The Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council launched a new website to help residents understand their property’s risk from wildfire. The new www.sbfiresafecouncil.org online platform provides Santa Barbara County residents with a host of resources including tools to reduce individual wildfire risks such as Community Wildfire Protection Plans and the FireWise USA and Ready! Set! Go! Programs. The site also provides access to published papers on topics such as Fire History of Santa Barbara County, Weather and Fire Environment, and Risk Management; and includes current information on wildfires burning across California.
Typically, the Fire Safe Council meets every month at the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management in Goleta. These meetings are open to the public and include presentations from local experts on topics such as fire ecology, fire behavior, vegetation management, habitat restoration, infrastructure improvement, weather services, and emergency planning. The presentations are recorded and made available for viewing on the new website. Due to the current limitation on public gatherings, the Fire Safe Council will be hosting their meetings online for the foreseeable future. The monthly meetings as well as the website offer opportunities for community members to become part of the solution to the challenges fire poses to our wildland urban interface areas.
According to Santa Barbara County Fire Chief, Mark Hartwig: “The Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council has been an invaluable partner with all fire agencies in the county helping to promote wildfire safety for our communities. They have done this through a very effective public education campaign now highlighted in their new website. They have engaged in numerous grant-funded projects that have helped support wildfire mitigation including the development of Community Wildfire Protection Plans for the at-risk communities in Santa Barbara County.”
Please visit www.sbfiresafecouncil.org to learn more about your local Fire Safe Council and become informed on how to prepare your property, home, and families for wildland fires.
Pictured: screenshot of website