FLASH: Humboldt County Residents Taking Action to Increase Community Wildfire Safety
Neighborhoods throughout Humboldt County are taking advantage of the Fire-Adapted Landscapes & Safe Homes Program, better known as “FLASH”, including communities along the Klamath River.
FLASH Unit: BEFORE fire-safing work.
FLASH Unit: AFTER fire-safing work.
FLASH is a County-wide cost share program that some of our communities have been able to participate in since 2010. Currently funded by a CAL FIRE grant through the County, it is designed to assist and incentivize property owners with reducing their risk to wildfire by thinning flammable vegetation around their homes and along key access routes. Priority is given to adjacent landowners so that the effect benefits more than one property. Participation of entire neighborhoods is ideal, where neighbors work together connecting pockets of space to create a larger defensible landscape and safer access and egress during a wildfire emergency.
In one Orleans neighborhood, 80% of the neighbors signed on to participate in FLASH. One neighbor corralled a trip of goats into a thick area, and the whole neighborhood delighted in their efficient noshing of tender blackberry shoots, grape vines, and poison oak. Adjacent homes joined fire-safing forces, with someone working the chainsaw while others piled brush. Some piles were fortuitously completed during a lovely burn window and promptly set ablaze.
FLASH Unit: BEFORE fire-safing work.
FLASH Unit: AFTER fire-safing work.
As many can attest, fire-safing is physical and time-consuming work that is not always possible for all our community members. This was the case for the 20% of the neighborhood who didn’t sign up for FLASH. Instead, they requested free assistance from the MKWC Brushing Crew to help reduce hazardous fuels around the home. This allowed every property to participate in projects to increase the safety of the neighborhood.
The FLASH program provides an opportunity for individual neighborhoods to connect around a common goal, discuss hazards and concerns, check in with each other about fire-safing needs, and communicate a plan. When we all know that wildfire doesn’t care where one property line ends and another begins, neighborhood-wide fire-safing action is one of our best tools to protect our communities.
FLASH Unit: BEFORE fire-safing work.
FLASH Unit: AFTER fire-safing work.
Do you need assistance with making your home and property fire-safe? Please fill out a Request for Assistance Form.
Already doing work on your property? Please tell us about it.
Interested in learning more about the FLASH Program? Contact Nancy Bailey at nancy@mkwc.org or call 530-627-3202.
“Some things happen because we make them happen.”