improving standardization of fire prevention codes across all district and contract jurisdictions, Fire Prevention looks forward to working with its regional partner agencies on adopting the 2022 California Fire Code .

In 2021, SCCFD completed 4,827 construction plan reviews and 1,710 construction field inspections within the cities and towns served.

SCCFD completed 8,256 field inspections within the cities and towns served.

SCCFD completed 1,460 (91.5%) of state-mandated inspections in 2021. Although the goal is 100%, many businesses were closed due to COVID-19.

In 2021, SCCFD completed 390 HazMat inspections, 288 inspections under the Urban Runoff Program, and 54 underground storage tank inspections within the cities and towns served.

Under the COVID-19 Public Health Department orders, wildfire mitigation efforts were deemed essential. Wildfire preparedness regulations are based on current scientific evidence and include mitigation efforts, such as brush abatement and fuels reduction around homes to slow or stop the spread of fire. Compliance in high fire-hazard areas reduces the risk to communities in wildland urban interface (WUI) areas. Wildfire preparedness inspections were provided with the goal of ensuring the health and safety of personnel and communities.

In 2021, 9,459 wildfire preparedness packets were mailed to property owners in the designated high fire-hazard areas, and 2,397 wildfire preparedness property inspections were completed.

Through contracts with Santa Clara County and Stanford University, SCCFD oversees the County Fire Marshal’s Office (CFMO). The Department provides fire plan review and inspection services in the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County and fire inspections of existing facilities owned by the county and Stanford University.

In 2021, the CFMO staff completed:

• 3788 construction plan reviews - a 23% increase from 2020
• 815 construction field inspections - a 40% increase from 2020

During 2021, SCCFD delivered a total of 453 community education and risk reduction programs to 53,987 community participants. Virtual and in-person programs included: emergency preparedness, fall prevention (co-taught with Stanford Health Care), CPR, fire safety for young children, preparing for medical emergencies, crime prevention (in partnership with local law enforcement), virtual fire station tours, school evacuation fire drills, and wildfire resilience. 

To learn more about the CERRS programs currently offered by SCCFD, we invite you to visit  www.sccfd.eventbrite.com . 

• Emergency Preparedness Course Now Available in Multiple Languages: To promote building resilient communities, SCCFD successfully launched the first Cantonese and Spanish Be Ready: Be Prepared LISTOS California emergency preparedness virtual programs in 2021. LISTOS California is a statewide campaign developed to prepare whole communities for disasters by teaching residents how to prepare to be self-reliant during the first 72-hours following a major disaster. This accomplishment was a collaborative effort with participating community members and SCCFD employees, including Deputy Fire Marshals Jose Garcia and Kenny Ip. Plans are underway to also offer Mandarin LISTOS California emergency preparedness courses in the future.

• LIVESTREAM Fire Station Tours: To stay connected with the community during the pandemic, many SCCFD in-person programs were adapted for remote delivery, including visits to local fire stations. During the month of October, SCCFD hosted four engaging and educational LIVESTREAM tours at fire stations located in the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Gatos, and Saratoga. By the end of 2021, the LIVESTREAM tours received a combined total of over 1,600 views. Visit SCCFD’s You Tube channel to view the recorded LIVESTREAM fire station tours at  https://www.youtube.com/c/SantaClaraCountyFireDepartment 

• Expanded Community Wildfire Preparedness Efforts: SCCFD continues to focus on preparing residents for the threat of wildfire. We coordinated with partner agencies to present virtual wildfire preparedness programs during 2021, including Understanding Homeowners Insurance co-presented with the California Department of Insurance, Ready-Set-Go in partnership with CAL FIRE, and programs on wildfire recovery and how to reduce wildfire risks in the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ).

• In collaboration with SCCFD’s Information and Public Affairs Office, wildfire preparedness community outreach also included a series of Know Your Zone webinars about Zonehaven, a powerful new tool for managing evacuations. Zonehaven assigns a designated zone to each area. When a wildfire or public safety emergency arises, residents have instant access to zone evacuation status information. Zonehaven currently serves the cities and towns that SCCFD protects. Zonehaven webinars are offered monthly.

National Fire Prevention Week (October 3-9) Safety Campaign: SCCFD again joined the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®)— the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 90 years—to promote 2021’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety. According to the latest NFPA report, Smoke Alarms in US Home Fires, working smoke alarms in the home reduce the risk of dying in a fire by more than one-half. Campaign highlights included the importance of learning the different sounds of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and responding immediately by exiting the home as quickly as possible.  

National Fire Prevention Week activities for SCCFD continued throughout the month of October. Highlights included:

• Conducted evacuation fire drills at 45 SCCFD elementary, middle, and high schools. A total of 26,078 students, faculty, and staff participated.
• Distributed 9,035 fire and life safety student learning packets to grades third through fifth at 58 elementary schools.
• Hosted four LIVESTREAM fire station tours and received more than 1,600 views.
• Produced and shared the new Be Safe! Life & Fire Safety Skills video, which teaches elementary school students fire safety and injury prevention skills that are traditionally taught during school assemblies. SCCFD employees and their families collaborated to create this fun and entertaining educational video. 

Follow us  @sccfdfiredept  to stay updated on important safety campaigns and messages. 

In 2021, the Department responded to 290 fires. Of these responses, SCCFD line personnel investigated 234 fires, SCCFD fire investigators responded to 56 incidents, and Campbell Police Department detectives responded to 21 incidents.

Types of fires include:

• 54 building fires
• 44 vehicle fires
• 192 fires involving other types of property

Cause of fires include:

• 89 classified as accidental
• 93 classified as undetermined cause
• 34 classified as failure of equipment or heat source
• 3 classified as act of nature
• 31 classified as other
• 40 classified as incendiary, resulting in 17 arrests

The Administration and Planning Division was created in 2019 to meet the year-round needs of the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) accreditation and strategic planning processes. The Division also directs the Information and Public Affairs (IPA) office and the newly created Pre-Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience program. The IPA office is responsible for producing communications that reach both internal and external stakeholders through a variety of mediums.

• Division staff worked throughout 2019 and 2020 to prepare for re-accreditation. CFAI commissioners unanimously awarded accreditation status to the Department on January 21, 2021, which extends through March of 2026. The Division continues to support the entire Department in its mission to meet and accomplish its strategic goals and objectives, as established by the fire chief and the 2020-2022 Strategic Plan, incorporporating recommendations from the 2020-2024 Community Risk Assessment/ Standards of Cover document and the CFAI peer assessor team.
• Data interpretation and presentation are key responsibilities of the Administration and Planning Division, in support of the Department’s data-driven decision-making processes. This responsibility includes identifying and measuring key performance indicators. This information is ultimately communicated to internal and external stakeholders for the purposes of accountability and improving transparency.
• The Division spearheaded efforts to meet its strategic goal of “maintaining Insurance Office Class 2 rating or better.” In 2021, the Department was awarded an Insurance Service Office Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating of 02/2Y. The community PPC rating ranges from 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest rating and 10 being the lowest. There are just over 1,000 fire departments nationwide, and only 90 fire departments in California with a rating of 2.

The Training Division coordinates and delivers training to safety-qualified career and volunteer personnel, manages the volunteer firefighter program, and assists in the Department's recruitment and promotional testing processes.

Personnel Services directs the Department’s recruitment and selection program, oversees employee and labor relations, provides representation in labor negotiations, and facilitates the newly formed Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accountability (IDEA) committee.

• The Personnel Services Division continued its work toward meeting its objectives, as stated in the 2020-2022 Strategic Plan. The strategic objectives, “actively recruit and hire employees that better represent the demographic make-up of the community” and “develop an outreach plan to targeted groups,” continued to be a priority in 2021. Division staff collaborated with the IDEA committee to work toward these objectives.
• The SCCFD IDEA committee was formed in early 2021. The nine selected members received specialized training related to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the fire service, and they meet formally each month. The committee is tasked with researching, analyzing, and developing proposals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the intent of furthering the Department’s goal of being an employer of choice.

• The IDEA committee also began conducting outreach activities in college athletic programs. For example, members visited the Foothill Community College women's basketball team to recruit local athletes for a career with SCCFD. The members plan to visit other local school athletic programs in 2022.
• The IDEA committee produced two recruitment videos, which were posted on the Department's website and social media. Both were completed and utilized in time for the 2021 firefighter recruitment effort.  

• In 2021, three civilians were successfully hired to fill various positions.
• Twelve firefighters successfully completed the 2021-1 academy and were placed on the line in 2021.
• Ten additional firefighters from the class of 2021-2 graduated in February 2022. 
• In coordination with the IDEA committee, Personnel Services redesigned the firefighter recruitment process. By utilizing four interview panels and conducting interviews remotely, Personnel Services was able to schedule 491 firefighter interviews. In comparison, previous processes accommodated approximately 100 candidates or less. This resulted in a firefighter/EMT eligibility list of 279 and a firefighter/paramedic eligibility list of 27. The larger pool of candidates resulted in a significantly more diverse EMT eligibility list than previously. A new firefighter/paramedic recruitment announcement was posted in February 2022.

Personnel Services strives to conduct successful, high-quality promotional processes. These processes are often more time-consuming and complex than recruitment processes, especially those used for captain and battalion chief promotions. A promotional process can take from three to six months to plan, prepare, and conduct. During 2021, the Division completed four promotional processes: one suppression and three non-suppression processes, with a total of 15 employees being promoted.

Although a significant portion of the Personnel Services Division's workload is focused on hiring and promotions, it also assists employees who are transitioning into retirement. Over the course of 2021, 17 employees retired.

The Business Services Office (BSO) directs the Department’s programs of risk management, information technology, employee benefits, finance, and accounting.

The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) provides management and leadership for disaster planning and preparedness, grants administration, training and emergency exercises, crisis communications, and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) readiness throughout the Santa Clara County operational area. SCCFD was contracted by Santa Clara County and has been proud to provide executive leadership to the OEM since 2013.

2021 was a year of recovery and renewal for Santa Clara County, and the OEM was there to help support and coordinate those efforts. In 2021, OEM continued to serve the county by ensuring that the whole community was disaster-ready through public information and education programs. Furthermore, OEM partnered with local and state agencies, community-based organizations, and allied partners to expand reach within vulnerable communities. OEM continued to support first responders - law, fire, and emergency medical services - in all the phases of emergency management and facilitated the coordination of county resources during emergencies and disasters. OEM truly believes that it is because of these partnerships that they are successful in their role as emergency managers.

OEM celebrated its 50th anniversary in June. Much has changed over the course of those 50 years, and OEM continues to evolve to meet the needs of the public it serves. In 2021, they welcomed two new team members: 

• Marisol Torres was hired to fill the newly created role of Senior Emergency Planning Coordinator Access and Functional Needs Specialist. This position takes into consideration the needs of individuals with access and functional needs who might require additional assistance before, during, and/or after a disaster or emergency.
• OEM’s vision for building a comprehensive and long-term mitigation program was realized in early 2021 with the assignment of Parastou Najaf as Senior Emergency Planning Coordinator/Mitigation Specialist.

COVID-19: The EOC has been activated since March 2, 2020, to respond to COVID-19; as of January 2022, this activation totaled more than 650 days. Throughout its activation, OEM developed the emergency action plans for the EOC’s plans section. OEM worked with operational area partners to prepare for the wildfire season and PG&E public safety power shutoffs.

OEM facilitated the coordination of services and resources provided during eight inclement weather episodes, including both extreme heat and cold weather events. OEM’s coordination efforts ensured that services and resources were efficiently allocated to best serve our most vulnerable populations. Cooling centers were activated throughout the county to provide respite from heat and poor air quality.

OEM staff administered approximately 800 COVID-19 tests for unvaccinated county employees.

At the time of the incident, the SCU Lightning Complex Fire stood as the third largest fire in California's history and the largest fire in Santa Clara County’s history. OEM supported community members affected by the fire by advocating for assistance, including, but not limited to, utility restoration, rebuilding efforts, state and federal assistance, and engagement from charitable organizations. More than 1,800 county residents were referred to FEMA’s Individual and Homeowner Assistance Program (IHP). A total of $720,000 was awarded to affected residents through this program. Additionally, OEM hosted or attended 14 town hall meetings held on behalf of affected residents.

OEM continued its planning efforts. In 2021, OEM:

• Updated the Emergency Operations Plan in December 2021
• Began providing daily, all-hazard situational awareness reports to the operational area agencies
• Developed the Access and Functional Needs Annex Developed the Emergency Communications Annex
• Reviewed and revised the Wildfire Annex

OEM provided technical assistance for several local jurisdiction mitigation projects (Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, SCCFD, and Los Altos Hills County Fire District) which brought the jurisdictions a total of $16.5 million in federal funding. OEM is currently reviewing and revising the Operational Area Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.

SCCFD strives to be innovative and progressive in how the Department serves its communities. The Department will continue to focus on regional preparedness and resilience, improvements to infrastructure, continued fiscal responsibility, and improving recruitment efforts in civilian and safety-qualified positions to honor diversity in our workforce. Additionally, in 2022, the Department looks forward to accomplishing the following:

• Continued capital improvements, including completion of the Redwood Station, furthering progress toward building a new headquarters facility, and new apparatus and equipment.
• Adoption and deployment of new technology systems, including a new CAD system at the Santa Clara County 9-1-1 Communications Center and adoption of a modern records management system that will benefit all divisions.
• Further application of the accreditation process to ensure Santa Clara County Fire Department maintains continuous improvement in terms of service delivered, financial responsibility, and public transparency.

•  _{At the time of printing, Zonehaven has formally rebranded to Genasys Protect as of Summer 2023.} 
•  _{As discussed in this report, new CAD went live on Sept. 12, 2023 at County 911 Communications.}