Sonoma Technology laying the data groundwork to fight wildfires

In California, where the surging wildfire threat is worsening by the year, cities and fire agencies are increasingly turning to technology firms for help in charting plans to reduce risk and map out ways to speed people from harm.

One firm at the center of those local efforts is Petaluma-based Sonoma Technology, which is marshaling data collection, computer modeling and public safety planning to help assist local communities in the fight against catastrophic wildfire.

The environmental science firm is helping North Bay agencies craft blueprints meant to give communities in Marin and Sonoma counties an edge in preventing disastrous blazes and responding in timely ways when they do break out. The firm’s computer modeling can help predict fire behavior and the ease of evacuation — critical advantages that can help curb flames before they get out of control and speed people from harm’s way.

The company relies on an array of data, ranging from the width of remote roads, to the prevalence of flammable fuels and age demographics of a certain neighborhood or community. It’s baseline expertise lies in modeling the combined factors of topography and weather play in fire behavior.

The work is being incorporated in Healdsburg and western Marin County, where fire officials, firms and local governments are trying to use all the tools of the trade to prevent or reduce the toll of wildfires, which last year burned more than 4 million acres of the state, at firefighting cost of more than $1 billion.

Sonoma Tech has contracted with the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, a joint powers authority funded through a county parcel tax. It also is performing models for the city of Healdsburg, where a separate company, Wildfire Services Group, is creating the community fire plan the city.

The team at Sonoma Tech, formed in 1982, is racing against the clock, as the size and scope of catastrophic California wildfires continues to grow, said CEO Lyle Chinkin pointed out.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to understand areas of high fire hazard, so that local fire agencies and community organizations can determine how best to make communities more fire resilient. We’ve got the tools to make risk assessments, (so they can) make more informed decisions,” Sonoma Tech Senior Scientist and Vice President Tami Lavezzo said. “And if a fire were to occur, we look at that fire history. Now the concern is how do we manage the evacuation when we don’t have time.”

Chinkin and Lavezzo noted that the state’s nearly yearround fire season has included ever deadlier and more destructive fires in recent years. The 2017 Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County was at the top of the latter list only for 11 months before it was displaced by the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, which killed 85 people and destroyed more than 14,000 homes.

As with the North Bay fires from 2017, many of the fatalities involved seniors — residents in the town of Paradise east of Chico.

Mark Brown, a veteran firefighter who leads the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, is using the planning tools developed by Sonoma Tech to assess wildfire risk and evacuation routes in areas of the county where a fast moving fire would be especially problematic. He called out the Drakes Beach, because of its narrow, two-lane roads, which could become congested in a wildfire evacuation.

“That place always has traffic jams,” he said, noting the authority has managed a number of projects to clear evacuation routes.

“We’ve done hundreds of miles,” he said.

But is all the new technology and planning making a difference?

“We’re making a dent. It’s getting better every day. It’s also about education,” Wildfire Services Group Vice President of Client Services Jen Stark said.

The Sonoma County company, founded in February 2021, is working with Healdsburg and Cloverdale on wildfire protection blueprints, as well as with homeowner associations in places such as Oakmont, where almost 5,000 Santa Rosa residents live in homes that butt up against woodsy Trione-Annadel State Park.

Sonoma Tech, which is headquartered in a 15,000-square-foot facility on North McDowell Boulevard, also has contracted with the NASA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“From a weather forecast angle, we have the skills that have really improved the science over the last two decades. Twenty to 30 years ago, we couldn’t change the ‘Week 2 forecast’ with accuracy,” NOAA Chief Meteorologist Brad Pugh said from his Washington, D.C.-based weather prediction center.

Pugh noted just the mere speed of computer models are helping stakeholders make informed decisions on fighting fire. Case in point: Last week’s heatwave was predicted “more than a week in advance,” he said.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. For 27 years, Susan has worked for a variety of publications including the North County Times, Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News. Reach her at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com.