Team up with your neighbors and City to reduce wildfire risk

Berkeley residents, especially those in the hills, can team up with neighbors and experts in the Fire Department to reduce wildfire risk—which could create a path to lower insurance rates. 

It will take a couple of steps:  

• Get at least eight separate neighborhood households, in apartments, condominiums, or homes, to participate
• Have each household reduce wildfire-risk each year with tasks like trimming trees and cutting back brush around structures 

Berkeley Fire’s wildfire experts will help your group by:  

• Identifying the high-risk areas around homes where wildfire most easily spreads
• Collaborating with you on wildfire risk reduction projects
• Supporting you in organization and planning for annual events like vegetation cleanups or dump days

This collective work to reduce brush, thin trees, and more can help slow wildfire. When these efforts are coordinated across a neighborhood, they can break up wildfire pathways. 

Neighbors who complete this set of wildfire preparedness activities can earn official recognition from the National Fire Protection Association as a Firewise USA® designated community. This shows that the neighborhood has worked together to lower wildfire risk. It may also help certain residents get up to a 10% discount on home insurance. 

Berkeley Fire is here to help your neighborhood. Get started by contacting us: 

Bring neighbors together to reduce wildfire risk 

It only takes eight separate single-family homes to make a “Firewise community.” This can include multiple units in apartment complexes, condos, townhomes, or homeowners associations.  

All houses in a Firewise community do not have to be next to each other. Not all households in the area need to participate. 

In Berkeley, we have 21 Firewise USA Sites® recognized neighborhoods in and around the North Berkeley hills. The largest Firewise community has 278 dwellings bordering Wildcat Canyon Road. Our newest Firewise community has 161 dwellings across most of Keith Avenue, east of Euclid Avenue.  

Becoming Firewise may reduce home insurance costs 

Some property insurance companies offer discounts to homeowners who have taken action to reduce wildfire risk, such as joining a Firewise USA® community.

Your neighborhood can commit to becoming Firewise. Contact the Wildland Urban Interface Division for guidance on the steps, paperwork, wildfire preparedness activities, and successfully completing the process through the National Fire Protection Association, which can take a few months or longer.

Your group will need to complete the Firewise process by creating annual action plan. This plan will need to include fire safety events that help with neighborhood, vegetation, or roadway cleanup, and wildfire education.

In addition, each household in your Firewise community will also need to: 

• Show proof of the funds spent toward reducing fire fuels on their property
• Volunteer one hour per residence toward wildfire risk-reduction actions 

Individual actions lead to a Firewise neighborhood   

Some actions already taken by residents can play an important role in becoming a Firewise neighborhood: 

• Trimming trees and cutting back brush around structures 
• Using drought-resistant plants like succulents 
• Choosing fire-resistant building materials like dual-pane windows and adding metal mesh to cover vents, decks, and gutters 

Contact the Berkeley Fire Department’s Wildland Urban Interface Division by calling (510) 981-5620 or sending an email to wildfire@berkeleyca.gov to get started.

Learn how to become a Firewise neighborhood

• Create a Firewise communities (CAL FIRE)
• Get more info about the Firewise USA® program (National Fire Protection Association) 
• Safer from Wildfires: Steps to save on home insurance (California Department of Insurance)
• Protect and prepare your property for wildfire
• Understand your risk in the hills
• Use drought resistant plants 
• Ways to protect your home (FireSafe Berkeley)