HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 6f. Authorize the Fire Department to accept the product of a Fire Safe Council Grant Item 6f
Department: Fire
Cost Center: 8599
For Agenda of: 1/13/2026
Placement: Consent
Estimated Time: N/A
FROM: Todd Tuggle, Fire Chief
Prepared By: Nicole Vert, Business Analyst
SUBJECT: AUTHORIZE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO ACCEPT THE PRODUCT OF
A FIRE SAFE COUNCIL GRANT, WHICH IS PREPARATION OF A ONE-
TIME PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR EVACUATION
DATA DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL MODELING SERVICES FOR
CITYWIDE EVACUATION PLANNING
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Fire Department to accept the award from the San Luis Obispo County Fire
Safe Council for a one-time professional service agreement for evacuation data
development and initial modelling services for Citywide evacuation planning with a value
of $30,000.
POLICY CONTEXT
The City of San Luis Obispo’s Financial Management Manual, Section 740 - Grant
Management Policy states that Council shall consider approval of all grant applications in
excess of $5,000 and delegate receipt and contract execution to the City Manager.
DISCUSSION
State, federal, and non-profit grants are occasionally offered to assist local governments
with the financial impacts associated with daily operations and/or mandated programs.
The Fire Department actively seeks out these opportunities to enhance t he effectiveness
of the Department while increasing fiscal sustainability for the City. The San Luis Obispo
County Fire Safe Council received a grant that which is in line with these goals and
addresses a current need for the City: the California Climate Investment grant program.
Fire Safe Council is a statewide organization with approximately 300 local chapters in
California. The organization provides support for training, technical assistance plus helps
communities navigate federal and state wildfire grants. The local San Luis Obispo County
Fire Safe Council is a collaborative group dedicated to creating a Fire Safe environment
through education, partnerships, and action by working with local municipalities in San
Luis Obispo County, including the City of San Luis Obispo. The San Luis Obispo County
Fire Safe Council has received the grant award to develop and enhance resiliency in local
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Item 6f
communities. This grant was awarded from the California Climate Investment, a state
program that uses revenue from the state’s Cap-and-Invest greenhouse gas reduction
system to fund climate related projects.
As part of the effort to create resiliency in San Luis Obispo County, the Fire Safe Council
has partnered with the City to create an Evacuation Analysis in alignment with AB -747
legislation. The 2019 legislation updates the requirement for the “Safety Element” of local
general plans to strengthen local hazard planning, including wildfire and other emergency
scenarios. The update must identify evacuation routes and analyze their capacity, safety
and viability under a range of emergency scenarios. This law is intended to ensure that
local hazard planning is current, thorough, and integrated into general planning
processes, helping communities better prepare for and respond to emergencies.
The resulting work product will be from a collaborative effort between the City and the
Fire Safe Council on developing enhanced evacuation modeling to improve planning and
decision-making for a range of emergency scenarios. This modeling incorporates updated
population estimates, urban density conditions, and roadway capacity, including the
effects of existing and planned traffic-calming measures. The system can be tailored to
evaluate different hazard types such as wildfire, flooding, or a Citywide evacuation
associated with an incident at Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
The fully scalable analysis of evacuations for a single neighborhood zone, groups of
adjacent zones, simultaneous multi-zone operations, or a full Citywide evacuation will be
consolidated into a single Evacuation Analysis document to meet the requirements of AB -
747. The evacuation analysis will also provide staff with an enhanced understanding of
evacuation timelines, identify potential bottlenecks, and develop more effective public
safety strategies, ultimately improving the City’s overall readiness and community
resilience. Additionally, tools will be incorporated into the operations of the Fire
Department to enhance the effectiveness of incident management. Tools such as detailed
evacuation zone assessments, trigger points for evacuations due to wildfire threats , and
incorporation of target hazards into Computer Aided Dispatching response interfaces will
provide incident commanders with important intelligence during emergencies.
The evacuation data development and modeling study supports the City’s Vision Zero
goals by providing analytical insight into how the transporta tion network performs under
high stress, high volume emergency conditions, which represent some of the highest-risk
scenarios for traffic related fatalities and serious injuries. By identifying evacuation routes,
congestion points, and roadway constraints in advance, the analysis enables the City of
San Luis Obispo to anticipate and reduce conditions that increase crash risk during
evacuations, including conflicting traffic movements, excessive speeds, and driver error.
This planning-level analysis supports Vision Zero principles by informing safer evacuation
strategies and future transportation and emergency planning decisions that prioritize
safety, predictability, and accommodation of human behavior during emergencies .
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Item 6f
Previous Council or Advisory Body Action
On October 21, 2025, the City Council authorized the fire department to accept a Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant to
begin a program of public outreach and education regarding home hardening for wildfire
preparedness. This authorized the City Manager, or designee, to execute the grant
documents and approve the budget changes necessary.
Public Engagement
This item is on the agenda for the January 13, 2026, City Council meeting and will follow
all required postings and notifications. The public will have an opportunity to comment on
this item at or before the meeting.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in
this report, because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines
Sec. 15378. If the work associated with the grant funding requires environmental review,
staff will not proceed with the project until a review has been completed.
FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted: No Budget Year: 2025-26
Funding Identified: Yes
Fiscal Analysis:
Funding
Sources
Total Budget
Available
Current
Funding
Request
Remaining
Balance
Annual
Ongoing
Cost
General Fund $ N/A $ $ $
State
Federal
Fees
Other:
Total $ N/a $ $
There are no financial impacts directly associated with the acceptance of the grant
product. The funds will be paid directly to the San Luis Obispo County Fire Safe Council
for the work and the City will receive the results. There is not a required match and there
will not be a financial impact to the City by accepting this grant.
ALTERNATIVES
Council could decide not to accept the grant product. Not approving acceptance of
the grant product will prevent the City from receiving the full analysis.
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