DFSC Celebrates 25 years! 🎂🎉

Hey!

Have you registered for our Stakeholder event on Thursday? Register Now.

We value your input in the planning process for our Regional Prioritization Plan. Attend online or at the beautiful Temescal Beach House, we’d love to see you there. 

We have 3 spots available for our Special Needs Assistance Program and want to share a success story of helping a homeowner turn around 13 fire inspection citations in Orinda.

Home Hardening tip: Clear your gutters to help prevent ignition by embers.

Orinda resident shows her notice of her 13 fire-related citations in July.

After receiving 13 citations from a surprise fire inspection, this senior homeowner in Orinda was upset. Citations were $100 each and due within a month if the work was not remediated. Overwhelmed and on a fixed income she reached out to Diablo Firesafe Council for help. 

Her case was expedited after approval from her Fire District and she became a recipient of a grant from DFSC Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP). The program waives the cost-share match and offers up to $5,000 of assistance to help low-income and/or disabled residents hire a contractor to reduce fuel loads and create defensible space on their property. 

“I don’t know what I would have done without her, she is great,” says Orinda resident while smiling and pointing to Joelle Fraser, DFSC’s cost-share program coordinator who helped shepherd this project. “It’s all been done by phone,” the resident says referring to her landline and limited Internet access.

Joelle points to pine needles and debris gathered near the house foundation, on the roof and in the gutters.

The citations ranged from clearing the roof of all debris to trimming trees so there is a 6 foot clearance from branches to the ground. These were all beyond the owner’s physical ability and budget. With DFSC’s help, the Orinda resident found a trusted contractor and paid them to remove the debris. All 13 citations have been absolved and citation fees removed, saving her $1300 in fines, increasing the property value of her home and improving her defensible space for her and surrounding neighbors.

“I am very grateful”, says the resident. 

Do you know someone in Contra Costa or Alameda County who could benefit from the DFSC Special Needs Assistance Program? We have one spot left for Contra Costa County and two left for Alameda County this year. The program is funded by Cal Fire.

Please reach out to Joelle Fraser at joelle@diablofiresafe.org

Register today to be a part of this important planning meeting at Temescal Beach house this Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 3 PM to 4 PM. 

Our goals are to:

1. prioritize a portfolio of high- and medium-priority projects in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, 
2. identify potential funding for identified projects, and 
3. increase connections among stakeholders in the two counties.

Agenda

• Lightning introductions
• Overview of current RPP, created in 2022
• Other plans we should review in our process?
• Other stakeholders to include
• Project ideas - submit your ideas
• Process for virtual plan draft development
• Next steps

If you have questions email holly@diablofiresafe.org

Clear your rain gutters of leaves and needles that embers can easily ignite and expose your roof to flames. 

Use only noncombustible metal gutter materials. Vinyl plastic gutters are not recommended as it can melt and cause ignition at the base of your home. 

Gutter covers still require maintenance. While they decrease debris build-up, small fuels can still collect on top of the cover and inside, so make sure to clear frequently. Covers can also become dislodged.

Furthermore, get to the source of the gutter debris. Remove tree branches hanging over your roof within 10 feet.

A vinyl gutter melts in a test lab from the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety. Read more about gutter vulnerabilities at UCANR.

Did you know DFSC conducts public education about home hardening including information on gutters?

Reach out directly to Sheryl Drinkwater to schedule a free program called Five Easy Actions with your Firewise group

sheryl.drinkwater@diablofiresafe.org

PO Box 18616, Oakland, 94619 | holly@diablofiresafe.org