District Overview

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Serving The Town of Woodside, Town of Portola Valley, Emerald Hills, Ladera, Los Tancos, Skyline and Vista Verde

Woodside Fire Protection District is an independent special district established in 1925. The District was formed by many volunteer residents that came together at great risk to their well-being, to provide aid to their neighbors in time of emergencies and against fires.

The District has 57 full time employees including a Fire Chief, a Deputy Fire Chief, a Fire Marshal, a Deputy Fire Marshal, 5 Battalion Chiefs (including 1 EMS Chief), 12 Fire Captains, 29 Firefighter Paramedics, 1 Firefighter EMT, 2 Full Time Fire Inspectors, 1 HR/Benefits Manager, 1 Finance Manager, 1 Executive Administrator, 1 Public Education Officer/Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, 1 Fuel Mitigation Engineer, 6 Fuel Mitigation Specialist, and 2 Prevention Intern. Staffing is divided into 3 shifts with 14 personnel on each shift. Shift personnel work a 48/96 schedule.

The geographical bounds of the Woodside Fire Protection District cover approximately 32 square miles, one-third of which includes the incorporated Town of Woodside, another one-third includes the incorporated Town of Portola Valley and the other one-third of which is unincorporated lands of San Mateo County. The district serves a population of approximately 25,000, approximately 6,000 homes and 151 commercial properties. The District is a rural populated area with not much industry, only small, limited retail stores, a few restaurants, and small service type commercial enterprises.

In our rural area, there is a constant pressure for the “old look” and the wish to preserve the old frame building. The opportunity for fire travel from outside is the hazard accepted for that quaint “old look” and wish to preserve the old frame. The rural atmosphere of the District which consists of brushy, dry vegetation and uncleared underbrush.

Each of our districts is protected by one Type I engine with each of the districts cross-staffing at least one specialty piece of equipment such as a Squad or Rescue. ... ISO rating is 2/2X

Town of Woodside

The Town of Woodside is a small, incorporated town in San Mateo County, on the San Francisco Peninsula, between San Francisco and San Jose. The wildland urban interface land covers approximately 11.47 sq miles at an elevation of approximately 387 ft. Like most of the California coastal areas, weather in Woodside is mild during most of the year. Summers are dry and can be hot, while winter temperatures average around high of 60 degrees F and lows of 36 degrees F. Woodside is home to several open space preserves where both horseback riding and bicycling are allowed. Much of Woodside is wooded with redwoods and Douglas Fir in the western hills and more oaks and eucalyptus with heavy downed dead vegetative material. The Woodside community is filled with large family dwellings, a few schools, and a high school. The Town includes some restaurants and businesses.

Town of Portola Valley

The Town of Portola Valley, surrounded by wooded hills, is located on the San Francisco Peninsula on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Town is west of Interstate 280 and its southwest boundary runs along Skyline Blvd. The Windy Hill Open Space Preserve is a large part of the town’s southwest side and the northside of the town borders Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Portola Valley covers approximately 9.08 sq miles of land with an elevation of approximately 459 ft. Portola Valley is known for its expansive trail network which includes the 235-acre Coal Mine Ridge Nature Preserve, which is private property, but by agreement with the town is set aside as open space. The Town is in the Wildland Urban Interface filled with scenic roads, natural views and filled with oak woodlands with some sudden oak death fuel loading. Residential occupancies are mainly single-family homes and some elementary schools. The Town includes a few restaurants and businesses. These factors have enabled the town to retain a rural ambiance reminiscent of earlier days.

Emerald Hills

Emerald Hill is a cozy neighborhood in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is nestled among oak-studded hills between Woodside, Redwood City and San Carlos. It covers approximately 1.2 sq miles of land at an elevation of 518 feet; of its land 0.55% is water. Emerald Hills is renowned for its spectacular display of spring flowers, grasslands, chaparral, and wooded foothills. Known for its biotic diversity, this small wilderness was declared a permanent natural preserve in 1993 with support from the EHHA, thus protecting it from any future development. The park has a well-maintained system of trails is open for hikers, joggers, and equestrians. Emerald Hills was named for the distinctive emerald, green water that fills them, the two lakes created by the original developers of Emerald Hills still exist to enhance the beauty of the area. Being a small residential neighborhood, its location is close to nearby schools, restaurants, and other business.

Ladera

Ladera, named to reflect the Spanish history of the land and translates as hillside, is located at the bottom of the eastern slope of the Peninsula Range, bordered on the west by the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, on the east by Alpine Road, and on the north by Webb Ranch. Ladera is a small residential community with a light commercial business area that covers approximately 0.4 sq miles of land and at an elevation of 315 feet. Notable commercial occupancies include a grocery store, a few restaurants, among other businesses. There is one elementary school from pre-school to eighth grade. Ladera has many hills filled with decorative vegetation. The fuels in these areas are mostly Oak Woodland.

Los Trancos/Vista Verde

Los Trancos Woods/Vista Verde

Los Trancos and Vista Verde are primarily a residential community that borders deep undeveloped canyon areas filled with Oak, Bay & Conifer or Fur Trees.

As in most of California, we have a colorful and checkered past of Native Americans, Spaniards, large landowners, and small communities. According to information from the San Mateo County Historical Society, the Old Spanish Trail has existed for centuries, originally being the trail used by the Costanoan Indians as the most feasible route between what is now Portola valley, up to Skyline, and on down to the ocean. There are still traces of it left. In July of 1999, Richard Tryce, a resident, was concerned that the wagon ruts were disappearing and communicated his concern to the San Mateo County Historical Society. As a result, several Historical Society members visited the trail and took photos to document the location in preparation for the eventual placement of a plaque.

In records of early California history, the areas of Los Trancos Woods/Vista Verde, Pony Tracks Ranch, Blue Oaks, and Portola Valley Ranch, were all part of the original Maximo Martinez Rancho. A Sr. Antonino had hides and tallow to transport from inland to the sea and needed a wagon route. He reached an agreement with Maximo Martinez to build a trail which could handle his wagons. It intersected what is now Arastradero Road, continued along Alpine Road past the present turnoff for Los Trancos road, and went up the ridge near Corte Madera School, through what is today Vista Verde and Pony Tracks Ranch – the Old Spanish Trail. The Martinez Rancho included all the land from Page Mill Road to La Honda Road, Hwy. 84.

The ridge which the Old Spanish Trail followed, was called Coal Mine Ridge because of deposits of soft coal found there and coal can still be found in outcroppings on Alpine Road near Joaquin. The entrance to the coal mine collapsed in the 1906 earthquake and the low grade of the coal discouraged further mining.

According to Dorothy Regnery, Portola Valley’s historian, most of our current Oak trees are a second growth, since the first growth was wiped out by a wildfire in around 1916. James Rolph, then Mayor of San Francisco (and later Governor of San Francisco), brought a group of San Francisco Firemen down to help fight the fire. Rolph, once owned what is now called Pony Tracks ranch. The stone entry posts on Ciervos were part of the gates that entered the ranch in the early days.

Skyline