Wednesday marks one year since the start of the deadly wildfires across Los Angeles, and it's not lost on the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services (OES) team. They want to get an early start to fire season, which usually peaks in the late summer to fall months, to keep the county safe.

"Right now, we are on the eve of the biggest fires in California history," said Tiffany Cacho, San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services director of emergency operations. "We had the L.A. fires a year ago this time of year, so we know that wildfire season is not just a season anymore. It's year-round for us. So, with the expansion of a lot of residential areas moving into those traditionally wildland areas, we need to make sure that our community is ready for that."

OES plans to do that with the help of a Cal Fire Wildlife County Coordinator $151,000 Grant, aimed at helping to build a wildfire protection plan for the entire county.

"We're never going to stop fires from occurring altogether," said Shad Canestrino, San Joaquin County OES emergency planner. "So how do we prepare those communities where fires occur? How do we come up with a plan, whether it's shelter-in-place or evacuations, and messaging, making sure that the messaging that we're giving to them is on time and accurate? All these have to work together seamlessly in order to have an effective mitigation plan for fires."

With more development sprawling into wildfire-prone areas, the county is working with local law enforcement, fire departments, and wants community input for what they want to see in their neighborhoods to build a plan aimed at keeping everyone safe, especially residents in Tracy and Mountain House, where there are neighborhoods at risk of wildfires.

"Those areas are built right into wildland areas," Cacho said. "So, a lot more grass that's in there, it builds into more of those intermediate fuels where there's more shrubs, more trees. We don't have the same kind of thing, the forest, that they have up north or down south. But we have grass and the grass fires move very quickly, and any one piece that's in-between that and a home could spark the homes to catch on fire quickly."

What would the message be to residents living in those areas with moderate, high, or very-high fire hazard risks?

"Understand what the fire risks are in your area, understand what you can do, personally, to create defensible spaces to both prepare for those, whether it's in using building materials that are more fire resistant, creating defensible spaces," Canestrino said.  "Have a plan to kind of prevent fires from impacting you but also understand that even with all that planning, the fire still may impact you. And so, be ready to go. Have a plan. Have a go bag. And then when the time comes to evacuate, go."

Canestrino said they want to be good "stewards" by having this emergency preparedness planning and also wants to stress to people to take responsibility in knowing what to do during wildfires.

If you're interested in learning more about disaster preparedness, including fires, Canestrino said you can head to their website.