The Firewise USA® recognition program is administered by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and s intended to serve as a resource for city, county, state, federal agencies, tribes, organizations, fire departments and communities that work toward a common goal to reduce loss of life, property, and resources to wildland fire.

The Firewise USA^® program emphasizes community/neighborhood responsibility in planning the design of a safe community, as well as an effective emergency response and individual responsibility for safer home construction and design, landscaping, and maintenance.

Communities that are concerned enough about wildfire can work together to protect their community by becoming a Firewise USA^® Community.

THE FIREWISE USA^® PROCESS:

The benefit of Firewise USA^® is that many communities already meet the requirements and don’t even know it.  The Firewise program has a couple minimum requirements which provide a structural framework for communities to get organized.  How communities meet those requirements is entirely up to them.  Every community is different so communities should undertake the Firewise USA^® process in a way that fits and works best for their community.  The Ventura County Fire Department and local Fire Safe Councils can help you and your community prepare the application.

ELIGIBILITY:  There is one minimum requirement to go forward with the Firewise USA^® process that almost every community meets.  The Firewise USA^® Community needs to be made up of a minimum of 8 dwelling units (e.g., residential homes, apartment units) and no more than 2500 dwelling units.

The Ventura County Fire Department can help with providing information to help communities with the Firewise USA^® process, and/or conduct a free defensible space evaluation.  The Fire Department can also present to the community in person information about the Firewise USA^® process and the benefits of joining the program.

PREPARING THE COMMUNITY PRIOR TO APPLICATION:

STEP 1 – ORGANIZE:  Form a committee of residents and wildfire stakeholders.  This group will collaborate on developing the community’s risk reduction priorities, develop a multi-year action plan based on risk assessment, and oversee the completion of the annual renewal requirements.  This is the first step of the process as residents included on the committee will be key coordinators for accomplishing the rest of the application process.

Residents on the committee can include those in on an HOA board or involved in the local neighborhood association, if applicable, along with interested residents.  Consider inviting representatives from the local Fire Department, Fire Safe Councils, and property management to participate.  Fire Department staff and Fire Safe Council members can assist with the application process, organize community members, if needed, and provide connections to relevant personnel.  For communities with an HOA board, it is highly recommended that the Architecture Chair is included on the Firewise committee so that any action items under their purview can be coordinated.

A minimum of 1 committee member from the community needs to be identified and listed on the Firewise application as the point of contact for the community.  At least 2 people should be included in the application, but not more than 5 people is recommended.  This person(s) will be the contact person for Firewise and simply get the e-mail reminders to submit the annual renewal documents.

STEP 2 – PLAN:  Draw a site boundary outlining the homes and current or proposed vegetation management zones in your community draw a site boundary indicating the homes and current or proposed vegetation management zones within your community.  This can be done in Google Maps, Google Earth Pro, or the Ventura County Fire Safe Council can create a map for the community.

There can only be a single contiguous site boundary, meaning if there is a large gap between the homes the community wants to include in their boundary, that area must be included in the boundary or two separate Firewise communities must be made.  Community common areas should be included in the boundary, along with adjacent open spaces that will not or cannot be managed by the community but impacts a community’s fire risk.

To determine which homes should be included in your site boundary depends on the structure of the community.  This is easier for smaller communities who live on a single road, are in small HOA’s, or are geographically isolated from other neighborhoods.

For meandering neighborhoods or large HOA’s (400+ homes), it is a little harder to set boundaries.  In this case, it is recommended to break up large groupings of homes into smaller groups of homes as this will increase participation.

Community boundaries can be changed over time to include or exclude other homes.

STEP 3 – CONDUCT A RISK ASSESSMENT:  Conduct a Risk Assessment to examine defensible space, ember resistant features of the home, and general community wildfire risks.  The assessment is an important part of the Firewise application process that helps identify and guide your priorities and activities.  The risk assessment will be the committee’s primary tool in determining the risk reduction priorities within the community boundaries.

Communities should reach out to the local Fire Safe Council to evaluate their community for wildfire hazards and professional advice of how to mitigate those hazards.  See the NFPA Firewise USA^® Community Wildfire Risk Assessment form.

The Fire Safe Council’s encourage communities and households to sign up to receive a free home evaluation so each homeowner in informed on what features of their home increase their risk to wildfire.  The homeowner is under no obligation to complete any of the recommendations and there is no regulatory enforcement associated with the evaluation.  Additionally, the home evaluation will provide the necessary information to complete the risk assessment.  https://venturafiresafe.org/

STEP 4 – DEVELOP A 3-YEAR PLAN:  Develop a 3-year plan outlining actions the community will take or would like to take to reduce community wildfire risk, in addition to recommendations for homeowners and suggested education activities that participants will strive to complete annually or over the period of multiple years.

STEP 5 – DO WILDFIRE REDUCTION EFFORTS:  Host at least one community education activity per year.  This can include discussing wildfire preparedness at community annual meetings, conducting a practice evacuation, or handing out a wildfire informational packet to community members.

Volunteer Hours.  Every household must complete a minimum of 1 volunteer hour or spend $28 on an activity that reduces wildfire risk in your community or on your property.  This can include yard work such as raking leaves, paying a landscaper, assisting on the Firewise USA^® application, or attending a presentation from the Fire Department.  While there is a minimum volunteer hour requirement, it is recommended to report as many hours as possible.  These numbers can help your community with future grant applications.

Document community activities, hours spent, and costs incurred.  This will be required prior to submitting the application to Firewise USA^®.

STEP 6 – SUBMIT TO VENTURA FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR REVIEW:  Submit your documents and plans for review prior to applying and creating an account with Firewise USA^®.

The Firewise USA^® application process can be completed once you have established the community organization and the selection of a board or committee to oversee the program and maintain the Firewise USA^® Community Recognition. Once all criteria have been met in “Setting up the Firewise USA^® Community”, submit the information collected and documents created to the Ventura County Fire Department for review and acceptance prior to completing the online Firewise USA^® application process. 

Click Here for information on how to “Create an Account” and set up the “Firewise USA^® Login”.

To begin your application to become a recognized Firewise USA^® Community, please log in at portal.firewise.org/user/login

Being part of a recognized Firewise USA^® community is reporting the ongoing work residents complete each year to reduce their wildfire risks, while addressing the areas identified in the community wildfire risk assessment.  Every year, the community must submit an annual renewal to maintain their “Firewise USA^® Status”.

Every Year:
Host an Event:  Host an outreach event and work with neighbors on addressing items in the action plan.

Estimate Time and Vegetation Removal:  Keep records of your community efforts to reduce wildfire risks.  You can include any time invested and expenses the community may have to reduce the fire risk.  Estimate the amount of vegetation removal from the community in common areas and resident homes.  Communities can use a simple diagram to help provide a rough estimate.

Every 3 Years
Action Plan:  Review and update your action plan. 

Every 5 years
Community Risk Assessment:  Review and update your community risk assessment. 

Optional Updates:
Overview:  Community changes in boundaries or size.  Update number of dwelling units and current mailing address.

Committee/Board:  Add and change the Board members as needed.

Vegetation Removal:  Events such as community vegetation removal or chipping days.