Our November 2023 meeting is cancelled so that we can focus on coordinating with a new group being formed in Eastern County.

October 2023: Attention Firewise Community representatives -  Please click here to ensure you receive meeting notices and other occasional updates. This includes all reps who are already on our list -- we are starting a new "FWC Reps Only" list and need all of you on it. Click here, thank you.

The Nevada County Coalition of Firewise Communities, formed September 2017, is an all-volunteer organization (no staff, no dues, no budget) which works with, but is not related to, the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County. We exist to support the representatives and residents of about 100 Firewise Communities (FWCs) in Nevada County -- that number includes more than 70 NFPA-certified FWCs and the rest "in the pipeline" for certification. Individual FWCs, as part of a well-respected national movement, are certified through, and supported by, the Fire Safe Council.

The Coalition was created to bring FWC representatives together to share ideas and information with each other and to amplify the county-wide effort to educate residents on wildfire preparedness. We work hard in our neighborhoods to promote safe practices in a dangerous wildfire environment. The Coalition may also sometimes act as a "voice of the people" in advocating for better fire-safe practices and policies. We met monthly through 2022. 

In early 2020 the Coalition moved to online Zoom meetings that we later opened to the public. Our meetings are recorded and available in our Archive. Our email list has grown to more than 1,400 people concerned about wildfire, and our speakers cover topics ranging from insurance issues to emergency radio systems and more.

Starting in 2023, we changed to quarterly hybrid meetings (February, May, August and November). In 2024, we will return to our founding focus of helping representatives of Firewise Communities learn from each other to strengthen their local groups.

In addition to holding educational meetings and maintaining this website of resources, the Coalition also creates easy-to-understand documentation to address frequently asked questions. These documents, which can be found with other materials on our Education Resources page, include Roadside Clearing Regulations for both County and City residents; What Do You Do When Your 100 feet of Defensible Space Goes Onto a Neighbor's Property?; and How to Stay Informed During Wildfire Season.

Check out the history and evolution of both the Coalition and the County Office of Emergency Services here, in a PDF/Powerpoint celebrating our 5-year anniversary.

• FORM OF ORGANIZATION: The Coalition is an unincorporated nonprofit association as defined by California Corporations Code Section 18020(a).
• MISSION: The Coalition promotes fire safety through advocacy, education, and community involvement with other stakeholders interested in working toward stronger fire safety practices.
• GOAL: To support the formation and functioning of neighborhood-based Firewise Communities through information-sharing and collaborative problem-solving, in coordination with key public and private Nevada County organizations, in the recognition that fire is everyone's fight. 
• MEMBERSHIP:
  • Nevada County residential communities certified as a “Firewise Community” under the NFPA’s Firewise USA Program plus those considered “in training" can be Members of the Coalition. Individual county residents may also join. "Joining" simply means getting on our mailing list. There are no dues.
  • Each member Firewise Community (both NFPA-certified and in training) may designate one representative to vote on occasional pieces of Coalition business (e.g., advocacy positions, by-law changes). If that representative cannot attend a meeting, another member of that community may fill in for him or her.
  • A member may terminate membership at any time by notifying the Coalition Chair in writing or by email.

Our meetings are the first Tuesday in February, May, August and November at 5:30 pm (unless re-scheduled due to holiday/weather). Once a year, the meeting will be in Truckee. The other meetings are held at Esterly Hall (Nevada County Association of Realtors), 336 Crown Point Circle, in Grass Valley. Never been there? Here's an aerial map view plus photo of the lower driveway and building.

Join our mailing list to get the latest meeting information.

Our meetings are now recorded. Videos of our past meetings are here on our YouTube Channel.

Steering Committee members (FWC = Firewise Community)
Scott Beesley, past Coalition chair
Darin Bue, Floriston FWC, representing Eastern County FWCs
Nate Christensen, Truckee/Donner HOA FWC
Kristen Cook, YouBet FWC
Bob Long, Sherwood Forest FWC
Jeff Peach, Banner Mountain FWC - email list, web tech support
Susan Rogers, Glenwood/Maidu FWC - website content
Alex Sullivan, Gray's Crossing/Old Greenwood FWCs, Truckee

By Laws
Coalition-Bylaws Final Approved Oct2021.pdf
Coalition Creation - Press Release December 2017
Chair and Vice Chair Job Description - Coalition-Position-Descriptions.pdf

Join the Nevada County Coalition of Firewise Communities Email List - Stay Informed!
How to Stay Informed During Wildfire Season 18Jul2021.pdf

Click here for a Countywide Map of Firewise Communities (also shows In-Training Communities) as of May 2023.pdf

Are you a leader or committee member of a Firewise Community (FWC) looking for help in administering your FWC? This section of our website has information and resources to help you.

Are you in a Firewise USA^® community? 

The County of Nevada website hosts an interactive map showing the current NFPA-recognized Firewise USA® communities (FWC), plus those "In-Training" which are being developed and sponsored through the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County. You can use this interactive GIS map on that website to find out if you're already in a FWC. Read the directions for use below - there are no instructions on the map page.

Directions: Type your home address (or any other address) into the white box on the map and click 'enter'. This will locate and place a dot on the map showing the address location. Each FWC has a different background color - the colors are subtle and can be checked against the Legend to the left. By scrolling out SLOWLY, it will show the names of the FWC and its neighbors. If you scroll out further to the county level, only the colors are shown. Scroll IN from the address-dot level and the street name can be seen. "In Training" neighborhoods that are developing their FWC status and have an accepted map are identified with a uniform yellow background.

An alphabetical list of CERTIFIED FIREWISE COMMUNITIES and individual FWCommunity maps can be found on the Fire Safe Council website here: https://www.areyoufiresafe.com/programs/firewise-usa. If you have trouble locating the individual map for your Firewise Community, contact the Fire Safe Council to send a message to Pat Leach, the Firewise Communities Coordinator.

How to become a Firewise Community brochure: onscreen version. This version of our tri-fold brochure is easiest to read on-screen, but printing it requires legal-size paper (8 1/2 x 14). PDF

How to become a Firewise Community brochure: print-at-home version. 8 1/2 x11, 6 pages PDF

What is an "In Training" Firewise Community? These are neighborhoods that are developing the steps necessary to become a Firewise Community. Many are waiting for their Hazard Assessment to be performed and documented by a qualified fire expert, with funding obtained by the Fire Safe Council (there is no cost to the neighborhood itself). The Community then creates its own 1-to-2 page Action Plan based on the Assessment, and the Fire Safe Council registers the new Firewise Community with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Prior to certification, all "in training" communities are encouraged to act like a certified Firewise Community, have one or more representatives attend monthly Coalition meetings, etc.

_{[All documents on this site are safe to download. If your virus blocker prevents access, use our Contact form to specify what documents you'd like and we'll email them to you directly.]}

Is there a wildfire? 6 Oct2022.pdf tells how to get early notice of a nearby wildfire and how to quickly check wind direction to see if it's being pushed toward you. (_{1-page PDF, does not open in a new tab -- check your Downloads folder.)} This 7-minute video is a live demonstration (excerpted from our July meeting) of the points in this handout.

Best of the Best education resources:

(scroll down for even more)

Your Home Can Survive a Wildfire - Watch giant nozzles blow burning embers at mock houses in a monster testing facility. In this 13-minute video with great visuals, Dr. Jack Cohen, Fire Science Researcher with the USDA Forest Service, explains current research about how homes ignite during wildfires. After watching this, you will feel more confident that the action steps you take can help your home survive the impacts of flames and embers.

Wildfire Defensible Space: Zone Zero - 7-minute video about the most important defensible space zone, 0-to 5 feet around your house. See description below in the OUTSIDE category.

Three great sources for information about home hardening (what you need to do in and around your buildings):

1. Wildfire Hazards in Residential Fences and Mulch Beds is a new (Aug 2022) report that will help you evaluate your risk from your fences. See the photo showing flames jumping from a wood fence to the house 6 feet away.
2. Wildfire home retrofit guide.pdf from University of Nevada, Reno Extension and University of California Cooperative Extension, with funding from Cal Fire. Clear information and drawings for how to retrofit existing components of a home to withstand wildfire.
3. See below, from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Like the retrofit guide above, these are comprehensive, detailed and based on scientific research  performed by people who aren't trying to sell you anything. Download the first checklist and then either the second "everything" guide or the individual fact sheets (in the third bullet):

• An 11-page Wildfire Home Assessment & Checklist
• A 40-page Protect Your Property From Wildfire guide, covering roof covering, gutters, vents, windows and doors, decks/patios/porches, siding, fences, outbuildings, fuel tanks and more.
• Don't want 40 pages? The IBHS has split the guide into individual Research Fact Sheets here on the NFPA website-- get only the topics you want: Attic & Crawl Space Vents; Fire-Retardant Coatings; Decks; Exterior Sprinkler Systems; Fencing; Fire Spread on Ember-Ignited Decks; Roofing Materials; Skylights; Under-Eave Construction, and Immediate (noncombustible) Zone around your house.

How to Stay Informed During Wildfire Season Oct2022.pdf  One page for finding weather advisories, how to sign up for emergency alerts, and, during an ACTUAL EMERGENCY, how to stay updated and informed. Print and post it on your refrigerator!

Roadside Clearing Regulations: make your roads safe for firefighters to get IN and for you to get OUT. This unofficial one-page PDF with diagrams, created by the Coalition of Firewise Communities, tells you the requirements in the unincorporated County, City of Grass Valley and Nevada City, for clearing back from the sides of private roads. There are three times as many private roads in the County as there are public roads, and the property owners are responsible for meeting these requirements. See "Rules & Enforcement" for how to report violations of these roadside clearing regulations.

What do you do when your 100 feet of defensible space goes onto a neighbor's property? Or onto government land? What if your neighbor refuses to clear her property? The five-page document linked here, "What If Your 100 Feet of Defensible Space Goes Beyond Your Property Line?," tells you how to proceed under different scenarios. Read additional detail on our Rules & Enforcement page.

In addition to the above, check out these other great resources (many from past Coalition meetings).

OUTSIDE: defensible space, landscaping, generators

• Defensible Space: good diagrams & information from the Cal Fire website, ReadyforWildfire.org, explaining state law requirements for defensible space. The website also has information on fire-resistant landscaping.
• Wildfire Defensible Space: Zone Zero - outstanding 7-minute video reflecting the newest research about "Ground Zero," the 0-to-5 foot Zone Zero around your home that has been proven to be key to reducing your home's risk of burning down. Great visuals. Prefer written format? Here's a one-page PDF from the IBHS.
• How to Protect Your Deck From Wildfire - 16-minute video
• Firewise Garden Design 21 slide PDF (incl. photos) from the March 2020 Coalition meeting, by landscape designer Sheri Brown Dion. In this 12-minute video, Sheri discusses the last 5 slides which are about plant selection. Here's a PDF with a few Reference Websites for Fire Resistant Planting. 
• Landscaping Tips to Help Defend Your Home from Wildfire, a 53-slide Powerpoint PDF with many visuals, by Master Gardener Cathé Fish. 
• Prescribed Burn Information - see this page, last bullet point.
• 30-Second Visual of Defensible Space Brush Clearing compared to Not Cleared/Not Defensible (Marty Main, 2018). Another 30-second of Looks Good vs Dangerous Mess (Jeff Peach, 2021).
• Generators: What Kind to Buy and How to Run it Safely -- by Greg Cameron, October 2020 Coalition speaker: Comprehensive presentation on types of generators, pros and cons of each type, how-to tips, and how to stay safe while using a generator.
• Generator Safety Tips & Burn Piles/Permit (with photos) October 2019  - Cal Fire Chief Jim Mathias talks about preventing generator-related fires and being safe with burn piles. This site  tells you when it's a burn day (in unincorporated county only, prohibited in GV/NC city limits).
• How to stay safe using a generator- easy 2-pager from Consumer Reports, Sept 2019
• KCRA 2-minute news clip on well-managed forest and a homeowners' defensible space - Summer 2021, Caldor Fire.

YOUR HOUSE: protecting your dwelling

• Be Ember Prepared: Will Your House Survive When the Embers Arrive? From the University of Nevada, Reno, a 26-minute video demonstrating that no matter what you do about defensible space, it's little things in and around your house that can determine if your house burns down (or not). This and the one with Dr. Jack Cohen (top of this page) are the BEST VIDEO RESOURCES we've seen because they focus on the ember storm that is responsible for most burned homes.
  
• Home Hardening Priorities & Resources - 12 slides linking you to the home-hardening information  (click on the gold words) at Cal Fire, NFPA, UCCE and IBHS, by Kristen Cook, Coalition Steering Committee, from the April 2021 meeting.
• Cal Fire's "Hardening Your Home" page, with downloadable "Low-cost Retrofit List" and other materials.
• You Can Reduce the Chance of Your Home Burning - December 2019 Meeting - 27-slide PDF from Dr. Kate Wilkins from UC Extension
• National Fire Prevention Assoc. Videos
  • 2-minute video, “If Your Home Doesn't Ignite it Can't Burn” 

  • 
4-minute video “5 Key Areas Around the Home you Must Examine when Assessing Wildfire Risk.”
  • 4-minute video “Your Home and Wildfire, Choices that can Make a Difference.”

• How I Changed My House Vents to 1/8" Screen - 29-slide Powerpoint PDF with photos showing every step of the DIY project by Susan Rogers (Nov 2019 Coalition meeting) or a one-page summary (with no photos).
• A 44-page Home Inventory Guide flipbook from the state Insurance Commissioner's office. Download it, print it and fill it out, so you're ready if you need to make a claim. (OR use your phone to video-record the contents of every room in your house, including the contents of all closets, cabinets and drawers. Narrate the video with the same information in the flipbook, e.g. when purchased, amount paid, etc.)

YOU & YOURS: how to prepare, evacuating

• CodeRED EXPLAINER: a 2-sided PDF showing the differences between the County CodeRED Emergency Alert System, the CodeRED Mobile App, and other alerts you may receive. Clearly shows why you need to be signed up for our Nevada County CodeRED System. The County also has a very simple, clear graphic chart on this page (scroll down past the video Overviews).
• Know Your Evacuation Zone - see the County of Nevada section below, third bullet point. It's vital to know your Evacuation Zone number.
• Sign up for text alerts from Cal Fire. In the box that says "Sign Up For Text Messages," enter your cellphone number and zip code, then click "Sign Up."
• The Hi-Lo Siren means your life and property are under imminent threat. Learn what the Hi-Lo Siren sounds like (2:30min County video) because it means "YOU MUST LEAVE NOW." 

Lists and Checklists:

• How to Stay Informed During Wildfire Season Oct2022.pdf -- one page listing all the ways to stay informed and get status updates during an actual emergency.
• Important Documents You Will Need - a checklist of what you need to have ready to take with you when evacuating, including what wildfire survivors say they wished they'd taken. In PDF format or Word docx format you can customize to your situation.
• Walking-Out-the-Door checklists to post in/near your garage: Evacuation Plan Before Wildfire Gets to Your House.pdf, ready to use, by the Coalition's Evacuation Committee. Also check out the Wildfire Evacuation Checklist 2-sided PDF from Marin County, which is very detailed with great information. Many people use these as guides for creating their own customized checklist.
• Camp Fire survivor Cat Cardinalli provided a compelling presentation at the June 2022 Coalition meeting. Here is PDF of her First-Hand Lessons from a Paradise Fire Survivor. For a Word docx version that you can edit and customize for your own planning purposes, click this and the doc will automatically download to your computer's Downloads folder (a new page will NOT open here on the website).
  
  

Take the Advice of Firefighters:

• What you can do 6-12 Hours Before Evacuation from Chief Matt Wallen, Cal Fire, at the June 2021 Coalition meeting, in multiple formats: 
  • 5-Minute Condensed version video
  • the full-length video (15 minutes) of Chief Wallen discussing his five slides in more detail.
  • downloadable 2-page PDF with the same information in list format
• What to Wear (and supplies to take) When You Evacuate by former firefighter Christopher Reilly, in multiple formats: 
  • 5-minute Condensed version video;  
  • the full-length video (13 minutes) of Chris discussing his slides in more detail.
    
• Safety During an Evacuation & What If You Are Trapped from Chief Jim Mathias, Cal Fire in multiple formats: 
  • 5-minute Condensed version video; 
  • the full-length video (17 minutes) of Chief Mathias discussing his seven slides in more detail.
    
    
• 
Leaving Early: How to Make That Decision, with Susan Rogers of the Coalition of Firewise Communities, is a 22-slide PDF reviewing how and why you should leave ahead of official notices, and how to make that decision more easily and with less hesitation. Here's the 13-minute video from 2020 with Susan discussing the slides with additional commentary.
• Frequently asked questions about evacuation (and the answers) from the chat box of the 2020 All-County Educational Event.
• During a Wildfire, Your Phone Might Stop Working. How Can You Communicate? KQED article with an excellent graphic at the end to download and keep on your cellphone.

What is the County of Nevada doing about wildfire preparedness?

Answer: A LOT! Visit the County's emergency preparedness website, ReadyNevadaCounty.org, for links to many great resources.

• Ready/Set/Go Handbook - 36-page official Handbook for Wildfire Safety and Emergency Preparedness. This is the one mailed to every residential address in the county, every year.
• CodeRED Emergency Alerts - official county alerts sent by phone, text and/or email. Sign up for CodeRED Emergency Alerts on this page.
• Know Your Evacuation Zone: click here to find out what your Zone Number is for your home or business address (type your address into the upper left box). When evacuation warnings/orders are issued, they will be by Zone Number, NOT by street names (NOT "south of Ridge Road, west of Hwy 20" etc.). Enter your address in the white search box (upper left of map) to find out YOUR zone number. Write it down! Post it on your refrigerator and make it a Contact in your cellphone (First name: "Evacuation," Last name: "Zone"). Here's a PDF you can make into a large, printed map of ALL ZONES: Evacuation Zone Map Packet - Nevada County.pdf
  
• The Ready Nevada County Dashboard has many helpful features. In a wildfire event large enough to trigger the opening of the County's Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the Dashboard is where you will find constantly updated information on fire status, evacuations, available shelters and more.
• Hi Lo Siren County Video - hear what the "YOU MUST LEAVE NOW" warning siren sounds like.
• Neighbors refusing to clear their hazardous vegetation in unincorporated Nevada County? Register for a free Citizen Access account and Request a Defensible Space Inspection by a county inspector who has the authority to enforce county codes. (If you live in the city of Grass Valley or Nevada City, the steps for reporting a hazard can be found on page 5 of this document.)
• County Road Vegetation Maintenance - then-County Department of Public Works Director Trisha Tillotson, in the April 2021 Coalition meeting, showed these 14 slides to illustrate their plan for brush clearing for safer ingress and egress on County roads.

Other Resources

• Does your FWC need better access to water for fire suppression? Read how the Greenhorn FWC bought and installed their own waters tanks.
• The  2022 Wildfire Season Preparedness Guide from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County
• Are you a survivor of wildfire? Was your home lost or damaged? The Summer 2021 California Wildfires Helping Handbook: A Resource for Individuals, Families, and Small Businesses, is 80+ outstanding pages of information and resources available for Nevada County residents after the River Fire triggered FEMA assistance. Chapters include Housing, Insurance, FEMA, Personal Finances & Taxes, Document & Record Replacement, and more.
• Information to help property owners who are dealing with PG&E’s powerline tree clearing on private parcels Sept 14, 2018
  

GREENHORN FWC INSTALLS FOUR WATER TANKS FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION - 2022

The Greenhorn Firewise Community purchased and installed water tanks with 40,000 total gallons of water storage on the Greenhorn Road corridor for the sole purpose of fire suppression. The tanks are strategically located two and four miles from the intersection with Brunswick Road. Approximately 780 households will benefit from this increased dedicated water supply by reducing turnaround times for fire resources, thus greatly increasing the ability of the fire agencies to suppress fires early in their progression.  

Read this 13-page report, "Greenhorn Water Tanks Lessons Learned" for a detailed step-by-step explanation of how other Firewise Communities could follow this example. Greenhorn FWC Water Tank Committee chair Dianne Marshall gets a special shout-out for her diligence in spearheading this project and writing up the excellent documentation.

DEER CREEK SOUTHSIDE FWC CLEANUP MAKES HEADLINES - June 2022

Congrats to the volunteers who hauled about 70 cubic yards of garbage out of the Deer Creek watershed in early June 2022. Special shout-out to Lorraine Gervais, her husband Charlie Faber, and the agencies that came together to support this community action. Read the article and see the graphic photos here.

HOMEOWNERS INSTALL WATER TANK STORAGE FOR THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD - April 2022

Lauren Drutz and her husband, private homeowners in the 6B & Friends Firewise Community, spent their own money to install a pair of underground water storage tanks which provide 5,000 gallons of water to help protect their home and their entire community. Check out the specs and costs, with color photos, in this 6-slide PDF.

CALTRANS HIGHWAY ROADSIDE CLEARING - January 2021 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. As Public Input to a draft State Route 49 Safety Assessment Report, Coalition vice chair Susan Rogers wrote and sent this letter (after receiving Coalition membership approval) to Caltrans on Dec. 4, 2020, calling for an updated vision of highway safety to include evacuation safety, and asking for aggressive roadside fuel reduction across all state highways in Nevada County.

We received this Jan. 15, 2021 response from them. It sounds like they heard us and they are moving in the right direction. But as we know, it's a big bureaucracy and they have a lot on their plate. So, the more people who let them know that "speed is of the essence," the greater chance that they will apply staff and financial resources in a more timely manner. You can make your voice heard by writing to our local District 3 Director for Caltrans: Amarjeet S. Benipal, District 3 Director, Caltrans, 703 B Street, Marysville, CA 95901.

Written letters have the most impact because they demonstrate the writer's commitment to the issue. But if email is what you can do:
Email: d3pio@dot.ca.gov (This is the Public Information Officer. Ask that your email be forwarded to Mr. Benipal). Please also copy your letter to the head of Caltrans statewide:
Toks Omishakin, Director, Caltrans, P.O. Box 942873, Sacramento, CA

Thank you to Susan, and thanks everyone else who will also send their letters to support this effort.
Background information specific to the SR 49 Safety Assessment Report:

Here is Caltrans' article on the project: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-3/d3-projects/d3-sr-49-safety-assessment.

Here is the entire Draft Safety Assessment Report: https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/district-3/documents/sr-49-safety-assessment-report-07-15-20_draft_a11y.pdf

Firewise Community Leader Gets BLM to Create a Permit Process

There is now a permit process to help landowners pursue clearing on adjacent land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (a federal agency). Thanks to the advocacy of Bob Long, chair of the Sherwood Forest Firewise Community, BLM (which has a large piece of land on the back side of numerous Sherwood Forest homeowners' properties) created this Defensible Space Permit Application which you can download here. Their phone number is not on the application; it's (916) 941-3101.

Should BLM should do this work themselves? Sure, but they are greatly understaffed and underfunded. Contact your local Congressperson to ask for increased federal funding of BLM for fire safety.

Which Fire Agency Provides Protection Services for Your Neighborhood? - Check the map here 

Nevada County fire agencies have Joint Services agreements with each other and work closely together to respond to all fire emergencies. However, just ONE of them is officially responsible for your neighborhood. Click the map link above to see which one is yours. You need to know which agency this is, because they are the fire officials who you, as a Firewise Community representative, will be working with on activities to ensure fire safety in your community (for example, with the 30-Day Courtesy Notice to owners of non-compliant properties).

Water Tanks for Fire Suppression: 
Nevada County Consolidated Fire District has standards for Fire Protection Water Supply Systems. If you want to install a tank for potential use by firefighters (not for personal, home or agricultural water), it must meet the standards. The April 2022 Powerpoint from Lauren Drutz with photos and details of her tanks is here as a PDF..

Here are the County of Nevada Fire Safe Standards for an Emergency Water Storage Tank.pdf This is the document discussed by Cal Fire's Jim Matthias in April 2022.

Nevada County Fire Districts

Grass Valley Fire Department

Higgins Fire Protection District

Nevada City Fire Department

Nevada County Consolidated Fire District

North San Juan Fire District

Ophir Hill Fire Protection District

Peardale-Chicago Park Fire Department

Penn Valley Fire Protection District

Rough & Ready Fire Department

Truckee Fire Protection District

This page has information and resources for helping the leaders of individual Firewise Communities (FWCs) administer their local FWC. If anyone in your leadership team has a Facebook profile, have them join our Coalition Facebook group here, where we share good ideas, questions and answers.

In 2023, many Firewise Communities need to prepare a new Risk Assessment and a new Action Plan so that they can keep their NFPA certification. Here are your resources for doing this:

1. The Fire Safe Council's Firewise Coordinator Pat Leach created this Steps to Creating or Updating Your Risk Assessment, in PDF format, clearly describing what you need to do. Download it to your own computer for ongoing reference. (The images of the Risk Assessment form will be fuzzy -- click on the link below in #2  to get your own download of the actual Risk Assessment Template to print and use.)
2. This Risk Assessment Template (on the NFPA website) is what you will use to complete the Risk Assessment. Download it to your own computer. Be sure to also view the NFPA's online Tutorial for completing the Risk Assessment.
3. Need a new Action Plan? Here is Cal Fire's 3Year-Action_Plan_Template in Word docx forat. It's also available in Step 3 when your FWC leader signs into the portal at the NFPA website (look for the red "Login to the portal" button).

Questions? Send an email to Pat via the Contact Us page on the Fire Safe Council website. (Don't contact the Coalition, we have nothing to do with the NFPA re-certification process.)

Wildfire Preparedness Educational Resources for your FWC

This website is for you and your FWC members. You can use anything here to help the residents in your neighborhood(s) know what to do and how to do it. If a topic is missing that you want to cover, let us know and we'll consider adding it. Our Education Resources section has several excellent one-page PDFs you can print and distribute (or link to in your emails to your members). In particular, be sure everyone has a copy of Early Warning Alerts-Weather & How to Stay Informed.

Administering Your FWC Day-to-Day

Non-compliant residents in your FWC: Is there a "problem" property in your FWC, a neighbor (or absentee owner) who doesn't comply with required county abatement ordinances? Try using the resources here for implementing a 30-Day Courtesy Notice Program (download and read the documents linked below). This has been successfully used in several Firewise Communities to convince owners of "dirty" properties that they need to come into compliance with the law. Making the 30-Day Notice work.docx  guidelines for how to implement the program (MS Word docx)30-Day Clean-Up Courtesy Notice template - lot with structure.docx (MS Word docx)30-Day Clean-Up Courtesy Notice template - vacant lot.docx (MS Word docx)

Everyday Communication with your FWC Residents

-- Get customizable blank letterhead with the NFPA Firewise logo on it here in Microsoft Word docx format.. Insert your own FWC name in the header where you see "Foxwood - Slate Creek." If you can't open a Word doc, you have two options: 1) download this PDF with the NFPA logo but no FWC name above the black line, OR 2) we can provide you with a PDF that has both your FWC name and NFPA logo on it. You can print the PDF, place in your printer paper tray, then format your letter to start underneath the header. Use the Ask A Question contact form to request this, directed to Susan Rogers. Be sure to specify the name of your Firewise Community.-- Here's a great flyer from Deer Creek South Side (designed by Lorraine Gervais) which we hope to make available as a template that other FWCs can adapt. They also have a free website on Google -- check it out here.

-- Lake Wildwood FWC has provided us with customizable Microsoft Word docxs based on materials they use for Forming Neighborhood Groups. Here are a sample Meeting Invitation, Contact Roster, Coordinators Agenda, and Participants Agenda, which you can download and tweak as needed to help set up and lead meetings in your own FWC. Thank you LWW! (If you can't open a Word docx, see above for contacting Susan Rogers to get PDFs.) At the Coalition's November 2022 meeting, Sharon Allen talked about Lake Wildwood's communications with their residents, including excellent tips on motivation and communication. Here is the Powerpoint (in PDF format) of her presentation which should give you good ideas for your own FWC.

-- If your FWC maintains your own "firewise" website or Facebook page, scroll to the end of this page to see Guidelines we hope you'll follow.

-- How Do Other FWCs Communicate With Their Residents? -  a PDF summary of 36 Firewise communities that responded to a November 2019 survey asking about the methods, frequency and effectiveness of communicating firewise messages to their member households. Gives you a good idea of what others are doing (email, newsletters, etc.) and the challenges they are facing. Names of the rep who filled out the survey are included, but contact information is not provided for privacy reasons. If you want to contact a rep, please contact the Fire Safe Council to send a message to Pat Leach, the Firewise Communities Coordinator. Our Coalition does not have access to a list of all the FWC reps.

Preparing for EMERGENCY Communication with your FWC Residents

The Emergency Alert Buddy System, developed in Lake Wildwood by Virginia Gompertz, works very well for organizing your residents into small groups. Check out these materials:

• Emergency Alert Buddy System - How it Works (PDF format)
• Emergency Alert Buddy System - How it Works (Word format for customizing to your FWC)
• Emergency Alert Buddy System - PDF from Powerpoint.pdf for showing at your FWC meeting. (Contact us if you want the actual Powerpoint.)

You may want or need a more robust way of keeping residents connected during an emergency (beyond the Buddy System above). Three Coalition meetings have been held on Neighborhood Emergency Communications (phone tree, short-wave radio, etc.) in case of wildfire . The May 2023 video is [TBD], the March 2022 video here, and  the May 2021 recording is here. After you pull up the video, click SHOW MORE in the description to see hotlinks that allow you to jump directly to the program speakers.

From our May 2023 meeting on setting up a neighborhood radio network with the support of Nevada County ARES (see May 2023 video linked above), here are four EXAMPLE documents that Gold Hill FWC has created to help residents remember how to use the equipment. If your FWC creates its own radio network with help from Nevada County ARES group, you could use these documents as a template and just change the name of the FWC on them (they are docx and will download to your hard drive - they do NOT open in your web browser): Gold Hill Radio Watch Dual Display Guide.docx Gold Hill Radio Watch - GMRS Channels.docx Gold Hill Radio Watch - Net Guide.docx Gold Hill Radio Watch - Quick Guide to GMRS Radio specs-features.docx

The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council has also worked on this issue. Here is their website page on Neighborhood Emergency Communications, with information on two low-cost group dialing services and one FWC that has found VHF radio to be their long-term solution. The latter has a very detailed document you can download entitled, "Neighborhood Communications in Mountainous Terrain" that gives their entire history of comparing various options.

Funding for Your FWC Neighborhood Projects

-- Does your FWC need better access to water for fire suppression? Read how the Greenhorn FWC bought and installed their own waters tanks.

-- December 2022 Coalition meeting: see the video recording here (heads up, the audio is marginal, sorry). As an alternative, here are the Powerpoints (in PDF format) from the speakers:

• EQIP Grants from Natural Resource Conservation District
• Project funds available from Fire Safe Council
• County projects, including grants
  
  

-- Healthy Forest Funding & More -- how the Greenhorn FWC got grant funding from the County of Nevada's FEMA Resiliency funds for installation of two water tanks for fire response. Excellent Powerpoint (converted to PDF) by Dianne Marshall, presented at the December 2021 Coalition meeting.-- Shovel Ready Projects - Checklist. Gives you a basic idea of what's needed if your neighborhood has a large project that requires funding to get it done. "Shovel ready" means that if it were to get funded, you could almost immediately put a shovel in the ground and start, because you've already figured out (and obtained) the permits or permissions needed, gotten bids from contractors, etc. Helps document your project so that it can be "bundled" with other projects in grant-funding proposals by the Fire Safe Council.

• Shovel Ready Projects MS Word
• Shovel Ready Projects PDF

NFPA Annual Reporting

• Firewise Community Reporting for Certification Worksheet from Firewise USA (NFPA). This can be used to collect data from residents regarding how much work they did, vegetation removed, etc.
• Another type of worksheet for reporting in Word doc format, from Sherwood Forest FWC.
• Example of Activities that count toward re-certification for reporting.

Common Findings From Firewise Hazard Assessments Fire scientist Jo Ann Fites-Kaufman described the many problems she sees when she evaluates in-training Firewise Communities for their NFPA certification. Does your FWC have these problems?  (this is a Powerpoint presented at October 2019 Coalition meeting (with photos) converted to PDF)

Got Your Own Website? Check out these Communication Guidelines for Websites created and maintained by individual FWCs.

If your Firewise Community is able to create and maintain your own website:

• The primary focus of your FWCommunity website should be to post your LOCAL FWC neighborhood/community information such as:
  • Your map, showing the boundaries of your Firewise Community
  • Your Community date of certification or when you became an "In Training" community
  • Important contact information for members of your Firewise Community
  • Community Evacuation Map w/ routes and instructions to find 2+ ways out of community
    
    
• Please do not create your own pages with generic educational information, such as on defensible space, roadside clearing specs, emergency planning, etc. The risk is that your very local website may not be able to keep up with constantly-changing information and updated research. It is important to direct homeowners and residents to sites with the most up-to-date information from government and fire agencies. Instead, we ask that you create links to the Educational Resources page on this Coalition site plus these official websites on your local community website.