A Conversation with Anderson Valley Fire Chief Andres Avila

Introducing Chief Andres Avila!

Andres Avila is Fire Chief of the Anderson Valley Fire Department, and a proud resident of Anderson Valley. I asked him what he does in his free time, and he said he has little of that.

He lives on a 740-acre ranch in Yorkville, and much of his time is spent ranching, taking care of cows, and working on fuels-reduction projects. He also has a wife and a family that he spends a lot of time with. The ranch is his favorite spot in the county, but when he is not there, he enjoys any place in the woods where he can enjoy hunting and spending time outdoors. 

As a career firefighter, Chief Avila is a fan of prescribed burning as a tool for wildfire safety because it combines firefighting tactics with the important work of preventing catastrophic wildfires. Controlled burning is just one of the many prevention opportunities that the fire department supports, but it is something that he particularly appreciates. Chief Avila is one of the first certified “California Burn Bosses,”— and we in Mendocino County should consider ourselves lucky to be served by such a skillful one. 

Chief Avila attended the very first burn-boss classes that were offered, and because of his experience he decided to participate as a shadow instructor in the most recent class. He really enjoyed working with the next generation of students, noting that everyone in the class came from different walks of life, from ecologists to ranchers. He learned from these students as much as he taught them, as they were all experts in their own areas. 

I asked him about his day job as Fire Chief of the Anderson Valley Fire Department. The AVFD covers 336 square miles of response area and responds to all non-criminal 911 calls. It is a tough and challenging department to run, but Chief Avila considers it an honor that he would not trade for anything. 

Amongst the challenges are equipment and funding, but he works with 45 dedicated volunteers, and says that if they are well-equipped, they get the job done. The volunteers also need to be well-trained, and the fire department needs to invest a lot in training to keep everyone safe and proficient. The volunteers have to be go-getters with the time and physical ability to actively train and serve while still holding other jobs. 

As one can imagine, there are staffing issues under this model. Often volunteers or staff will use the training that AVFD has invested to get a well-paying job elsewhere, so retention is an issue. The biggest volunteer challenge is staffing their 24/7 ambulance service, which requires two volunteers per 12-hour shift around the clock to sustain it. 

Chief Avila is very thankful that they will be getting more consistent funding from the Measure P county sales tax initiative that passed in November. The Anderson Valley Fire Department will use its portion of the funds mainly to modernize its equipment. The funds will also be used to strengthen their EMS service, which has been close to the breaking point.

I asked Chief Avila about the state of fire risk in the county, and what major challenges he sees on the horizon. He went back over a century, when we moved away from cultural burning,  prescribed fire and annual grazing practices into an era of heavy wildfire suppression versus fire management in the appropriate conditions. These changes have contributed to an enormous build-up of fuel loads that are now feeding mega-fires. This situation has been further exacerbated by some catastrophic former logging practices without proper follow-up forest management, although Chief Avila notes that not all logging was harmful and can be very beneficial in a forest management program. 

His main point is that there has been a lack of “good fire” on the ground, compounded by poor management of our lands and forests, and that has resulted in an unnatural fuel load of vegetative growth. The fuels and natural woodlands have been changed, and we must find a way to deal with these problems because we have moved away from a healthy and resilient landscape. Essentially, Chief Avila says, we need to find a way to create resilient wildfire environments within the way we are living currently. And controlled burning is one of the ways we can do that.

It is no secret that fire is a scary thing in some contexts, and not surprising many people have a problem with any sort of intentional burning. I asked Chief Avila what he would say to folks who are afraid. He acknowledges that most people are inclined to put all fires out immediately, but believes the tides are turning and that many folks are starting to catch up with the concept of allowing fire to do what it does naturally—though it should never involve a  risk to lives and property. 

Chief Avila noted that when fire is prescribed, it is being put on the ground on our own terms and timing, to accomplish a particular objective. If we see a controlled burn, especially outside of fire season, we need to change our perspective from fear and anxiety to recognizing something potentially positive and comforting. One way to adapt to living with wildfire is to know what is good fire and what is not.

If anyone out there might be thinking about a prescribed burn on their property, Chief Avila recommends getting in touch with Mike Jones and the Mendocino County Prescribed Burn Association (MCPBA, https://cemendocino.ucanr.edu/FireResources/PrescribedFire/ or https://calpba.org/mendocino-pba—or email mjones@ucanr.edu). Mike is a University of California forester, a member of the Mendocino County Board of Directors, and a cofounder of MCPBA, and often goes along with Chief Avila (who is also on the Board of the MCPBA) to walk around with property owners assessing their properties for wildfire safety; Mike contributes a valuable ecological perspective.  

AVFD prefers to bring an MCPBA representative along when they are walking a property, and if possible to also include nearby community members who might be affected by a planned burn, so that they can become more familiar and comfortable with the process. The walk allows them to come up with both an ecological plan and a fire-suppression plan. Chief Avila says, “If it is decided that fire is the right tool, folks in the community will see the benefit  and be interested.”