What Is a Firewise Community?

Becoming a Firewise USA® Community involves whole neighborhoods working together to reduce the risk of loss and damage due to wildfire. When wildfires sweep through areas, they don’t just destroy one house. They destroy whole communities. Here, we share insights you can use to make your home and those around you safer and more wildfire-resilient.

Jump to a section:

• What does “Firewise community” mean?
• How do I know if I live in a certified Firewise community?
• The benefits of becoming a Firewise community
• Firewise community requirements
• Can a homeowner start a Firewise community?
• Examples of Firewise community projects
• Firewise communities in California and elsewhere
• Frequently asked questions
• Layered defense: Reducing wildfire risk to communities

What does “Firewise community” mean?

A Firewise community is one that has taken formal and practical steps to create safer homes and landscapes across whole neighborhoods to reduce wildfire risk. Achieving Firewise community certification requires residents to work together through a structured process that starts with planning at the community level and builds on individual actions that each homeowner can take to make their home fire-resilient.

Neighborhoods can work together informally, but they may prefer to make their efforts official through Firewise USA®, an initiative of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The project provides guidance through its structured mitigation practices and process, along with resources to help communities achieve their fire-resilience goals.

In addition to reducing wildfire risks and enhancing safety, communities may enjoy financial benefits. Possible outcomes of becoming a Firewise community include higher property values, easier resale, and the potential to impact the availability and cost of insurance.

How do I know if I live in a certified firewise community?

You can find Firewise communities in California and across 40 states coast to coast. To find communities in your state, there are several places to look:

• Firewise map: The NFPA’s Firewise USA® provides an easy-to-use map.
• Firewise community list: The NFPA’s site includes a reasonably up-to-date state-by-state list of communities with Firewise community certification.
• Local authorities: It’s possible your community is still working through Firewise community requirements or has only recently completed them. Contact your local authorities. Your fire department is a good place to start.
• Homeowner’s association (HOA): If you own a property covered by an HOA, you may wish to contact its leadership.

Working with Firewise USA® provides neighborhoods with a wealth of expert advice, planning templates and tools, implementation support, and access to wildfire mitigation best practices. Neighborhood groups also help connect homeowners with trusted, effective solutions like Frontline Wildfire Defense, and they may offer referral incentives when neighbors participate.

When your area meets the Firewise community requirements and achieves Firewise community certification, you may also enjoy benefits like lower insurance costs, improved access to insurance, and higher resale value.

Firewise works with a variety of such organizations. It provides local expertise, support, and implementation assistance to communities seeking to get certified as a Firewise site. FireSafe Marin in California, Boulder County Wildfire Partners in Colorado, and Texas A&M Forest Service are examples of the reach and variety of Firewise support organizations.

Here’s how to become a Firewise community.

Can a homeowner start a Firewise community?

Yes, individual homeowners and residents are at the heart of Firewise communities. What makes the initiative so effective are the grassroots efforts of people who live in and have the greatest stake in each neighborhood.

By working with fire-safe organizations and other Firewise USA® partners within the framework, individuals can achieve significant improvements in risk mitigation. They take the lead in the initial organization of committees and drive all activities to achieve and maintain Firewise community certification.

Examples of Firewise community projects

Strengthening neighborhoods against wildfires is a multilayered effort that takes commitment and has no end date. Firewise communities take on a new way of life, engaging residents in a range of projects that establish a fire-resilience baseline and build on it over time. Grants are available to help communities fund their work.

Some common examples of projects Firewise communities take on include:

• Collaboration with experts: Taking advantage of the depth and breadth of expertise available ensures Firewise communities adopt best practices and get the most benefit from their efforts. Partners bring expertise from forestry professionals, fire departments, wildfire mitigation specialists, and others to every element of the program.
• Outreach and resident education: What really makes the program work is engagement, which requires communication, education, and planning. Workshops, meetings, newsletters, and task forces get people involved in improving neighborhood fire resilience. Outreach can initiate the coordination of homeowners seeking advanced protection options like the Frontline Wildfire Defense System.
• Home hardening: Preventing an individual home from catching fire helps protect surrounding homes. That’s why it’s important to encourage upgrades with fire-resistant materials and designs, such as ember-resistant vents, fire-resistant roofing and siding, enclosed eaves, and tempered windows that resist shattering in high heat.
• Defensible space and landscaping: Neighborhood fire risks extend beyond property lines. Communities can work together to remove dry vegetation that can fuel fires, create defensible space landscaping with widely spaced native plants that are fire-adapted, and prune trees in public spaces.
• Neighbourhood projects: Organizing clean-up days is a great way to bring attention to Firewise community initiatives. It’s also a way to engage neighbors and make a meaningful contribution to the fire resilience of any area. Removing roadside brush and trash, sprucing up common areas, and performing general upkeep and repairs reduce the risk of ember ignition throughout the neighborhood.

FAQs

WHEN WAS THE FIREWISE PROGRAM FIRST ESTABLISHED?

The concept of a Firewise community got its start in the late 1980s. Wildfire professionals recognized that the problem of wildfires was too wide-reaching and multilayered to leave to fire departments alone. Engaging homeowners in community-wide action was the key to reducing wildfire risks.

The Firewise program brought together research and education efforts in the first shared approach in 1988. It was adopted, formalized, and expanded by the NFPA in 2002 under the name Firewise USA®. It has rapidly expanded nationally since then.

HOW MANY FIREWISE COMMUNITIES ARE THERE?

Tens of thousands of neighborhoods have achieved Firewise community certification since the program started. Areas in states with the greatest wildfire risk to communities were the first to meet Firewise community requirements.

With the growing awareness that nearly any community could experience a wildfire emergency, more neighborhoods have adopted community-based wildfire mitigation approaches. Every year, more communities have joined, and existing sites have renewed and strengthened their commitment.

HOW DOES A COMMUNITY MAINTAIN ITS FIREWISE STATUS?

Firewise communities must document compliance with Firewise community requirements annually. Wildfire risk mitigation takes ongoing effort. Clearing flammable brush from public areas is of little value if it is left to grow back the next season.

Maintaining a community’s Firewise status is all about maintaining a community’s risk mitigation efforts. Annual renewals document ongoing work and serve as an opportunity for your neighborhood to get feedback, advice, and practical help in improving fire resilience.

WHO SHOULD BE PART OF MY FIREWISE COMMUNITY?

Building the leadership and working core for your Firewise community involves picking the right people and engaging with the right partners. Homeowners, neighborhood leaders, HOA staff, and other stakeholders are ideal groups for recruiting members.

Consider involving your fire department, fire safe councils, and other local and regional Firewise partners, along with forestry agencies if your community is in a rural and wildland-urban interface area. Keep your committee small enough that you’re able to move quickly. Choose motivated and skilled people who will carry the weight of the work.