"For Palo Alto Fire Chief Geo Blackshire, the best type of home to come across during a fire is an empty one. It's even better when the residents have also left their home adequately prepared for the risk of fire by keeping vegetation several feet away from the exterior. "I can go on and on about what the community can do to really eliminate that risk of evacuation and rescue that we'd have to engage with, instead of just trying to go out there and protect homes," he said."
""Folks are saying, 'What are you doing about wildfire mitigation?' That's what we're doing," Mayor Ed Lauing said at a press briefing in August. "Up there, which is one of the hottest spots in town, we're spending that kind of money.""
"he audit from Baker Tilly lauded the undergrounding efforts as a key strategy and investment from Palo Alto, stating that "lines cannot be damaged by trees or high winds which can spark fires by falling on vegetation below." The undergrounding project began in 2021 with a price tag of $11 million. In total, the city will underground about nine miles of power lines."
Palo Alto Fire Chief Geo Blackshire emphasizes that empty, well-prepared homes with vegetation kept several feet from exteriors greatly reduce evacuation and rescue risk during fires. Emergency responders are incorporating feedback from a third-party audit that identified mitigation improvements. Utilities crews are undergrounding roughly 49,200 feet (about nine miles) of overhead distribution lines in the Palo Alto Hills to minimize fire risk; the project began in 2021 with an $11 million budget and is about 80% complete as of August 2025. The undergrounding serves around 300 Foothills residents and includes fiber to bolster communications with fire stations.
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