17 Attachment 2 - SCCFD Recommendation MemorandumMEMORANDUM
June 25, 2020
MEMO_Alpine Ave/er/06.25.20 Page 1
TO: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager / Los Gatos
FROM: Tony Bowden, Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Alpine Avenue
BACKGROUND
At a recent Town Council Meeting, a Los Gatos resident raised concerns
regarding the street width, parking, and the impacts to ingress/egress on Alpine
Avenue should a wildfire and/or emergency occur. The Santa Clara County Fire
Department was contacted by the Assistant Town Manager to assess the
concerns raised by the Town resident and to provide a recommendation should
the Fire Department determine that a potentially hazardous condition exists.
Staff was able to confirm the following: Alpine Avenue has an approximate
average width of 25 feet from curb to curb. On June 22, 2020 at 11:00, the
Santa Clara County Fire Department staff, including: the Fire Chief, the Assistant
Fire Chief, Fire Prevention Deputy Fire Marshals, Battalion 83, Engine 77, and
the Town of Los Gatos staff, met at Alpine Avenue. This is a two-way street and
parking is currently allowed on both sides of the street. Multiple cars were
present on both sides of Alpine Avenue on June 22nd. The current width of
emergency fire response vehicles in Los Gatos is 100 inches, not including the
mirrors. With small to average vehicles parked on both sides of the street, the fire
engine had approximately 12-18 inches of clearance on either side when driving
on Alpine Avenue. (See Attachment A) A parked full-size vehicle or truck would
significantly reduce this clearance.
The current requirement for road width, in new residential developments, is
a minimum road width of 36 feet to allow parking on both sides of the road,
between 28 feet and 35 feet to allow parking on one side of the road, and
roads that are less than 28 feet in width are not allowed to have on-street
parking. It is well understood that codes and ordinances have evolved over time
and there are many streets/roads throughout the county of Santa Clara that do
not meet this current standard. However, in areas with limited ingress/egress, or
in high-hazard fire severity zones, it is important that local jurisdictions assess
these situations on a case-by-case basis as there are many factors to consider
such as the fire severity zone, emergency vehicle response routes, alternate
access routes, and traffic flow, to name a few.
ATTACHMENT 2
Memo_Alpine Avenue
June 25, 2020
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MEMO_Alpine Ave/er/06.25.20 Page 2
BACKGROUND (cont’d)
Alpine Avenue serves as the most direct means of ingress for emergency
response vehicles and the most direct means of egress for residents of the
Alpine Avenue, Foster Road, Tourney Road, and the Sund Avenue
neighborhoods. Alpine Avenue is in a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) area and
a very high-hazard severity zone, according to the California State Fire Marshal.
(See Attachment B) Johnson Avenue and Loma Alta Avenue serve as
secondary means of egress for the above mentioned as they are not the most
direct route of egress. This is further complicated by a very narrow section of
road connecting Foster Road to Johnson Avenue and by a section of one-way
roadway on Johnson Avenue.
IMPACT
Understanding the current road width, parking conditions, wildland fire risk
and emergency response vehicle width, a fire engine responding to an
emergency response via Alpine Avenue would be directly impeded, should
it encounter a vehicle driving in the opposite direction, with vehicles
parked on both sides of the street. In this scenario, the direct impacts
would be: a delayed response to the emergency (fire, medical, etc.);
reduced ability/inability of residents to evacuate; and the reduced
ability/inability for emergency response vehicles to get to the emergency
during an evacuation.
The impact of restricted ingress/egress can be better understood by examining
past wildland fires in communities with similar access issues, such as the
Oakland Hills, Tunnel Fire of 1991 and the Camp Fire in the city of Paradise in
2018. During both of these fires, the ability for citizens to evacuate, and the ability
for first responders to access the fires, was impacted due to narrow and blocked
roads.
RECOMMENDATION
Santa Clara County Fire Department staff recommend that the Town of Los
Gatos restrict parking on Alpine Avenue to one side of the street at all
times. We recommend that parking be allowed on the North side of the
street only, which would place parked vehicles in a position to quickly
evacuate in the direction of egress, should a fire occur. If vehicles were
allowed to park on the South side of Alpine Avenue, it would require vehicles to
make a multipoint turn in the middle of the street during an evacuation. This
action would directly impede emergency response vehicles responding to the
emergency and slow the evacuation of other citizens.
Memo_Alpine Avenue
June 25, 2020
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MEMO_Alpine Ave/er/06.25.20 Page 3
Attachment A
Memo_Alpine Avenue
June 25, 2020
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MEMO_Alpine Ave/er/06.25.20 Page 4
Attachment B