Following the first meeting of Congressman Sam Liccardo’s regional Wildfire Resilience Partnership, leaders from Los Gatos and Saratoga who were in attendance Aug. 29 at the Los Altos Community Center said that although there wasn’t much consensus, the stakeholders discussed their priorities to start narrowing down how the federal government can help.

“The purpose was to look for ways to work together with federal engagement to have a more coordinated approach to wildfire preparation, risk, mitigation and resiliency,” said Los Gatos Mayor Matthew Hudes in an interview.

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Hudes said he, Los Gatos Town Manager Chris Constantin and Los Gatos Emergency Manager Chris Todd raised concerns about funding mechanisms for improvements the town will need down the line and how municipalities can raise money to invest in these improvements. They also suggested having standardized building and zoning codes for construction in high fire hazard zones, which are typically hillside communities.

Hudes suggested working with technology companies to create a single integrated app that would feed residents all public service announcements in the case of an emergency.

Saratoga City Manager Matt Morley echoed some of these concerns, saying that his priorities were the hardening of evacuation routes to make them more resilient in case of wildfire and highlighting infrastructure needs like roadway capacity and retaining walls.

“I think there’s a lot of commonalities in terms of reducing fuels that create issues with wildfires, like brush and trees,” Morley said. “We’ll continue to work with our neighbors and partners.”

Morley said Saratoga and other communities with hillside residents in fire-prone areas have used federal money to meet the needs of their residents, such as money for emergency preparedness or grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that trickle down from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

“Those were great opportunities that we’ve taken advantage of in the past; we’ve all become more resourceful as those dollars have disappeared, and we’re looking for other opportunities,” Morley said. “As dollars are challenging to get, it’s all the more reason for jurisdictions to get together and work together toward maximizing the use of any funding or any efforts that we’re doing.”

Seth Schalet, CEO of the Saratoga-based Santa Clara County Firesafe Council, also put his perspective on the table at the meeting, saying that he thought technology has a great role to play in early detection. He pointed to smoke sensors and alert systems that can detect wildfires and monitor high fire risk areas. He also emphasized the need for firefighters to get the resources that they need to get to fires quickly and extinguish them as quickly as possible, pointing to possibilities for satellite technology that can detect wildfires.

Schalet also pointed out the importance of early warning and evacuation, highlighting the lessons learned from the major wildfires in Los Angeles. It was reported by NBC that at least one of the victims in those fires did not receive emergency and evacuation alerts. With California being a “natural fire ecosystem,” Schalet said, more people are at risk for experiencing wildfires, and that’s not going to change.

“I have been frustrated with the federal government’s stance, no question, but I think hopefully trough efforts like Congressman Liccardo, Sen. (Josh) Becker, all the other congressional and elected officials in our area, they can apply that pressure at the state and federal level to make those dollars available,” Schalet said. “I can’t change the climate we’re in, but I have to navigate the best I can with the resources we’re given.”

Members of the partnership plan to meet monthly at least twice more. The next meeting had yet to be scheduled as of press time.

“I would say there were no conclusions, but there were a lot of really great ideas that were put forward,” Hudes said after the meeting. “Some of those ideas involved federal funding, but since that’s a very very challenging environment, there were also some ideas that could help from the federal government that wouldn’t necessarily require funding or much funding at all.”