Sutter County, CA

A fire safe council is a coalition of public and private sector organizations that share a common, vested interest in wildfire prevention and loss mitigation. Fire safe councils accomplish this objective through education programs and projects such as hazardous fuel reduction efforts and homeowner training. The first fire safe councils started in the early 1990s, and there are now over 100 around the state.

Local fire safe councils usually include representatives from:

• Fire agencies, including CAL FIRE, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and/or local fire protection districts as appropriate
• Local governments, such as city and/or county
• Businesses, especially insurance
• Other agencies, such as Resource Conservation Districts
• The public

The fire agency and local government representatives may be members of the FSC, or may serve in an advisory capacity, depending on local needs.

All local fire safe councils are independent entities. Some are organized as non-profit and/or tax-exempt corporations; others operate under a memorandum of understanding with a county, city, and/or local fire protection district; some have no formal structure at all.

Fire safe councils vary in focus. Some are county-wide, while others comprise only the Homeowner's Association in a subdivision, to all sizes in between. There are also several regional associations of fire safe councils.

Some fire safe councils have paid staff, such as an Executive Director, and may have grant funding for fuel reduction projects. Regardless of council focus and scale, all fire safe councils rely heavily on volunteers for much of their work.

It's not just the homes that back up to open space that are in danger from wildfire. The term "wildfire" and "wildland" fire can be misleading when it comes to the chance that you home could be ignited by a fire that starts outside on brush, grass, or woods.

Wildfires can generate massive amounts of embers that are wind-carried for up to several miles. Upon landing, these embers may ignite the local fuel and start a new fire. Such a fire is called a spot fire, and the process is called spotting.  There are plenty of examples of entire neighborhoods being wiped out due to spotting. This is why hardening your home and keeping your gutters and roof clear of flammable debris is so important.

With the right conditions – a dry, hot, windy day – and an ignition source – a sparks from a vehicle, machinery, or a carelessly tossed cigarette – your home could be in a fire's path faster than you might imagine.

Assuming you are adequately insured, most homeowner policies do typically cover property losses caused by brush, grass, or forest fire. However, many policies do not cover home landscaping and plants that could be destroyed in a wildland fire. And no policy can replace personal items such as photographs, artwork, and other memorabilia.

Typically, individual home improvement efforts by homeowners are not reflected in discounts to their policy premiums. Most insurance rates are set using other factors, including community fire protection resources, such as the presence of fire hydrants. In addition, fire protection is only one small piece of the insurance policy, so discounts for fire protection would be fairly small if they are available.

In areas where wildfires have caused damage, you may find that your insurance company is conducting on-site inspections to recommend wildfire safety actions. Companies that incur larger losses from wildfire may be less likely to continue to offer insurance in areas that they consider high-risk.

In a press release dated October 17, 2022, Commissioner Ricardo Lara of the California Department of Insurance (CDI), enforced the nation's first wildfire safety regulation, directing insurance companies to reward consumers from being Safer from Wildfires. The insurance companies were required to submit new rate filings reflecting these rewards. The new filings are currently being reviewed by the CDI.

Click here for a list of insurers that are offering discounts for both community efforts such as Firewise USA, and individual efforts to improve the structure and defensible space around your home.