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.
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. If you have been dropped by your...
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 also depends on knowing when one is coming you way as soon in advance as possible. According to the County OES MendoAlert is their primary means of providing notification. You can register to receive MendoAlerts via one or more ways such as text...
“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
Post Fire Recover Resources Post Fire Restoration Dos and Donts (pdf) Returning After a Fire Checklist (pdf) 2020 Post-Fire Forest and Rural Land Recovery Workshop (Sonoma County) After the Fire – Preparing for Winter Preparing for Winter (pdf) Prevent Soil Erosion...
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....
Invasive Weeds
Invasive Weeds Invasive weeds are non-native plants. These weeds displace native vegetation that wildlife depends on. They also harbor pests, reduce crop yields, and increase soil erosion, fire danger, and flood risks. Californians spend $85 million a year on invasive...
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...
Developing Water Supplies for Fire Protection
In rural Mendocino County water for fire suppression is often hard to come by. Many homes have thousands of gallons of water stored in tanks that can’t be used by the fire department because they lack the necessary fittings. Property owners involved in building new...
Native Plants and the California Native Plant Society
What do native plants have to do with fire safety? Maintaining native plant diversity can promote fire safety in and around the home. Native plants are fire resilient, and native plant landscapes consume less water, which means more is available for suppression if the...
Is your home water supply available for firefighting?
Every year homes are lost to fire because water was not available for firefighters.; firefighters couldn’t access the water because the tanks lacked the correct fittings. Our full-color pamphlet , Developing Water Supplies for Fire Protection, describes how to...