Learn What To Do (Education Resources)

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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

YOUR HOUSE: protecting your dwelling

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 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