Impact of last year’s Glass Fire has prompted the new organization
St. Helena, Calif.—The Spring Mountain Fire Safe Council (SMFSC) has been established. “The impact of last year’s Glass Fire prompted us to get ready for the next fire: to get the neighbors together, to do what we can to create a more resilient and fire-safe forest, to protect our homes and provide a resource for education and communication within the Spring Mountain community. We also hope to secure funding for vegetation management and other fire-safe projects,” founders Pam Bergman and Shari Gardner explain.
“We have set up this group on a parallel track to the 12 other Fire Safe Councils in Napa County, under the umbrella of the non-profit Napa Communities Firewise Foundation,” they add. Individual Fire Safe councils have been conceived to be more manageable units when facing the threat of fire. “The new Council means we can reach out to our immediate neighbors,” they note. The contours of the new Spring Mountain Fire Safe Council extend beyond the Spring Mountain District AVA borders. “The Fire Safe Councils are arranged by community, and also somewhat by how fire is anticipated to travel,” Gardner and Bergman explain.
Bergman and Gardner share the rationale from the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation website: “Our FSCs are working hard to educate homeowners about Fire Safe activities while working with local fire officials to design and implement projects that increase the wildfire survivability of their communities. Many of our Fire Safe Councils have successfully implemented such projects as hazardous fuel reduction projects, community wildfire protection planning, and homeowner training.”
As a first step in homeowner education, the new group is alerting people to a new online interactive map which Napa County has developed. This evacuation map divides Napa County into more than 250 numbered zones that will be targeted for alerts about wildfires and other threats to life or property. This system worked well in the Sonoma County area during the last fire, and the Napa County Sheriff’s Office has brought this functionality to Napa County. “We suggest people take a look at this map and learn their own zone number, so they’ll know what alerts to listen to if we move into a fire situation,” Bergman and Gardner explain.
The new SMFSC is working with a registered forester who is developing a Risk Assessment for the Spring Mountain area. The Risk Assessment is the first step toward determining the most pressing fire safety issues for the community and is required to be eligible for grant funding. The group is seeking contributions to pay for the Risk Assessment: donations are tax deductible, and the Bergman family will be matching donations up to $6,000.
Donations can be sent to Napa Communities Firewise Foundation (P.O.B. 440B, St. Helena CA 94574). Checks should be made out to NCFF with SMFSC in the memo line, to ensure that the funds go to the Spring Mountain Fire Safe Council’s programs. Another option: donate online at https://napafirewise.org/donate/. Any funds collected above the cost of the Risk Assessment will go toward implementing fire safety projects for the Spring Mountain region.
The Council has gathered a number of online links with detailed recommendations for fire-safe plant and landscaping:
Napa County Fire Wise fire resistant landscaping
Deer & fire resistant plant list
CalFire fire resistant landscaping
Sunset Magazine list of fire resistant plants