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Fire Safety
Fountaingrove II “FGII” has been designated a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone by the City of Santa Rosa.
Before the wide-scale settlement of Fountaingrove or the City of Santa Rosa, fires occurred on the average of every 7 years, consuming the fuel load which had built up since the last fire. Fountaingrove II has not been touched by a fuel-consuming fire since 1964, when the Hanley Fire burned 55,960 acres from Calistoga to the Sutter Hospital in Santa Rosa. After decades of fire suppression, wildlands, such as those surrounding Fountaingrove II, are now choked with massive fuel build-ups that burn more intensely, spread more quickly, and can be difficult to control if the weather and wind conditions are unfavorable.
The risk of a large destructive fire occurring in Fountaingrove II was identified when the community was approved for development in 1992. The City set aside about 220 acres of open space within the boundaries of the community to be managed in both an environmentally friendly and fire safe manner. The Fountaingrove II Open Space Maintenance Association “OSMA” was created as a specific purpose nonprofit corporation to manage this open space, with its members being the property owners operating as a homeowner association. The responsibilities of OSMA are stipulated in several legal documents, with most of the management guidelines specified in the Fountaingrove II Design Program for Managing Open Space “Design Program” adopted April 17, 1992, and amended by a Use Permit on April 15, 2010. Wildlands comprise 201.7 acres of the open space, with the remaining acreage existing as irrigated landscaping strips alongside the Fountaingrove Parkway or interior streets of the Fountaingrove II development.
Since 2004, OSMA has taken proactive steps to comply with the fire safety guidelines required by the Design Program, as well as State of California legislation enacted the same year requiring a minimum 100’ firebreak behind residences backing up on a Wildland Urban Interface “WUI”. The responsibility for fire safety in Fountaingrove II was further reinforced, when the City of Santa Rosa City Council adopted Fire Ordinance 3852 on November 6, 2007, designating Fountaingrove as a Very High Fire Severity Hazard Zone. This City Ordinance created a legal requirement for both OSMA and the residents of Fountaingrove II to control vegetation, maintain defensible space, and practice fire safe practices on its properties as specified in both state and federal law.
In 2009, OSMA cooperated with several fire departments to produce a Community Wildfire Protection Plan “CWPP”, and became a Firewise Community. Both the CWPP and Firewise status require OSMA to involve the community within and surrounding its borders to become involved in protecting themselves, neighbors, properties and pets from fires. Preventative actions include maintaining adequate defensible space around dwellings, following fire safe practices, and landscaping in a fire wise manner.
See the links for the CWPP, Firewise, Fire Safety Brochures and other material available to help Fountaingrove II practice fire safe procedures. Be prepared when a fire occurs!