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Additional Resources for Firewise USA Community Leaders

1. Need help locating other Firewise communities?

  • a. The NFPA’s Firewise community map viewer can be found by scrolling down this webpage and using the search tool for the city and state you are in 
  • b. Map viewer for existing Firewise Recognized communities in Santa Cruz County

2. Would you like to connect with other Firewise leaders in your area?

3. Do you have a large community? Consider organizing into PODs (also called MicroCommunities)

  • a. This technique has been used by some larger Firewise communities to divide up the community into smaller manageable units, like “blocks” with “block captains” who report back into the steering committee. Chemeketa Park Firewise provided a nice description of their POD structure here.
  • b. Hutchinson Road and North Rodeo Gulch are two examples of Firewise communities in Santa Cruz County that use this technique.

4. Do you want to expand your Firewise USA Community’s boundaries?

  • a. Create a new community map which shows the existing and new parcels.
  • b. Update your Community Risk Assessment and Basic Information in your Firewise online portal account to show the new number of homes and residents.
  • c. Consider revising your Three Year plan if needed.
  • d. Include the new households in your data collection for you application renewal.
  • e. Plan to reach out to your CalFire representative for feedback and visibility ahead of renewal time with your proposed boundary and how it might change or impact your community assessment. You can find the contact information for your CalFire representative in the NFPA FireWise Renewal Portal.
  • f. Submit your updated application for renewal.
  • g. Note: Expansions will only be approved with Firewise Renewals, due in November and always reviewed and approved after the yearly renewal deadline.

5. Options for creating a new community map for a first time application or renewal if a map update is needed:

  • #1: How to use the mapping system from the Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience tool
  • #2: How to create a community map for your Firewise application using the County's GISWeb interface 

6. Sample Newsletter templates:

7. Evacuation planning

8. Community engagement ideas - Download a list of ideas to get you thinking.

9. Signage

10. Committee Member and Volunteer Roles: Download a sample template.

11. Download a monthly planning template