San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is committed to continuously improving wildfire preparedness to ensure the safety of everyone in the region. This week, the company unveiled additional enhancements, including a second aerial firefighting asset, as the latest strategic improvement to help ensure public safety. For more than a decade, the company has been adding new monitoring technology, upgrading existing infrastructure and working with first responders.
“Safety is our highest priority,” said Caroline Winn, SDG&E’s chief operating officer. “The new wildfire prevention assets will complement SDG&E’s decade-long fire risk preparedness program, which is aimed at identifying and better managing the effects of extreme weather and making our region more resilient. We are committed to continuing our work with the best and the brightest in our region so that together, we can make every day safer than the last for the communities we are privileged to serve.”
SDG&E has announced a new tactical command vehicle which can travel into challenging environments affected by wildfires; evacuation planning map books for first responders, which were funded by an SDG&E grant; two new information and community resource centers; and wildfire mitigation and resiliency fairs planned for August and September where community members can learn about emergency preparedness and the company’s wildfire mitigation efforts.
Also announced this week was the addition of a UH-60 Black Hawk fire-suppression helicopter, which will be available year-round for rapid response dispatch by Cal Fire. This is the second aerial asset that SDG&E is making available to the region for year-round fire suppression.
Operation Fire Safe Day
SDG&E unveiled their new wildfire mitigation initiatives on its inaugural Operation Fire Safe Day, a day dedicated to the company’s ongoing commitment to fire prevention and safety awareness. Safety stand-downs were held across the company for employees, and SDG&E leaders met with first responders, public officials and public agency partners for a Wildfire Prep Summit, focused on enhancing prevention efforts across the communities they serve.