I found this site while searching for info about the status of our house during the Bobcat fire, which survived because of the actions of some very talented and dedicated firefighters (three of whom my husband later met and was able to thank personally - yay!). I am now wondering, what can folks who are outside the firefighter community do to be of help to those who are inside it? What kind of civilian support is most helpful?
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Prepare your home to make it defensible before a fire states and leave when the evacuation orders come out so that we have room to work and don’t have to stop fighting fire to make a rescue happen.
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Got it. Thank you.
and don’t weld, grind or cut metal outdoors during the summer months
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and don’t weld, grind or cut metal outdoors during the summer months
Some of us, who should know better, have had to learn this the wrong way. It is a very bad feeling when the red trucks show up. In my case, I was lucky and no dozers or airplanes were needed.
I’d add that civilians can help by becoming volunteers, and can learn a lot by taking a 4-day wildland firefighting class, even if they don’t plan to be firefighters. And we need citizens to be informed about the ins-and-outs of fuels management and prescribed fire.
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I would also say that supporting local land use planning and management decisions is a great help. How and where structures are built is an inherently local government decision in this state. Discuss with your County/City Planning Dept., Commissioners, Council members and Supervisors the smart decisions that can be made to support growth while not creating development in areas that are literally indefensible from fire at great risk to the firefighters themselves.
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How does a citizen become informed about the ins-and-outs of fuels management and prescribed fire?
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Got it. Thank you.
@Scout My suggestions to you is this:
Support firefighters throughout the year, not just when it’s in the lime light and on the front page.
The BIGGEST help you can give is being a champion for firefighters when it comes to our government supporting those who are giving so much EVERY year protecting this state, but so much more this year. Vote for those who will fight for keeping and caring for firefighters. Vote in support of local measures that the fire departments are asking for that will help bring better staffing / equipment / benefits / etc. Help us better help others with your votes!
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A pet peeve of mine - why do we build where we do in CA? Because we can?
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Got it; will do. Thank you.
@Scout…I know that in today’s world, everyone has their hand out for a monetary donation, but seriously, IF, and I am not applying any pressure to you on this, you are interested in helping out wildland firefighters monetarily, please consider the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. They are an organization that provides assistance to the families of fallen or injured firefighters and are strictly a donation based entity. They are based in Boise, ID and have helped a lot of firefighter families. Here’s their link if you or anyone is interested.
Wildland Firefighter Foundation
And no, I am not a paid sponsor, just believe in their work and their mission.
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See if you can learn what your local park or open-space district is doing to manage hazardous fuels. Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) also do a lot of fuels work. Read their plans, and also, check out any references in their plans. See if you can track down your local communitiy wildfire protection plans (CWPPs). These lay out priorities for wildfire hazard mitigation, and are living documents that the public can contribute their concerns to for future updates. CWPPs also usually have references sections with good reading on fuels management issues.
Here is a link to the Yuba County Foothills CWPP.
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If you are in an area covered by Cal Fire, call the unit prevention office and see if they have a Volunteer In Prevention (VIP) program. If they do, see if any of the activities are of interest. In some units they do Assistant Public Information, Fire Prevention education with the public at fairs, home and garden shows, Fire Lookout work, and various other tasks. They provide the needed training for the various jobs.
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OK, figured I’d throw my 3 cents in here for anyone coming to this thread on a google search. Info based upon my FLO who has assisted in the process locally.
If you are are thinking of donating material goods, don’t unless the items are specifically called for. Monetary donations are preferred by Red Cross and other private entities. Much of what gets donated ends up in the landfill because there is no mechanism for effective distribution. The news runs a story about a mother losing all her baby clothes and suddenly a bunch of 18 wheelers of infant clothes show up. Just don’t.
On a personal note, I appreciated the signs on my drive out, just me.
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Showing support year-round and not just during fire season is one of the best ways to help the fire community feel appreciated. Help combat against those who get upset when the guys at the local fire station are enjoying a BBQ while on shift. They always seem to forget that just a few months prior those same guys & gals were working 168 hour work weeks for weeks on-end away from their families without hesitation because duty called. And if you’re in an area where there is a major fire, the homemade signs and artwork from kids showing how much they care are a great way for these firefighters to remember why they love doing what they do. It takes a major toll on them mentally and emotionally seeing all of the devastation day after day and running on such little sleep and pure adrenaline.
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Thank you. I’m very happy to now know of this foundation.
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I’ll remember this (and share) - thank you.
Thank you. Will do! We have a completely new understanding of firefighting now, and we want to share our respect and concern for firefighters.
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