photo credit: courtesy of SoCoAdapts.org
SoCoAdapts.org provides a Wildfire Adapted program map intended to reduce the risk of wildfire.

As temperatures rise, fire agencies are asking residents to do their part when it comes to preventing wildfire. A new online resource is making it easier to access crucial information and funding. 

Parts of Sonoma County are seeing triple digit temps this week, and CAL FIRE Deputy Director Nick Schuler has this message:

“CAL FIRE remains fully staffed and prepared across the state as we anticipate increased temperatures. Our dedicated team is committed to safeguarding communities and minimizing the risk of wildfires,” said Schuler.

Preparations are happening across the state, including some innovative solutions.

Kim Batchelder is Vegetation Management Coordinator for Sonoma County Ag + Open Space. He explains the purpose of the new SonomaCountyResilient.org website.

“We wanted to try to create like a choose your own path type of experience, where they have a little menu, drop-down menu where they can access different information to be able to provide them with a list of websites, however it’s gonna be organized in ways that are more appropriate for their search,” said Batchelder.

The site is part of the Resilient Forests & Watershed Initiative, which builds on a grant program launched in 2021 by Sonoma County's board of supervisors with funding from the PG&E 2017 wildfire settlement.

Whether you're a landowner with 10 acres or a government agency, the site guides you to specific information on funding opportunities, wildfire risk reduction, and more. Batchelder says it has been tested by various partners.

“We have a really interesting group called the Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group, and they are a lot of the resources and organizations, landowners who participate in a monthly meeting to discuss how do we make forests more healthy,” Batchelder said.

Resource Conservation Districts and the UC Cooperative Extension have also tested the website.

Batchelder says development costs of the site were approximately $5,000 to $10,000, under a contract with TOPO Collective. He says the project is expanding wildfire prevention beyond the responsibility of the individual.

“I think what has been really instrumental has been the amount of collaboration that we've had through all these different organizations, through the Gold Ridge and Sonoma Resource Conservation Districts, to Fire Forward, Fire Safe Sonoma,” said Batchelder. “These landscape-scale types of treatments have been really instrumental to bring landowners together and how can they do something at the scale of the community instead of just as individual landowners.”

Batchelder also says that future projects should include the ability to work across borders into neighboring counties.

“I work for the County of Sonoma, but it's just as important to be able to work with Napa Fire Wise, or in the south Marin Wildfire Protection Authority, and then in the north along our Mendocino boundary,” said Batchelder. “Those are typically where the fires are coming from - from the Northeast and during those dry hot days in the summer, and during the fall.”

The site is now live at SonomaCountyResilient.org for wildfire preparedness, grants, and other resources.

Sonoma County is also partnering with local fire districts to help residents prepare for wildfire season. They are offering free online workshops throughout August and September. Dan Russo is a Defensible Space Inspector with the Rancho Adobe Fire District.

“We're going to try and explain to the communities that are involved on what the best type of products they can use that would be ignition resistant and which would be the most safe against fire,” Russo said. “We're also going to be talking about what you can do to protect and change your landscape to make it more resilient to wildfire.”

The workshops will focus on specific areas, including Larkfield-Wikiup, the Lower Russian River/Guerneville, and Penngrove/Sonoma Mountain. Residents in these areas may also qualify for a free wildfire risk assessment. While the assessments are limited to these areas, the workshops are open to all Sonoma County residents.

Spanish-speaking staff will be available during the webinars, and a Spanish-language recording will be posted online in September.

For more information and to register, visit SoCoAdapts.org

When asked about predictions for the rest of this year’s fire season, Russo had this to say:

“This summer has been unseasonably cool. And from my experience in the fire service going back to 1999, I anticipate the rest of the summer is going to be hotter and dryer since we have had a cool summer. That's generally how it's worked with the weather patterns,” said Russo.