(TNS) - More can be done in Sausalito to protect residents against fire, according to a survey of residents.

The survey was taken in recent weeks with the start of fire season and in the wake of last year’s North Bay fires and more local conflagrations, including one that burned along Highway 101 on the Waldo Grade last October.

Much of Sausalito is on tree-lined hills, and fire danger is a worry.

“The survey was designed to assess the level of concern in our community,” Chris Tubbs, chief of the Southern Marin Fire Protection District, told the City Council last week as he presented the survey. “There is a high level concern about the threat among residents. They think we should be doing more.”

Many communities in Marin have implemented enforcement strategies to manage vegetation. The Sausalito survey said 67 percent would support such regulation, although specifics of an ordinance were not provided by the survey.

Another 90.5 percent of respondents would support city-funded “chipper days” to dispose of brush that has been cleared from residential properties to limit fire. The city and fire district do not have dedicated funding for a chipper days program, officials said.

Public emergency notifications were rated as the most important by respondents, followed by vegetation management, evacuation route education, adoption and enforcement of vegetation management regulations, and public education.

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