Wildfire is a part of our landscape, and we all can prepare for the inevitable day that fire enters our lives. This happens on multiple levels:
1. Get Ready: Preparing yourself, your family, and your animals for evacuation
- CalFIRE's Ready, Set, Go! campaign offers valuable tips for preparing for evacuations and fire emergencies
- Living With Fire's website has a wealth of resources for personal preparedness, including an evacuation checklist
2. Home Hardening & Defensible Space: Preparing your home and infrastructure to withstand or be defensible against fire
- The Wildland Fire Assessment Program is a free course that trains you to understand wildland fire risks and conduct defensible space inspections
- CalFIRE's Defensible Space motto - lean and green - is one of many tips they offer on readying your home and its surroundings for ifre
3. Firescaping & Forest Health: Preparing your landscape to better receive fire, should it arrive
- Firescaping tips sheet - Resources we've found for fire-wise landscaping. Constantly being updated - let us know if there's something we should add
- Oak Woodland biology & health - Learn about oak woodland ecology and how to manage this ecosystem for fire resiliency
- Oak Woodland Fires - How oaks & oak woodlands respond to fire, and how you can prepare these ecosystems to better receive fire once more
4. Working Together: Preparing your community to be more resilient to wildfire
- Fire Safe Councils are grassroots groups that work with their community to improve fire preparedness, response, and resiliency. Solano County has two established local Fire Safe Councils, and more in the works. Don't see your area represented here? We can help groups get established - contact Karin Young (karin.young (at) solanorcd.org) for information on how Solano RCD can assist.
- Solano Fire Safe Council: Solano RCD is working with Solano County to establish a countywide Fire Safe Council, representing the interests of local Fire Safe Councils and other groups active in fire preparedness and response. This organization is being formed with support from County staff, existing Fire Safe Councils, and other community groups and will soon have its own website. Visit this link to sign up for the mailing list, and reach out to Karin Young (karin.young (at) solanorcd.org) with any questions.
