EWB-USA SONOMA COUNTRY PROFESSIONAL CHAPTER

The Fire

In October 2017, the Tubbs fire raced through canyons and over hills, jumping the six lanes of Highway 101, ravaging everything in its wake. The EWB-USA Sonoma County professional chapter lost no time in responding.

Knowing they possessed much-needed technical skills, the team set up a table at neighborhood and county meetings to offer up their expertise at neighborhood and county meetings. As a result, the chapter was able to identify two CECorps projects.

For the community of Wikiup Bridge Way, twenty-six of the 27 homes in the community were destroyed and the fire also took out the wooden bridge, the only access point for the community. The CECorps team provided engineering, design and construction oversight for replacing seven fire-damaged culverts along the main neighborhood road and protecting the structural integrity of the roads supported by the culverts.

The chapter also partnered with the Sonoma County Resource Conservation District on a number of erosion control projects severely burned during the fire. To secure government emergency grant funding, the team conducted a thorough analysis of the watershed and provided erosion control recommendations.

With any natural disaster, the road to recovery is a long one, but one made easier through the support, dedication, and compassion of people and organizations working on the ground. CECorps is pleased to have made a positive difference in helping California recover from this disaster and will continue lending technical expertise.