Berkeley postpones EMBER vote, announces workshops

By Brent Blackaby

We know that addressing the wildfire threat comprehensively is going to take collective action — from regional partners like East Bay Regional Park District, EBMUD and PG&E and also from Berkeley Hills residents who live near the wildland urban interface of Tilden Park.

That's why the Berkeley Fire Department has proposed the new EMBER program — a plan that will make our community more wildfire resilient by asking homeowners in the very high fire hazard severity zone near Tilden Park to create a "Zone Zero" of 5 feet of defensible space around their homes. 

Over the past few weeks, our office has received many emails and phone calls from neighbors with questions about the Fire Department’s proposed EMBER initiative and what the new Zone 0 requirements will mean for them.

As your elected representative to the Berkeley City Council, I want to make sure you have a chance to get the facts about EMBER before the proposal receives a final council vote, which will now come on June 17. 

It’s really important that we work together as a community in this important effort, and I want to make sure we take the time to answer your questions before we move forward.

To that end, I’d like to invite you to join us for an upcoming EMBER community workshop to learn more:

• Thursday, May 15, from 6-7:30 p.m. on Zoom (RSVP)
• Tuesday, May 27, from 6-7:30 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda (RSVP)

Mayor Adena Ishii, the Berkeley Fire Department, City Council colleagues, and wildfire science experts will join us at these workshops — and I hope you can make it too.

After these two workshops, the City Council will proceed to a final vote on EMBER on June 17.

Thanks for giving me the privilege of serving you on the City Council! I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming EMBER meetings, in person or online!

P.S. To learn more about EMBER in advance of the worskhops, I invite you to watch a recording of the Feb. 11 City Council worksession about EMBER as well as video from our previous EMBER town hall meeting on March 20th.

P.P.S. If you're interested, you can also read the text of the full proposed ordinance here. In particular, see Chapter 40 – Requirements for Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Areas on page 34 of the PDF document.

Brent Blackaby is a Berkeley City Council member representing District 6 (North Berkeley Hills). Brent and his partner Larry have lived in Berkeley for 20 years and are raising two kids attending Berkeley public schools.

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