Each Fall, Firewise Communities must renew their status by submitting data on the mitigation activities that have been completed during the current year. Firewise USA, our national organization, needs to know how much time and money we have contributed to reducing wildfire risk both for our own properties and for the HOA’s community property. Thanks to Lyle Innocent, our community property efforts have already been reported and they are awesome!
We need your information for this renewal process and – possibly – for demonstrating to insurance companies that our community has taken significant efforts to reduce the risk for the companies themselves! Less risk àless loss àlower premiums and fewer cancellations.
Here ‘s what you need to do before the reporting deadlines of November 3 (Digital) and November 17 (Hard Copy):
FIRST – Collect the Information Shown on The Attached Work Sheet:
HOURS WORKED – Guess-timate the amount of time you have spent this year hardening your home (EX: installing 1/8th inch vents, removing flammable materials from near your house) and reducing vegetation (EX: trimming ladder fuels beneath trees, removing plants and mulch to create your Zone Zero). No actual documentation is required. Diane Means will take care of the time you’ve put into your wildfire risk assessment and your attendance at the Firewise monthly meetings.
MONEY SPENT – Take a half hour to go through your records and jot down any money you have spent (EX: hiring contractors to remove trees, removing debris, landscaping, buying rocks to replace mulch in Zone Zero, purchasing or renting equipment such as power saws and hand tools). No actual documentation is required.
Check out the second attached file to see ideas for more time and expense examples.
NEXT – Share the Information Using One of Two Strategies:
- Go Digital – use the Placer County online Volunteer Reporting Tool (Deadline-11/3).
The survey tool is run through ArcGIS Survey123. To access the tool, click on this link: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/bd81f9c644bf4508a6fbb92640967d2c?portalUrl=https://UCANR.maps.arcgis.com. This survey can be completed on your computer, smartphone, or tablet – you just need access to the Internet. You do not need to create an ESRI account. Just click “Continue without signing in” to access the survey. The survey will take about 5 minutes to complete and consists of mandatory and optional questions. To watch a tutorial about how to use the tool, click on this link: https://youtu.be/iuLhTaCUy9k. Call Diane Means at 650-245-1274 if you have questions.
-or-
- Download and complete the attached Volunteer Work Sheet, scan it if you can, and send it to Diane Means so she and her non-existent staff (!) can enter the data (Deadline-11/17). If you can’t scan, send an email or text to Diane with the numbers from the sheet. She can even come by to pick up the sheet. You can reach Diane at 650-245-1274 or diane.means@icloud.com.
Please help us brag about the outstanding work you have already done to make our Hidden Valley community a safer place for all of us!