June 19, 2026
Napa, CA— On the morning of June 17, nine people showed up in Soda Canyon with hand tools, work gloves, and a simple idea: when it comes to wildfire, neighbors are only as safe as one another. For four hours, staff from the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation (Napa Firewise) — from project leads to the organization’s CEO — traded their desks for a brush-filled hillside, helping a longtime landowner clear approximately one acre of dense French broom and ladder fuels through the foundation’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program.
The result was more than a cleared property. It was a meaningful reduction in wildfire risk for an entire block of homes.
A familiar story in Napa
The landowner is a Napa native whose mother bought the Soda Canyon property in 1974, back when horses, emu, and cattle grazed the land freely. Like so many longtime landowners across Napa County, she has found the property increasingly difficult to manage as the cost of land management climbs and physical limitations grow.
It is a familiar story here. Across the county, land has passed down through generations to family members who — for reasons of cost, age, health, or even interest — simply cannot keep up with the work the landscape demands. And Napa Firewise hears it again and again from the community: unmanaged and vacant lots are a shared concern, because wildfire doesn’t respect property lines.
A community effort
The June 17 effort was carried out in partnership with Environmental Resource Services, owned by Juan Soria, and supported by the County of Napa. As the crew cut and piled, the Napa County Chipping Program followed close behind, chipping limbs, dead and down debris, and other woody material on site. This is a free community resource for people living in the unincorporated areas of Napa County. The French broom and remaining brush were consolidated into piles for future pile burning during the legal burn season. “This is what neighbors do for one another. Together we helped a member of our community hold on to land her family has loved for fifty years, and we made an entire block safer in the process,” said Joseph Nordlinger, CEO, Napa Firewise.
Why those brush piles aren’t a fire-season hazard
With peak fire season here, isn’t a pile of dry brush a risk? The short answer is no — and understanding why is good wildfire literacy. French broom is a fast-spreading, highly flammable invasive that grows in dense, continuous thickets and forms “ladder fuels” — these types of fuels let a ground fire climb into tree canopies and jump from property to property. By cutting that continuous fuel bed and consolidating it into a few defined piles in cleared, defensible spots, the crew broke the very connection that allows fire to spread. As a result, the property is safer, before a single pile is even lit.
CAL FIRE LNU suspends residential burn permits during peak fire season, the piles will sit and cure until the wet season — typically late fall — when permits resume and burning is only allowed on designated permissive burn days, when humidity is high, conditions are damp, and fire danger is low.
What happens next?
It isn’t sustainable for Napa Firewise to maintain private properties year after year. The goal of Neighbors Helping Neighbors is to help residents who face real barriers get started — and then support them in taking the work forward themselves. (French broom, in particular, regenerates aggressively from its seed bank, which makes that follow-up essential.)
Conversations with the landowner are already underway about impactful, cost-efficient long-term options, including grazing collaboratives, safe herbicide application, and prescribed fire.
A reminder to residents as peak fire season arrives: it only takes one spark
This project lands at a critical moment. With burn permits now suspended and conditions drying out across the region, Napa Firewise urges anyone doing work on or around their home to take extra precautions:
- Work in the cool of the morning. Afternoon heat combined with low relative humidity is one of the most dangerous windows for any activity that can throw a spark. Aim to finish before the heat of the day, and never work on hot, dry, windy afternoons.
- Respect motorized equipment. Weed whackers, mowers, chainsaws, and grinders can all ignite dry grass — a metal blade striking a rock is all it takes. Use plastic string instead of metal blades near rocks, and keep equipment well maintained.
- Be ready. Keep water, a shovel, and a fire extinguisher within reach. Clear flammable material from your work area and check the day’s weather and any Red Flag Warnings before you start.
- If it’s too hot, too dry, or too windy — stop. The work can wait. A wildfire can’t be undone.
How you can help your neighbors
Launched in 2025, Neighbors Helping Neighbors invites residents to request support for their own property, to nominate a neighbor who may need a hand, and to volunteer toward a growing community of hands-on, neighbor-to-neighbor support.
The premise is simple: you are only as safe as your neighbors. True community resilience comes not from pointing fingers, but from extending a hand and asking, “How can I help?” Maybe that’s a few hours over a few weekends pulling weeds or limbing up trees. Maybe it’s chipping in on a collaborative program that benefits the whole neighborhood. Or maybe it’s simply helping a neighbor find the resources to get the work done.
Residents can apply for help, nominate a neighbor, or sign up to volunteer at napafirewise.org/neighbors-helping-neighbors.
About Napa Communities Firewise Foundation
The Napa Communities Firewise Foundation (Napa Firewise) is a countywide nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to strengthening wildfire resilience across Napa County through land stewardship, strategic fuel management, and community preparedness. Napa Firewise works with residents, landowners, fire agencies, and partners to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest and ecosystem health, and support fire-adapted communities. Learn more at https://napafirewise.org.
Media Contact:
Stephanie Smithers
Communications & Development Manager, Napa Communities Firewise Foundation
stephanie@napafirewise.org | 909-786-9208