Are you in a Firewise USA^® community? Here's how to find out.

The County of Nevada website hosts an interactive map showing the current NFPA-recognized Firewise USA® communities (FWC), plus those "In-Training" which are being developed and sponsored through the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County. You can use this interactive GIS map (scroll down until you see the map on that webpage) to find out if you're already in a FWC. Read the directions for use below - there are no instructions on the map page.

Directions: Type your home address (or any other address) into the white box on the map and click 'enter'. This will locate and place a dot on the map showing the address location. Each FWC has a different background color - the colors are subtle and can be checked against the Legend to the left. By scrolling out SLOWLY, it will show the names of the FWC and its neighbors. If you scroll out further to the county level, only the colors are shown. Scroll IN from the address-dot level and the street name can be seen. "In Training" neighborhoods that are developing their FWC status and have an accepted map are identified with a uniform yellow background.

Click below for the most recent (as of May 2024) maps of Firewise Communities (including In-Training Communities). Thank you GIS expert Alan Doerr, Fire Safe Council board member, for these maps:

Western County Map of Firewise Communities (including Grass Valley, Nevada City, Penn Valley, San Juan Ridge and more)
Eastern County Map of Firewise Communities (including Truckee, Donner Lake area, and more)

TO leaders or committee members of a Firewise Community (FWC): could you use help in administering your FWC? Go here for information and resources.

Learn your Evacuation Zone number (a separate County program) by typing your street address in the white search box on this page at the GenasysProtect website.

An alphabetical list of CERTIFIED FIREWISE COMMUNITIES and individual FWCommunity maps can be found on this page of the Fire Safe Council website. If you have trouble locating the individual map for your Firewise Community, contact the Fire Safe Council. (Scroll down past the banner map image until you see the Contact Us form.)

How to become a Firewise Community brochure: onscreen version. This version of our tri-fold brochure is easiest to read on-screen, but printing it requires legal-size paper (8 1/2 x 14). PDF

How to become a Firewise Community brochure: print-at-home version. 8 1/2 x11, 6 pages PDF

What is an "In Training" Firewise Community? These are neighborhoods that are developing the steps necessary to become a Firewise Community. Many are waiting for their Hazard Assessment to be performed and documented by a qualified fire expert, with funding obtained by the Fire Safe Council (there is no cost to the neighborhood itself). The Community then creates its own 1-to-2 page Action Plan based on the Assessment, and the Fire Safe Council registers the new Firewise Community with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Prior to certification, all "in training" communities are encouraged to act like a certified Firewise Community, have one or more representatives attend monthly Coalition meetings, etc.

_{[All documents on this site are safe to download. If your virus blocker prevents access, use our Contact form to specify what documents you'd like and we'll email them to you directly.]}

"Inconvenient truths about the fires  burning in Los Angeles from two fire  experts" _{is an important Los Angeles Times article to read (in a downloadable PDF), by two fire experts who talk about the real causes of conflagrations and how to do better prevention.}

_{Firewise Community Spotlight - The Go Plan: Steve Baker, Banner Mountain FWC: This plan focuses on situation awareness of our neighborhood members and concise actions if a fire comes through Banner Mtn. The plan has one goal; nobody dies in a wildfire. It is improved every year.  Download it here.OperationUnite-GO PLAN-2024.pdf}

Tools to Reduce Fuels, Especially Surface Fuels - the outstanding Powerpoint PDF presented at our November 2024 meeting by Jo Ann Fites-Kaufman, retired USFS fire scientist and CA Burn Boss.

Best of the Best education resources:

(scroll down for even more)

Your Home Can Survive a Wildfire - Watch giant nozzles blow burning embers at mock houses in a monster testing facility. In this 13-minute video with great visuals, Dr. Jack Cohen, Fire Science Researcher with the USDA Forest Service, explains current research about how homes ignite during wildfires. After watching this, you will feel more confident that the action steps you take can help your home survive the impacts of flames and embers.

Wildfire Defensible Space: Zone Zero - 7-minute video about the most important defensible space zone, 0-to 5 feet around your house. See description below in the OUTSIDE category.

Three great sources for information about home hardening (what you need to do in and around your buildings):

1. Wildfire Hazards in Residential Fences and Mulch Beds will help you evaluate your risk from your fences. See the photo showing flames jumping from a wood fence to the house 6 feet away.
2. Wildfire home retrofit guide.pdf from University of Nevada, Reno Extension and University of California Cooperative Extension, with funding from Cal Fire. Clear information and drawings for how to retrofit existing components of a home to withstand wildfire.
3. See below, from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Like the retrofit guide above, these are comprehensive, detailed and based on scientific research  performed by people who aren't trying to sell you anything. Download the first checklist and then either the second "everything" guide or the individual fact sheets (in the third bullet):

• An 11-page Wildfire Home Assessment & Checklist
• A 40-page Protect Your Property From Wildfire guide, covering roof covering, gutters, vents, windows and doors, decks/patios/porches, siding, fences, outbuildings, fuel tanks and more.
• Don't want 40 pages? The IBHS has split the guide into individual Research Fact Sheets here on the NFPA website-- get only the topics you want: Attic & Crawl Space Vents; Fire-Retardant Coatings; Decks; Exterior Sprinkler Systems; Fencing; Fire Spread on Ember-Ignited Decks; Roofing Materials; Skylights; Under-Eave Construction, and Immediate (noncombustible) Zone around your house.

How to Stay Informed During Wildfire Season May2024.pdfOne page for finding weather advisories, how to sign up for emergency alerts, and, during an ACTUAL EMERGENCY, how to stay updated and informed. Print and post it on your refrigerator!

Roadside Clearing Regulations: make your roads safe for firefighters to get IN and for you to get OUT. This unofficial one-page PDF with diagrams, created by the Coalition of Firewise Communities, tells you the requirements in the unincorporated County, City of Grass Valley and Nevada City, for clearing back from the sides of private roads. There are three times as many private roads in the County as there are public roads, and the property owners are responsible for meeting these requirements. See "Rules & Enforcement" for how to report violations of these roadside clearing regulations.

What do you do when your 100 feet of defensible space goes onto a neighbor's property? Or onto government land? What if your neighbor refuses to clear her property? The five-page document linked here, "What If Your 100 Feet of Defensible Space Goes Beyond Your Property Line?," tells you how to proceed under different scenarios. Read additional detail on our Rules & Enforcement page.

In addition to the above, check out these other great resources (many from past Coalition meetings).

OUTSIDE: defensible space, landscaping, generators

• Defensible Space: good diagrams & information from the Cal Fire website, ReadyforWildfire.org, explaining state law requirements for defensible space. The website also has information on fire-resistant landscaping.
• Wildfire Defensible Space: Zone Zero - outstanding 7-minute video reflecting the newest research about "Ground Zero," the 0-to-5 foot Zone Zero around your home that has been proven to be key to reducing your home's risk of burning down. Great visuals. Prefer written format? Here's a one-page PDF from the IBHS.
• How to Protect Your Deck From Wildfire - 16-minute video
• Firewise Garden Design 21 slide PDF (incl. photos) by local landscape designer Sheri Brown Dion. In this 12-minute video, Sheri discusses the last 5 slides which are about plant selection. Here's a PDF with a few Reference Websites for Fire Resistant Planting. 
• Landscaping Tips to Help Defend Your Home from Wildfire, a 53-slide Powerpoint PDF with many visuals, by Master Gardener Cathé Fish. 
• Prescribed Burn Information - see this page, last bullet point.
• 30-Second Visual of Defensible Space Brush Clearing compared to Not Cleared/Not Defensible (Marty Main, 2018). Another 30-second video of Looks Good vs Dangerous Mess (Jeff Peach, 2021).
• Generators: What Kind to Buy and How to Run it Safely -- by Greg Cameron, October 2020 Coalition speaker: Comprehensive presentation on types of generators, pros and cons of each type, how-to tips, and how to stay safe while using a generator.
• Generator Safety Tips & Burn Piles/Permit (with photos) - Cal Fire Chief Jim Mathias talks about preventing generator-related fires and being safe with burn piles. This site  tells you when it's a burn day (in unincorporated county only, prohibited in GV/NC city limits).
• How to stay safe using a generator- easy 2-pager from Consumer Reports, Sept 2019
• KCRA 2-minute news clip on well-managed forest and a homeowners' defensible space - Summer 2021, Caldor Fire.

YOUR HOUSE: protecting your dwelling

• Be Ember Prepared: Will Your House Survive When the Embers Arrive? From the University of Nevada, Reno, a 26-minute video demonstrating that no matter what you do about defensible space, it's little things in and around your house that can determine if your house burns down (or not). This and the one with Dr. Jack Cohen (top of this page) are the BEST VIDEO RESOURCES we've seen because they focus on the ember storm that is responsible for most burned homes.
  
• Home Hardening Priorities & Resources - 12 slides linking you to the home-hardening information  (click on the gold words) at Cal Fire, NFPA, UCCE and IBHS, by Kristen Cook, Coalition Steering Committee, from the April 2021 meeting.
• Cal Fire's "Hardening Your Home" page, with downloadable "Low-cost Retrofit List" and other materials.
• You Can Reduce the Chance of Your Home Burning - 27-slide PDF from Dr. Kate Wilkins from UC Extension
• National Fire Prevention Assoc. Videos
  • 2-minute video, “If Your Home Doesn't Ignite it Can't Burn” 

  • 
4-minute video “5 Key Areas Around the Home you Must Examine when Assessing Wildfire Risk.”
  • 4-minute video “Your Home and Wildfire, Choices that can Make a Difference.”

• EvolvedDecks.com - local (NevadaCounty) company that builds steel decks. Photo gallery shows examples.
• How I Changed My House Vents to 1/8" Screen - 29-slide Powerpoint PDF with photos showing every step of the DIY project by Susan Rogers (Nov 2019 Coalition meeting) or a one-page summary (with no photos).
• A 44-page Home Inventory Guide flipbook from the state Insurance Commissioner's office. Download it, print it and fill it out, so you're ready if you need to make a claim. (OR use your phone to video-record the contents of every room in your house, including the contents of all closets, cabinets and drawers. Narrate the video with the same information in the flipbook, e.g. when purchased, amount paid, etc.)

YOU & YOURS: how to prepare, evacuating

• CodeRED EXPLAINER: a 2-sided PDF showing the differences between the County CodeRED Emergency Alert System, the CodeRED Mobile App, and other alerts you may receive. Clearly shows why you need to be signed up for our Nevada County CodeRED System. The County also has a very simple, clear graphic chart on this page (scroll down past the video Overviews).
• Learn your Evacuation Zone number by typing your street address in the white search box on this page at the GenasysProtect website.
• Sign up for text alerts from Cal Fire. In the box that says "Sign Up For Text Messages," enter your cellphone number and zip code, then click "Sign Up."
• The Hi-Lo Siren means your life and property are under imminent threat. Hear what the "YOU MUST LEAVE NOW" Hi-Lo Siren sounds like (2:30min County video). 

Lists and Checklists:

• How to Stay Informed During Wildfire Season May2024.pdf-- one page listing all the ways to stay informed and get status updates during an actual emergency. 
• Is there a wildfire?.pdf tells how to get early notice of a nearby wildfire and how to quickly check wind direction to see if it's being pushed toward you. (Check your Downloads folder: this 1-page PDF auto-downloads -- it does NOT open in a new browser tab.) Check this 7-minute video for a live demonstration of the points in this handout.
• Important Documents You Will Need - a checklist of what you need to have ready to take with you when evacuating, including what wildfire survivors say they wished they'd taken. In PDF format  or Word docx formatyou can customize to your situation.
• Walking-Out-the-Door checklists to post in/near your garage: Checklist for Walking Out the Door May 2024.pdf ready to use, by the Coalition's Evacuation Committee. Also check out the Wildfire Evacuation Checklist 2-sided PDF from Marin County, which is very detailed with great information. Many people use these as guides for creating their own customized checklist.
• Camp Fire survivor Cat Cardinalli provided a compelling presentation at the June 2022 Coalition meeting. Here is PDF of her First-Hand Lessons from a Paradise Fire Survivor. For a Word docx version that you can edit and customize for your own planning purposes, click this and the doc will automatically download to your computer's Downloads folder (a new page will NOT open here on the website).
  
  

Take the Advice of Firefighters:

• What you can do 6-12 Hours Before Evacuationfrom Chief Matt Wallen, Cal Fire, at a Coalition meeting, in multiple formats: 
  • 5-Minute Condensed version video
  • the full-length video (15 minutes) of Chief Wallen discussing his five slides in more detail.
  • downloadable 2-page PDF with the same information in list format
• What to Wear (and supplies to take) When You Evacuate by former firefighter Christopher Reilly, in multiple formats: 
  • 5-minute Condensed version video;  
  • the full-length video (13 minutes) of Chris discussing his slides in more detail.
    
• Safety During an Evacuation & What If You Are Trapped from Chief Jim Mathias, Cal Fire in multiple formats: 
  • 5-minute Condensed version video; 
  • the full-length video (17 minutes) of Chief Mathias discussing his seven slides in more detail.
    
    
• 
Leaving Early: How to Make That Decision, with Susan Rogers of the Coalition of Firewise Communities, is a 22-slide PDF reviewing how and why you should leave ahead of official notices, and how to make that decision more easily and with less hesitation. Here's a 13-minute video with Susan discussing the slides with additional commentary.
• Frequently asked questions about evacuation (and the answers) from the 2020 All-County Educational Event. Excellent information.
• During a Wildfire, Your Phone Might Stop Working. How Can You Communicate? KQED article with an excellent graphic at the end to download and keep on your cellphone.

What is the County of Nevada doing about wildfire preparedness?

Answer: A LOT! Visit the County's emergency preparedness website, ReadyNevadaCounty.org, for links to many great resources.

• Ready/Set/Go Handbook - 36-page official Handbook for Wildfire Safety and Emergency Preparedness. This is the one mailed to every residential address in the county, every year.
• CodeRED Emergency Alerts - official county alerts sent by phone, text and/or email. Sign up for CodeRED Emergency Alerts on this page.
• Know Your Evacuation Zone: click here to find out what your Zone Number is for your home or business address (type your address into the upper left box). When evacuation warnings/orders are issued, they will be by Zone Number, NOT by street names (NOT "south of Ridge Road, west of Hwy 20" etc.). Enter your address in the white search box (upper left of map) to find out YOUR zone number. Write it down! Post it on your refrigerator and make it a Contact in your cellphone (First name: "Evacuation," Last name: "Zone"). Here's a PDF you can make into a large, printed map of ALL ZONES:Evacuation Zone Map Packet - Nevada County.pdf
  
• The Ready Nevada County Dashboard has many helpful features. In a wildfire event large enough to trigger the opening of the County's Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the Dashboard is where you will find constantly updated information on fire status, evacuations, available shelters and more.
• Hi Lo Siren County Video - hear what the "YOU MUST LEAVE NOW" warning siren sounds like.
• Neighbors refusing to clear their hazardous vegetation in unincorporated Nevada County? Register for a free Citizen Access account and Request a Defensible Space Inspection by a county inspector who has the authority to enforce county codes. (If you live in the city of Grass Valley or Nevada City, the steps for reporting a hazard can be found on page 5 of this document.)
• County Road Vegetation Maintenance - then-County Department of Public Works Director Trisha Tillotson, in the April 2021 Coalition meeting, showed these 14 slides to illustrate their plan for brush clearing for safer ingress and egress on County roads.

Other Resources

• Does your FWC need better access to water for fire suppression? Read how the Greenhorn FWC bought and installed their own waters tanks.
• The  2022 Wildfire Season Preparedness Guide from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County
• Are you a survivor of wildfire? Was your home lost or damaged? The Summer 2021 California Wildfires Helping Handbook: A Resource for Individuals, Families, and Small Businesses, is 80+ outstanding pages of information and resources available for Nevada County residents after the River Fire triggered FEMA assistance. Chapters include Housing, Insurance, FEMA, Personal Finances & Taxes, Document & Record Replacement, and more.
• Information to help property owners who are dealing with PG&E’s powerline tree clearing on private parcels Sept 14, 2018

FIREWISE FESTIVAL RAISES THOUSANDS $$ 
FOR FIREWISE COMMUNITIES IN 2024

Thank you to the Firewise Festival Committee for creating a successful fundraising event which benefited all the Firewise Communities attending and working the event. The core Committee members were Steve Eubanks, Pete Williams, Warren Knox, Jim Mathias, Mo Graber, Kristen Cook, and Paul Tebbel. 

River Valley Bank and Bob Long also get a huge shout-out for their service in handling the financials which were kept separate from those of the event sponsor, Fire Safe Council. The hard work of those named above and many other volunteers raised a significant sum of money to help us protect our homes.  We are happy that we could support them in their efforts.

Checks ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 were awarded to 17 Firewise Communities in a random drawing, and checks for $325 were written to 28 other FWCs whose members attended or worked the event, enabling these neighborhoods to fund projects specific to their needs. Thank you again to everyone who helped make this happen.

Steering Committee, Nevada County Coalition of Firewise Communities

Keeping our promise of financial transparency, here are the:

• Final financial report - 2024 Firewise Festival.pdf
• Check register - 2024 Firewise Festival.pdf

GREENHORN FWC INSTALLS FOUR WATER TANKS FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION - 2022

The Greenhorn Firewise Community purchased and installed water tanks with 40,000 total gallons of water storage on the Greenhorn Road corridor for the sole purpose of fire suppression. The tanks are strategically located two and four miles from the intersection with Brunswick Road. Approximately 780 households will benefit from this increased dedicated water supply by reducing turnaround times for fire resources, thus greatly increasing the ability of the fire agencies to suppress fires early in their progression.  

Read this 13-page report, "Greenhorn Water Tanks Lessons Learned" for a detailed step-by-step explanation of how other Firewise Communities could follow this example. Greenhorn FWC Water Tank Committee chair Dianne Marshall gets a special shout-out for her diligence in spearheading this project and writing up the excellent documentation.

DEER CREEK SOUTHSIDE FWC CLEANUP MAKES HEADLINES - June 2022

Congrats to the volunteers who hauled about 70 cubic yards of garbage out of the Deer Creek watershed in early June 2022. Special shout-out to Lorraine Gervais, her husband Charlie Faber, and the agencies that came together to support this community action. Read the article and see the graphic photos here.

HOMEOWNERS INSTALL WATER TANK STORAGE FOR THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD - April 2022

Lauren Drutz and her husband, private homeowners in the 6B & Friends Firewise Community, spent their own money to install a pair of underground water storage tanks which provide 5,000 gallons of water to help protect their home and their entire community. Check out the specs and costs, with color photos, in this 6-slide PDF.

CALTRANS HIGHWAY ROADSIDE CLEARING - January 2021 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. As Public Input to a draft State Route 49 Safety Assessment Report, Coalition vice chair Susan Rogers wrote and sent this letter (after receiving Coalition membership approval) to Caltrans on Dec. 4, 2020, calling for an updated vision of highway safety to include evacuation safety, and asking for aggressive roadside fuel reduction across all state highways in Nevada County.

We received this Jan. 15, 2021 response from them. It sounds like they heard us and they are moving in the right direction. But as we know, it's a big bureaucracy and they have a lot on their plate. So, the more people who let them know that "speed is of the essence," the greater chance that they will apply staff and financial resources in a more timely manner. You can make your voice heard by writing to our local District 3 Director for Caltrans: Amarjeet S. Benipal, District 3 Director, Caltrans, 703 B Street, Marysville, CA 95901.

Written letters have the most impact because they demonstrate the writer's commitment to the issue. But if email is what you can do:
Email: d3pio@dot.ca.gov and ask that your email be forwarded to the Public Information Officer. Please also copy your letter to the head of Caltrans statewide (as of Aug. 2024 per the Caltrans website): Tony Tavares, Director, Caltrans, P.O. Box 942873, Sacramento, CA. 

Thank you to Susan, and thanks everyone else who will also send their letters to support this effort.
Background information specific to the SR 49 Safety Assessment Report:

Here is Caltrans' article on the project: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-3/d3-projects/d3-sr-49-safety-assessment.

Here is the entire Draft Safety Assessment Report: https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/district-3/documents/sr-49-safety-assessment-report-07-15-20_draft_a11y.pdf

Firewise Community Leader Gets BLM to Create a Permit Process

There is now a permit process to help landowners pursue clearing on adjacent land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (a federal agency). Thanks to the advocacy of Bob Long, chair of the Sherwood Forest Firewise Community, BLM (which has a large piece of land on the back side of numerous Sherwood Forest homeowners' properties) created this Defensible Space Permit Application which you can download here. Their phone number is not on the application; it's (916) 941-3101. Note that the BLM Mother Lode Field Office covers all BLM land in Nevada County.

Should BLM should do this work themselves? Sure, but they are greatly understaffed and underfunded. Contact your local Congressperson to ask for increased federal funding of BLM for fire safety.

Video - Insurance Update from the Community Forum - September 20, 2024 - "Big Changes coming from California Fair Plan"

United Policyholders, a non-profit whose mission is to be "a trustworthy and useful information resource and respected voice for consumers." Good information on buying insurance and navigating claims. Suggested to us by a Cal Fire deputy chief.

From the California Dept. of Insurance, check out these "Safer from Wildfire" Guidelines for obtaining discounts. 

Feb 2024 PDF/Powerpoint presented by Jim Mathias, Fire Safe Council, with information about available discounts on insurance now required by the state.

The March 2021 Coalition meeting was on the topic of insurance, with three speakers giving background from a state, county and local (Fire Safe Council) perspective. A 53-minute edited video of just those speakers can be viewed here.

Many local residents are facing cancellation of their homeowners insurance. Unfortunately, almost nothing can be done at the local level to help with this problem. This page provides a few resources that might help you figure out your next steps.

You may not know that all local insurance agencies, even those affiliated with the same national brand, are independently owned brokerages that have different relationships with different Surplus Line Insurers (see definition of that below). This means that if one Allstate (for example) agent can't help you, another Allstate agent might be able to. You have to make a lot of phone calls. Call around. 

List of Approved Surplus Line Insurers (LASLI) (click here) 

What does "Surplus Lines" mean? Often called the “safety valve” of the insurance industry, surplus lines insurers (which are usually non-admitted carriers, see below) fill the need for coverage in the marketplace by insuring those risks that are declined by the standard underwriting and pricing processes of admitted insurance carriers.

Admitted vs Non-Admitted Insurance Company - what does that mean? PDF

Website of the California Fair Plan - insurer of last resort. 

As of early 2021, Commissioner Lara has made progress in providing  resources relative to wildfire and insurance concerns. Here is the website page for Wildfire Response and Readiness on the California Department of Insurance website.

The following relates to Coalition activities only -- not helpful for individual residents

Insurance Questionnaire PDF For Coalition Survey

Insurance Questionnaire Word (Type directly onto document and return to Bob as attachment)

Fire Threat Areas - Map from the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC)

The Nevada County Coalition of Firewise Communities (the website where you are now) and the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County are two separate, not-related organizations. Visit our Coalition of Firewise Communities' About Us page for information about our all-volunteer organization, which has no staff, no dues and no budget.

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County is a public benefit, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with paid full-time and part-time staff and a board of directors. It was formed in 1998 and is funded by grants, memberships,  donations and fee-for-service programs.

Track chipper available from Fire Safe CouncilThe Fire Safe Council coordinates the formation of individual Firewise Communities (FWCs), and manages their certification (and re-certification) through the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA). Because the Coalition has no funding or budget, the Fire Safe Council makes its online Zoom account available for Coalition use and pays for the Coalition's website hosting and meeting space rental.

Coalition monthly meeting agendas always include a report from a representative of the Fire Safe Council, typically the executive director, the FWC coordinator, or the board chair. 

The Fire Safe Council's office has a wealth of literature from various fire agencies that will help homeowners on virtually any wild-fire related topic. They offer a chipping program, a Special Needs Assistance Program for low-income elderly and disabled, and other services. At their website, you can request a free visit from a trained, volunteer Defensible Space Advisor who will come to your property and help you learn what needs to be done to reduce risks around your home.

Visit the Fire Safe Council website. The Council's phone number is (530) 272-1122, and their address is 143 B Spring Hill Drive, Suite 13, Grass Valley, CA 95945. Check their website for office hours. Park in the spaces marked with white letters "OCS" at the edge of the lot facing Spring Hill Drive. Many spaces directly in front of their office are marked/reserved for other businesses .

PG&E Information (Western Nevada County)

CPUC Fire Threat Areas - Map on the website of the California Public Utilities Commission. Western Nevada County is in Elevated or Extreme areas.

Sign up for Alerts about when PGE will turn off power. Register for power shut off notifications here.

Manage Trees and Plants Near Powerlines

PG&E Community Wildfire Safety Program - Information on the PGE - COMMUNITY WILDFIRE SAFETY PROGRAM  - Working together to create fire defense zones around power lines.

Contact - Joanne Drummond, local PG&E representative for the Community Wildfire Safety Program

Joanne Drummond
Vegetation Program Manager, CEMA - Fuels Reduction
Joanne.Drummond@pge.com | Office (530) 889-3166 | Cell (530) 510-1064

Liberty Utilities (Truckee/Eastern County)

In August 2024, a Fire Protection Specialist with Liberty Utilities gave this excellent Powerpoint presentation of requirements for keeping trees away from power lines, when the homeowner is responsible and when the utility is responsible, and more. The final slide has contact information for submitting a Tree Inspection Request.