2023 MCFSC Micro-Grant Wrap-Up

In 2023, Mendocino County Fire Safe Council partnered with the PG&E Corporation Foundation to award over $104,000 to organizations working to improve wildfire preparedness and resilience around Mendocino County.

Sixteen applications were funded from ten of our affiliated Neighborhood Fire Safe Councils and six local Fire Agencies, each of which then contributed additional dollars and volunteer hours to accomplish critical community projects.

Scroll through this page to learn about the projects.

Prevention & Suppression

MCFSC's 2023 Micro-Grants helped fund trailers, trucks, drones and locks for three Fire Agencies.

AVFD in partnership with the Mendocino County Prescribed Burn Association purchased a 5'x8' cargo trailer to store and transport equipment that can be used on prescribed burns countywide. AVFD will also use the trailer to support other prevention projects like MCFSC's free senior defensible space program. If you live in Anderson Valley, see if you qualify and sign up  here .

Ridgewood Ranch Fire is a small all-volunteer fire department south of Willits. They wove together a network of resources from the Good Farm Fund, the Golden Rule Community, Little Lake Fire Protection District and MCFSC's Micro-Grant to purchase, outfit and put into service a new Model 18 fire engine. Say hello to engine 5482!

RCFPD purchased a drone with thermal imaging capabilities to be able to better survey their timber-heavy coastal district for fire detection, scouting roads or terrain, mapping, pre-planning and search and rescue. Four volunteers have been trained and certified to use the drone.

SCFPD purchased Knox padlocks and key switches to provide residents, businesses and a senior care facility with free locks. Knox locks are a safe and secure way to speed up response times by allowing the local department easy access in an emergency without causing property damage.

Fuel Reduction & Access Improvement

MCFSC's 2023 Micro-Grants helped three communities clear vegetation along ingress/egress roads and helped one community install new street name signs and over 100 reflective address signs.

Westport FSC worked with  Elk Ridge Tree Service  to clear 2 miles of extremely narrow and overgrown roads within a Westport subdivision. Westport FSC contributed many volunteer hours to this project encouraging landowner participation, coordinating the crew and keeping the community at large informed through the local  Westport Wave  newsletter. Thanks to those efforts, they have developed a wave of landowner engagement, additional grant funding and community investment in reducing fuel loads around Westport.

The tiny remote community of Whale Gulch was hit hard by the 2022-2023 winter storms. A huge number of trees came down. Roads and driveways were blocked and residents had no access to fuel to fill their chainsaws. Whale Gulch Volunteer Fire Department sprang into action and spent weeks clearing roads and helping their community. The Micro-Grant funds helped support the Whale Gulch VFD fuels crew in clearing and chipping leftover storm damage so that it didn't contribute to fuel loads going into the summer months.

With an additional PG&E grant, Black Bart Trail Firewise worked together with neighbors to identify key spots in need of treatment along their massive network of roads, got permission from landowners and worked with a local contractor and neighbor,  CRS Construction , to address their highest risk areas, which included stretches of road that would be used during an evacuation of their large high-risk community.

McNab FSC updated street and address signs along their 27+ miles of road. Volunteers installed new street signs and purchased 156 address signs for residents made by Hopland Volunteer Fire Department. The importance of correctly labeled street signs and addresses really hit home during this project as two serious accidents in remote parts of the ranch required response.

Water Resources for Fire Suppression

When we launched our Micro-Grant program in 2022, it was clear that a primary need of both Fire Agencies and Neighborhood Fire Safe Councils is more accessible and available water resources for fire suppression. Between the 2022 and 2023 Micro-Grant cycles MCFSC has supported nine water resource development projects including tanks, standpipes and hydrants.

The 2023 projects included tanks for Hopland Volunteer Fire Protection District, Hulls Valley FSC, String Creek FSC, Navarro FSC and Wildwood FSC.

Home, Neighborhood and Land.

MCFSC's core mission is to provide information to Mendocino County residents that empowers them to be better prepared for wildfire. The 2023 Micro-Grants funded three education based projects that focused on defensible space, community resilience and landowner education.

Laytonville Fire Marshal Greg Smith and other volunteers continued their defensible space assessment and education program started under the 2022 Micro-Grant program and supported with additional funding from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County. This cycle, 500 residences were visited with an 82.5% compliance rate after education and follow-up. Laytonville FPD helps connect residents with MCFSC and has been instrumental in expanding the reach of MCFSC's programs like senior defensible space, community chipper days, reflective address signs, neighborhood work parties and neighborhood FSC resources like Micro-Grants and grant development in their District.

Point Arena FSC, with additional financial support from the City of Point Arena and local donations, hosted a community event for the Point Arena Village Apartments and developed a locally relevant Spanish language brochure. At the event, Point Arena FSC served a delicious spread and the Coast Community librarian read to the kids and offered books to take home. Point Arena FSC gave residents an introduction to the topic of emergency preparedness and gave away the basics for Go-Bags. They also provided two apartment managers with GSRM radios and training to be able to tie into Point Arena's growing GSRM radio network which can be used by community members to communicate during a network failure. Point Arena FSC continues to host awesome community events. If you live in the area email firesafepointarena@gmail.com to get on their e-list.

Yorkville FSC includes the Galbreath Wildland Preserve, which designed a three part Good Fire Series, for landowners and community members to increase their knowledge and comfort with prescribed fire. Galbreath plans to implement their own prescribed burns and turned their planning and learning process into a community education opportunity.

Part I: Is the Fire Right Tool for the Job, focused on the observational and critical thinking skills to assess what types of fuel reduction may be needed and how to tell when fire is the right tool using examples of different properties. Watch the informative and empowering presentations from Sasha Berleman, director of Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward project, and Andres Avila, Fire Chief of the Anderson Valley VFD.

Part II: How to Prepare Your Land for Good Fire was held in person and offered the opportunity for practical discussion with Sasha Berleman and Angela DeWitt, Training Officer and Battalion Chief for the Anderson Valley VFD.

Part III: Permits and Process covered the often intimidating topic of what is required to implement a prescribed burn. The knowledgeable presenters, Mike Jones and Kyle Farmer who, among many other things, are founding members of the Mendocino Prescribed Burn Association, fielded questions and shared experiences.

Thanks to another generous donation from the PG&E Corporation Foundation, MCFSC's 2024 Micro-Grant projects are already underway. Stay tuned for MCFSC's 2025 Micro-Grant cycle next spring. Micro-Grants are open to Neighborhood Fire Safe Councils and Fire Agencies. Click the button below to learn how to join/start a Neighborhood Fire Safe Council and begin planning your neighborhood's project now.