Firewise: Big Bear Lake - Firewise Community recognition

Due to its efforts in reducing the vulnerability of homes and landscapes to wildfire, Big Bear Lake has earned Firewise Communities/USA® recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program.

“Achieving Firewise recognition is not a quick or easy process. Big Bear Lake has done an outstanding job of creating a local Firewise team and implementing Firewise principles,”

Big Bear Lake is only the second incorporated City and the tenth community in the State of California to be recognized with the Firewise distinction. They join many other communities nationwide that have been recognized since the program’s inception in 2002. Big Bear Lake Fire Protection District Board Chairman Michael Karp stated, “We are ecstatic to be given this designation. Many organizations have partnered together on programs and projects that earned us this honor. We hope that our neighboring mountain communities will follow suit and implement similar programs.”

Whole story at: Bearvalleynews.com

Firewise recognition - “Achieving Firewise recognition is not a quick or easy process. Big Bear Lake has done an outstanding job of creating a local Firewise team and implementing Firewise principles,” said Jim Smalley, manager of the Firewise Communities program. “By preparing homes, structures, and landscapes before a wildfire occurs, Big Bear Lake has dramatically increased the chance that homes and structures will be protected when a wildfire occurs.”

Working through the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), state forestry agencies support the Firewise Communities/USA recognition effort. The program is a nationwide initiative that recognizes communities for taking action to protect people and properties from the risk of fire in the wildland/urban interface. This program is of special interest to small communities and neighborhood associations that are willing to mitigate against wildfire by adopting and implementing programs tailored to their needs. The communities create the programs themselves with cooperative assistance from state forestry agencies and local fire department staff and fire safe councils.

Fire-prone communities can work with local professionals to earn Firewise Communities/USA status by meeting the following criteria:

• Enlist a wildland/urban interface specialist to complete a community assessment and create a plan that identifies agreed-upon achievable solutions to be implemented by the community.

• Sponsor a local Firewise Task Force Committee, Commission or Department, which maintains the Firewise Communities/USA program and tracks its progress or status.

• Observe a Firewise Communities/USA Day annually, dedicated to a local Firewise project.

• Invest a minimum of $2.00 per capita annually in local Firewise projects. (Work by municipal employees or volunteers using municipal and other equipment can be included, as can state/federal grants dedicated to that purpose.)

• Submit an annual report to Firewise Communities/USA that documents continuing compliance with the program.

Communities interested in earning recognition may visit www.firewise.org/usa for more information.