About

Sierrama Firewise Objectives

• Raise Awareness: Make our residents aware of their environment and the natural and man-made risks that wildland fire poses to them, their family, their property, and/or their business.
• Create Action: Provide the Sierrama Firewise Community with specific steps they can take to protect their families, property, and/or business in the event of a wildland fire. Educate residents on the key aspects of fire behavior and how “fire-hardened” homes and buildings can survive, through defensible space planning and proper mitigation techniques.
• Sustain Action: Encourage defensible space practices as part of an ongoing fire prevention program. Including an annual chipping program as an important community collaboration activity.

Our Philosophy

To create an atmosphere of sustained, shared responsibility helping the community help itself to reduce the probability, risks, and impacts of wildfire in our neighborhood.

Becoming a Firewise Community

The Sierrama Firewise Community is comprised of 66 homes and is recognized by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as Firewise. Our journey begin in May 2022, educating residents through email and at in person meetings regarding the requirements and benefits of becoming a Firewise Community. The residents positive interest spurred a small group, along with the support from the local fire agencies, to move forward. Our application was approved in September 2022.

As part of the application process, a number of residents and the El Dorado, Rescue and El Dorado Hills fire agencies performed a neighborhood walk-through to develop a fire safety baseline assessment of the neighborhood. Based on the findings, a three year plan was written to address shortcomings, with the goal to increase the safety and improve defensible space. This plan includes documenting ongoing work by property owners as they perform activities to increase defensible space and reduce fire risks.

Cal Fire has summarized the Steps to become a Firewise Community (Cal Fire ReadyforWildfire.org).

Why Become Firewise?

The ability to obtain home owner’s insurance or to simply retain insurance has become an ongoing issue in El Dorado County. In early 2023, the California Insurance Commission approved the California Safer from Wildfires regulation requiring insurance companies to potentially provide discounts to Firewise Communities. The regulations list specific guidance to provide discounts to homes. The regulations also require insurance companies to give each homeowner their fire score and to detail how the fire score was determined for that specific home.

We are pleased to see our neighbors taking responsibility for making both their home and our neighborhood safer. We encourage every neighborhood potentially affected by wildfire to become Firewise

Additional Firewise Information

The following information is excerpted from the National Fire Protection Firewise USA website on May 16, 2023.

What is the Firewise USA® Programs?
The Firewise USA® Program encourages local solutions for safety by involving homeowners in taking individual responsibility for preparing their homes from the risk of wildfire. The program provides resources to help homeowners learn how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together to take action now to prevent losses. Initiated in 2002 with 12 pilot neighborhoods, the national Firewise USA® Recognition Program has nearly 1,000 active member communities in 40 states, as well as a participation retention rate of 80 percent over the past decade. The program, aimed at homeowners, provides specific criteria for communities regarding wildfire preparedness, and based on this criteria, offers national recognition for their work.

Why is the Firewise USA Program needed?
As America’s population continues to expand, much of the development to accommodate that growth has flowed into traditionally natural areas. A trend toward migration from urban centers and suburbs into formerly rural and wild areas places many more people in the path of potential wildfire. Threats to life and property from wildfires and costs for suppressing them are expanding at an astounding rate.

Since 1970, more than 10,000 homes and 20,000 other structures and facilities have been lost to severe wildland fires. Once a fire starts, there is only so much fire service professionals can do to protect structures. The Firewise USA® Program empowers individual homeowners to take an active role in protecting structures before a fire starts.

What makes a community “Firewise?”
Firewise communities are those that have taken appropriate measures to become more resistant to wildfire structural damage. An online Firewise Toolkit, including a Firewise tips checklist for homeowners, is available on the Firewise website.

Firewise techniques include minimizing the risk of home ignition by carefully landscaping around residential structures such as thinning trees and brush and choosing fire-resistant plants, selecting ignition-resistant building materials and positioning structures away from slopes.
In addition, communities that have earned the special distinction of being recognized under the Firewise USA™ Program have followed a systematic approach to organizing and implementing a Firewise mitigation plan in their neighborhood. Program criteria and additional information about the Program can be found on the Firewise website.