Wildfire Risk Reduction & Preparation

Wildfire Risk Factors:

• Homes built without fire-resistant construction materials and practices.
• Inadequate defensible space management (Review Zones 0-5).
• Overgrown and dense vegetation within and near residential areas that are dead or dying.
• Fuels, especially in areas that have burned
• Steep topography, much of the County's fire history is in hilly areas.
• Dry and windy fall weather. Though lightning has not been a significant cause of wildland fires in the past, the 2020 lightning siege may indicate that the risk of lightning-caused fires may be increasing due to changing weather patterns.

Given the changing climate, wildfires will continue to impact Sonoma County -  and may even increase in frequency or severity. As we have seen so often since 2017, firefighting resources are quickly overwhelmed by fire size and spread. Creating defensible space, hardening structures, and preparing in advance are critical steps every homeowner can take. Each of these elements takes time. The time to start is now! Let’s work together with our neighbors to deepen community connection and safety, as we adapt our neighborhoods to be more resilient in the face of wildfire.

Local Resources

Curbside Chipper Program

The Permit Sonoma Fire Prevention Division provides a free chipper service to county residents who are engaged in making their property more wildfire-safe. The purpose of the program is to create defensible space (specifically around the home), structures, and access routes to the structures for properties located in the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County. If you are interested in submitting an application for chipping services, find out more about the Curbside Chipper Program guidelines.

Sonoma County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)

Defined by the 2003 United States Congress Healthy Forests Restoration Act, the goal of a CWPP is to enhance efforts to protect communities, watersheds, and other at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire events. A CWPP is not a regulatory document but provides wildfire hazard and risk assessments, community descriptions, options for addressing issues of structural vulnerability to wildfire (Home Hardening), and a prioritized list of projects that, if implemented, can serve to reduce wildfire hazards.

A CWPP is one of the best tools we have to make progress in adapting our county to a wildfire-prone environment. The CWPP will contain hazard and risk analyses and, using a collaborative model, will suggest projects that can efficiently reduce the risk of loss of life, property loss, and environmental damage.

Sonoma County Wildfire Homeowners Guide (PDF temporarily unavailable)

Fundamentals highlighted in the Sonoma County Homeowners guide include:

• The Three R’s of Defensible Space:  Removal, Reduction, and Replacement
• How to determine and create an effective defensible space
• Types of dead vegetation and recommended practice for removal
• Defensible space zones – There are 3 specific defensible space zones: 
  • Home Ignition Zone
  • Defensible Space Zone surrounding your home
  • Wildland Reduction Zone
• Fire Safe Landscape Design, including a list of firewise plants, shrubs & trees
• Firewise Construction Checklist:
  • What Pre-Fire & Emergency Preparations do you have?
  • When a wildfire approaches, what should I have with me?
  • What about family members and pets or livestock?
  • How should I prepare my car?
  • What should I take?
  • How should I leave my home?
  • What about the outside of my home?

Teaching Children About Wildfire

Children are curious about fire but can also be part of the active solutions to help prevent wildfires in Sonoma County.

Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management

Sign up for key alerts and notifications through the County's Department of Emergency Management.

Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCIEP)

The Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) offers PACE financing for permanent energy, water, wildfire safety, and seismic strengthening improvements through the property tax system.   Financing is available for residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, multifamily and certain non-profit projects. Check out program details here.

HALTER Project

HALTER is a grassroots program, which helps individuals, agencies, and organizations to support efforts of communities and agencies to train and prepare for a ready response to, and the care of, animals in everyday emergencies and large-scale disasters.

Local Conservation Groups & Resource Conservation Districts

• Both the Sonoma Resource Conservation District and Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District provide assistance to local property owners within their jurisdictions.
• The Sonoma County Forest Working Group works to perpetuate sustainable, healthy, and diverse forests, woodlands, and watersheds across the Sonoma County landscape, and to be a catalyst, source of information, and point of contact for forestland owners.

University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE)

The University of California Cooperative Extension addresses resiliency or agriculture and natural resources through climate smart strategies. The extension works with landowners to better understand forest management, map and reduce fuels, and sequester carbon.

California Prescribed Burn Association

Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) are community-based, mutual aid networks that help private landowners put “good fire” back on the land. The Cal PBA website is a one-stop location for PBAs in California - providing contact information and useful prescribed fire resources.