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Please use this form to report all information on fire risk abatement activity on your property. The data will go to the coordinator of the Bayside Acres Firewise Committee to be accumulated with reports from all other Bayside Acres properties and submitted to Firewise USA for certification of Bayside Acres as a Firewise Neighborhood. To ensure privacy, the database is only accessible to the Firewise Committee Chair and, in modified form, to Firewise USA.
All qualifying activity since January 1, 2021 qualifies for Firewise certification. Here are some examples of information to be reported:
Hardening your house: You “harden your house” when you make it less susceptible to wind-blown embers. If you reduce the number of ways that embers can penetrate the exterior of your house, you reduce the probability that your house will catch fire.
You know you’ve hardened your home against windblown embers when you’ve had… (click to expand)
- your roof repaired or replaced with Class A fire-resistant material,
- your siding repaired or replaced with rated fire-resistant material,
- gaps in siding and trim caulked and sealed,
- gaps around garage doors covered with trim,
- plastic skylights replaced with double-pane glass skylights,
- single-pane windows replaced with double-pane windows,
- an approved spark arrester installed on you chimney,
- ember-resistant screens installed in roof, soffit, or foundation vents,
- the gutters on your house cleaned,
- leaves and debris removed from your roof,
- remove (or replace) five feet of wood fence touching the house with non-combustible material,
- combustible material removed from open areas below decks,
- non-combustible skirting applied around the base of raised decks,
- combustible wood or wicker patio furniture replaced with steel or aluminum furniture,
- jute outside doormats replaced with non-combustible doormats.
Clearing defensible space: You “clear defensive space” when you remove anything in your yard that could ignite if blown embers fell on it. The idea is to remove any source of fire that could spread to your house.
You know you’ve cleared defensible space when you’ve had… (click to expand)
- a tree service do work,
- a tree rimmed or removed,
- the canopy raised on one or more trees,
- a hedge pruned or removed,
- shrubs or brush removed,
- fire-prone shrubs replaced with fire-safe shrubs,
- fallen leaves and branches removed,
- wood-chip mulch replaced with non-combustible mulch,
- a woodpile or scrap pile relocated as far from the house as possible.
Neighborhood Outreach: You participate in “neighborhood outreach” when you actively spend time on efforts to educate and support your neighbors in understanding Firewise actions and encouraging wildfire mitigation and emergency response education.
You know you’ve engaged in neighborhood outreach when you have… (click to expand)
- used your chain saw to do work for a neighbor who doesn’t have one,
- used your circular saw, drill, of Sawzall to help a neighbor who lacks the necessary tools or skills to harden the home,
- reached out to help a neighbor sign up for Alert Marin,
- arranged to check in with a neighbor in the event of any emergency,
- joined other neighbors in working on wildfire risk mitigation in common areas, e.g.: clearing brush from the banks of the Beach Drive wetlands,
- joined other neighbors in a day of pulling French broom from the margins of the Bayview Fire Road (those days are sponsored by he Point San Pedro Road Coalition),
- otherwise spent time or money supporting Firewise work that’s not on your own property.