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<br /> <br />2021 Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan <br /> <br />16.2 HAZARD PROFILE <br />16.2.1 Ecology <br />Ecosystems in the planning area include several that are susceptible to wildfire (2018 Santa Cruz County/San <br />Mateo County Community Wildfire Protection Plan): <br /> Dense second-growth redwood and mixed conifer forests typically having forest floor accumulations of <br />litter and downed woody material <br /> Coastal scrub communities consisting of low vegetation up to 6 feet in height, typically occurring on <br />coastal hills and bluffs <br /> Wind-swept summits <br /> Scrub vegetation that is dense and difficult to pass through <br /> Flammable, environmentally sensitive northern maritime chaparral communities in isolated areas on <br />southwest facing slopes and at higher elevations, 12 to 20 feet tall and impenetrable at maturity, adapted <br />to and dependent upon periodic crown fires <br /> Grasslands in rural San Mateo County, especially in areas of upland grazing. <br />Due to local topography, fuels (forest, chaparral, and grasslands vegetation) and weather conditions, San Mateo <br />and Santa Cruz Counties are conducive to periodic large wildfire events. According to a 2010 survey of counties <br />in the western United States by the Headwaters Economics Institute, San Mateo County has 39 square miles of <br />WUI area, with 33 percent of it having homes. There are 14,704 homes in San Mateo County in the WUI. This <br />represents 5.4 percent of all residences in the county. <br /> <br />16.2.2 Past Events <br />While San Mateo County has a prolific fire history, few of its fires have caused sufficient damage to trigger a <br />state or federal disaster declaration. Notable fires of record are the November 1929 fire near Montara that <br />destroyed 25 homes, a church, and cattle, and the August 2020 CZU Lightning Complex in Santa Cruz and San <br />Mateo Counties, caused by a reported 12,000 bolts of lightning. <br /> <br />Two federal disaster declarations related to wildfire have included San Mateo County: <br /> Declaration DR-65 (Wildfires), December 29, 1956 <br /> Declaration DR-4558 (Wildfires; CZU Lightning Complex), August 16 – September 26, 2020 <br />CAL FIRE maintains statistics on historical wildfire activity through its annual reporting (Redbooks). Wildfire <br />statistics include state and county information, cause and size, acres burned, and dollar damage, among other <br />details. Figure 16-1 shows the wildfire activity for San Mateo County between 2000 and 2019, the most recent <br />annual report available. CAL FIRE has Redbooks available for every year back through 1942. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />16-4