City of Roseville

With devastating fires burning in California communities, Roseville residents are asking what they should do to prepare, how our city is helping our neighbors affected by these fires, and how we plan and prepare for fire danger in Roseville.

Let’s start with you 

One thing you can do, is to sign up so that you can receive alerts and warnings from Public Safety officials. Signing up is easy and free, and can be done by going to placer-alert.org. Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo counties have partnered to use this community-notification system to alert residents about emergency events and other important public safety information.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and NextDoor to receive timely and accurate information.

CAL FIRE recommends being prepared for wildfire before it strikes by following Ready, Set, Go!

• Be Ready: Create and maintain defensible space and harden your home against flying embers.

• Get Set: Prepare your family and home ahead of time for the possibility of having to evacuate.

• Be Ready to GO!: Take the evacuation steps necessary to give your family and home the best chance of surviving a wildfire.

Find more information on the Ready, Set, Go here. 

Roseville is seeing ash and smoke from fires throughout Northern California in our air quality.  Check air-quality updates and health and safety tips from the Placer County Health Department and the Placer County Air Pollution Control District at placerair.org, especially as it concerns at-risk populations and outdoor recreation and sports activities.
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Roseville helps NorCal neighbors

• Our Fire Department deployed 13 people and two vehicles to three fires, including firefighters, strike team leaders, a public information officer, and a communications technician who worked at the Ferguson, Carr and Mendocino Complex fires.
• The City is fully reimbursed for the cost of providing mutual aid to include staff from both Roseville Fire and Roseville Electric, apparatus, equipment and administrative overhead. 
• Roseville Electric Utility sent two crews of nine lineworkers with vehicles and equipment to repair and restore utility infrastructure damaged by the Carr Fire in support of Redding Electric Utility.

Preparedness tops priority list

Firebreaks and thatch control in open-space reduce risk during fires. Since beginning of May, the 1,500 goats comprising two herds have grazed approximately 400 acres of open space in Roseville. The primary goal of grazing is to reduce the thatch but they also offer the added benefit of reducing potential fuel load in open-space grasslands and natural-resource areas. By the end of the year, more than 1,200 acres of open-space preserve areas will have been grazed.

• City open-space crews from the Parks, Recreation & Libraries and contractors started mowing 30-foot firebreaks in April.
• All state-mandated requirements for mowing fire breaks were met by July 1.
• City open-space staff and contractors mowed 191 sites consisting of 300 acres of firebreaks or 193,000 linear feet.
• Staff performed 195 quality-assurance inspections for firebreak mowing and responded with over 50 site visits to concerned residents in regards to fuel load.

Roseville Electric inspects its equipment in fire-sensitive areas to ensure that areas that may need extra vegetation trimming and increased clearance distance from utility equipment are addressed.

Safety is the focus at construction sites in new development area. The construction activity on the west side of town is part of the Sierra Vista Specific Plan development area. Both the Development Services Department and developers have taken numerous precautions in reducing the fire danger to residents during the underground construction phase of this project. Under the watchful eye of our engineering-inspection staff, these measures include:

• Removal of all field grass and debris from the construction limits before construction started.
• The conditions of the project require the contractor to park heavy equipment and personal vehicles on dirt and away from open spaces and wetlands. We have City inspection staff present every day to make sure this happens.
• All heavy equipment is documented and permitted by the Placer County Air Pollution Control District for proper exhaust emissions and spark arrestors.

Annual drills help staff prepare. While fires are at the top of everyone's mind right now, our staff prepares for a range of emergency scenarios every year. Twice a year we activate our Emergency Operations Center and spend the day working through potential logistical and communications challenges with staff from all departments to prepare for health and safety, transportation, shelter, and notification needs that vary with each type of emergency.

This year’s simulated emergency scenario was a blackout of the regional power grid, which included responding to effects of smoke and fire in our community and region.

• The majority of Roseville’s growth has occurred since 1980, when higher structural and material standards were enacted. Older structures in other communities might have shake-shingle roofs and wood siding. Most Roseville homes are stucco with concrete tile roofs, a safety advantage in a fire.
• Most of the open space in Roseville comprises grasslands. Grasslands have a much lower fuel load than the forests that have been consumed by devastating fires in other California communities.