Living with Wildfire Program for Homeowners’ Associations

Business and Ecology Consulting has developed the Living with Wildfire Program for Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs), FireSafe Councils (FSCs) property managers, apartment owners, and homeowners to enhance their awareness, assessment, and action planning for reducing wildfire property risks.  This program includes:

• Meeting to identify local needs and marketing tools to maximize participation
• Living with Wildfire class, focuses on “how houses ignite," attributes of ignition-resistant structures and “fire wise” landscaping, low-cost maintenance and retrofits to reduce property risks, and community action. 
• Homesite Wildfire Risk Assessment class at two homesites, with fire behavior specialist and landscape architect who inspect and assess the structures and landscaping elements for wildfire property risks, and suggest retrofit and maintenance actions. 
• Online Wildfire Risk Assessment Tool, completed by each homeowner to identify risks and compiled to provide community-level assessment, followed by suggested retrofit and maintenance actions reduce those risks.  This tool is currently offered on the website, http://www.communitygreenscene.org/pgs/, and is based on the research conducted at the University of California at Berkeley.  Those without computer access are given a printed form and mail their completed assessments to the project team for data entry. 
• Meeting to review individual and community-level assessments, identify solutions and write personalized and HOA and FSC action plans. 

Read about Rancho Bernardo’s successful Living with Wildfire Program for HOAs in 2008!

Consider the benefits to HOA and FSC boards, property management companies, and apartment owners!

• Get team of experts to advise Board on wildfire risks of properties
• Evaluate options for retrofit, maintenance, and public safety projects
• Upgrade housing to make condos and homes more saleable, visually appealing, and safe
• Make landscape changes that reduce wildfire property risks and also require less pruning and irrigation (lower costs!)
• Get homeowner support to invest in retrofit, maintenance, and public safety projects with HOA funds
• Work together with homeowners to enhance community spirit and involvement