Get Prepared
Learn to prepare for and protect against wildland fires. Below are resources to help you understand how best to survive and thrive in our fire-prone environment.
FREE Home Wildfire Risk Assessment Opportunity
For a limited time we are offering FREE wildfire safety Home Assessments!! To make the program run smoothly, we need help from our you or your Neighborhood Fire Safe Council (NFSC) to coordinate a few (3-4) assessments in their area on the same day. Ideally, the...
New Homeowner Tips from the Albion-Little River FSC
Looking for a project your FSC can get done to help your neighborhood be better prepared for wildfire (and other emergencies)? THIS GUIDELINE was developed for new homeowners in their area by the Albion-Little River Fire Safe Council. They distribute copies along...
DIY Home Wildfire Preparation Assessment
A Great DIY Home Accessment Tool Use the link below to get an important guide for conducting a DIY assessment to determine how prepared your home is to survive in the event of a wildfire. The guide provides a scoring system that will guide you to a better...
MCFSC Hosts Interdisciplinary Fuels Reduction Training
In November, MCFSC hosted an interdisciplinary fuels reduction training at the Brooktrails Greenbelt. The week-long event brough experts from around Mendocino County and the greater North Coast to discuss the varying perspectives on conducting effective fuels...
Is There Such a Thing as Fire-Wise Landscaping?
Over the years many lists have been developed touting the fire resistance of different species to use in your landscaping, but are they rooted in science? Steven Swain, the Environmental Horticulture Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension Marin...
Community Chipper Days are a Huge Success!
Mendocino County Fire Safe Council’s Neighborhood Chipping Days are quickly becoming an essential service. The program encourages residents to take defensible space into their own hands by offering free service from a chipper & chipper crew to process limbs and...
MCFSC Purchases Chipper Truck With Funding from the California Coastal Conservancy
The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is hiring a new County Fire Safe Coordinator. This full-time position is currently funded for 16 months and is set to begin on January 2, 2022, or as negotiated. To be considered please forward a letter of interest,...
A New Beginner’s Home Hardening Guide!
The California Fire Safe Council Climate Action Corps Fellow Lillian Liang produced a great new resource, A Beginner's Guide to a Wildfire Ready Home, as part of the event that rolled out our new equipment trailer (courtesy of LISTOS and the California Fire Safe...
Prevent Home Ignition Video
Click here for a great short video about how to prevent home ignition presented by the National Fire Protection Association and featuring Jack Cohen.
Insurance Issues
Finding affordable home insurance, particularly for homes in high or very high wildfire risk areas, is both challenging and likely to be expensive. Here are a couple of resources that can help you navigate the hunt more successfully. There is a wealth of information...
Propety Insurance in New Zip Codes Gains Protection in 2020-2021 under SB 824
CA Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a memorandum today listing zip codes added to the protected list under Senate Bill 824 which provides that "An insurer shall not cancel or refuse to renew ... for one year" in areas within or adjacent to a delcared state...
Thinking Through When and How to Evacuate or Stay in Place
The video below presented by Colin Wilson, former Anderson Valley Fire Chief, presents some basic information about fire behavior with the goal of helping you think through when and how to evacuate and when to consider sheltering in place. Please watch and consider...
GET EMERGENCY ALERTS!
Surviving a wildfire depends on knowing when one is coming your way as soon as possible. According to the County, OES MendoAlert is their primary means of providing notification. You can register to receive MendoAlerts through text message, phone number, and email...
“Defensible Space” and “Survivability”
Almost all vegetation will burn in severe conditions. But if you take wise actions about the plants around your home, you will greatly improve your property’s chances of surviving. Does this mean cutting down all the trees and bushes near your house? No. Wildfire...
RISK ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST
In a large wildfire, firefighters from other counties may be assigned to your area. They will not know you or where your home is. There will not be enough fire engines to defend each home. In these situations firefighters must make quick decisions based on what they...
CREATING A “SAFETY ZONE” FOR USE IN A WILDFIRE EMERGENCY
In a wildfire, everyone may not be able to evacuate the burning area. If there’s only one road in and out for your home or subdivision: • the road will probably be overloaded with traffic trying to evacuate • numerous fire engines, water tankers, and bulldozers will...
Post-Fire Resources for Managing your Land
The MCFSC focuses on pre-fire preparation and mitigation. We do not have expertise in post-fire recovery. However, as we periodically receive calls asking for help with post-fire issues, we have assembled the following resources as references for people looking for...
Funding Sources
Looking for help funding fuels management or other fire preparedness projects? Finding and securing funding is a complicated and ever-changing process. Here are few suggestions: • Organize your neighborhood as a Fire Safe Council, then put together a...
Important Facts About How Homes Burn
Homes are much more likely to burn due to small flying embers than to contact by large flames. Pushed by wind, embers often get inside attic vents and ignite homes from the inside. Sometimes those fires aren’t visible from outside for hours after the main fire passes....
Large Animal Rescue
Large Animal Rescue is a method of training used by emergency responders (especially firefighters) to extricate an animal from mechanical or natural entrapment. LAR training teaches how safely work with large, possibly injured animals; and how to keep the animals...