2022 Micro- Grant Project Wrap-Up

Comptche Disaster Prepared Fire Safe Council partnered with the Comptche Volunteer Fire Department to install a pond drafting fixture that made 7-acre feet of water easily available to the fire department and incoming first responders. This project involved additional funding from Comptche Volunteer Fire Department, and significant contributions of time and equipment from community members.

Lesson learned?

Hopland Fire Protection District is using Knox Locks to reduce response time and spare residents' gates from damage done by their “master key” (i.e. bolt-cutters).

By offering Knox Locks for their residents, in an emergency firefighters will be able to open locked gates without delay. While installing these locks, firefighters were also able to talk to residents about how to make their properties safer from wildfire, and obtained valuable information about the locations of nearby water sources and structures.

You can  order Knox Locks here.  Be sure to talk to your fire department about how they can use it to access your property quickly in an emergency.

This neighborhood fire safe council has a fire brigade! Bell Springs Fire Safe Council determined that making water more easily available on the ridge was a major wildfire-safety priority.

They installed additional water tanks in strategic locations, that can be shared with CAL FIRE and Laytonville, Leggett, Piercy, Palo Verde Fire and other fire departments responding in the Bell Springs area. Now engines can be refilled quickly without having to leave the area, which could make the difference between a small, easily handled fire and a major conflagration.

The Long Valley Fire Protection District implemented a defensible space education and inspection program in their response area, to help bring attention to a new local ordinance. They used the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council's programs to help residents come into compliance with the ordinance and make their properties safer.

Fire Marshal, Greg Smith and other Laytonville Fire personnel visited over 200 homes and reached out to dozens of road associations and neighborhoods to inform them about how to make their properties safer and more defensible. Their visits have prompted the formation of several new neighborhood fire safe councils, as well as an increase in Mendocino County Fire Safe Council's Community Chipper Days and senior/low-income defensible space assistance in the North County. According to Greg:

Schedule a Community Chipper Day for your neighborhood  here  and see if you qualify for free defensible space work  here .

If you’ve spent any time driving on rural Mendocino County roads, you know it can be easy to lose your bearings. Black Bart Trail area near Redwood Valley has long, winding roads that crisscross and have similar names. During a fire storm, even long-time residents could get disoriented.

The Black Bart Fire Safe Council installed emergency evacuation signs to mark a secondary evacuation route. Should the main road be blocked, these signs will help escaping residents safely find their way out of the neighborhood.

The Ridgewood Fire Safe Council is nestled in the mountainous terrain southwest of Willits and faces the real possibility that all 800 residences could be unable to successfully evacuate using their main evacuation route.

With input from fire personnel, the Ridgewood Fire Safe Council identified strategically located temporary refuge sites in their neighborhood that could help residents and first responders stay safe in case they get trapped during a fire storm. They removed vegetation around these sites, and built small structures outfitted with water, tools and first aid supplies - all of which could be life-saving resources in a worst-case scenario.