Wildcat Firewise Community

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JOIN OUR RESILIENCE TEAMS!

Quarterly Zoom Meetings for Wildcat Firewise

Provide quarterly Zoom educational meetings with expert presentations and time for community discussion and brainstorming.

Topics may include home hardening, fuel reduction and safe landscaping, insurance discounts and cancellation, etc.

** SIMULATED WALKING EVACUATION DRILL & RED FLAG DAY—Saturday September 9, 2023: 9:00 to 11:00 AM (More details will be presented via email and at the August 20th meeting and on our web page).

Get your steps and improve our safety! Not an official evacuation drill but a chance to walk our neighborhood with our neighbors and fire officials and visually analyze our evacuation options for fire, earthquake or other disasters as well as considering other safety issues—not to mention a chance to socialize.

**WE ARE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY EXIT ROUTES. We will be asking residents, especially those living on the east side of all our streets if they have a gate or opening behind their home that could be used in an extreme emergency if our roads are blocked. A few homeowners have already volunteered and offered use of emergency gates or paths that would allow alternate escape routes. These additional emergency exits would ONLY be used during an actual fire or earthquake and would not be provided to the public—only to nearby residents. For more information or to volunteer a gate or exit west to a lower street, to the UUCB church or east to Wildcat Regional Park--contact:

alansiegelphd@gmail.com⁠

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MORE DETAILS BELOW ON THE 2 UPCOMING EVENTS

WILDCAT FIREWISE QUARTERLY ZOOM MEETINGS 8-20-2023

ZOOM UPDATE ON OUR NEW WILDCAT FIREWISE COMMUNITY WITH A FOCUS ON HOME HARDENING & EMERGENCY PREP AUGUST 20th FROM 7-8:30 PM -A zoom link will be sent in advance. BECOME A RESILIENCE INFLUENCER!!

1) UPDATE ON WILDCAT FIREWISE: A) We will briefly review strategies to prevent our homes and neighborhood from burning in a fire or earthquake event. B) We will provide links to a few crucial, easy to install, and moderately priced options for home hardening. These links are already on the Wildcat Firewise website with articles and videos that address these issues. C) Also, if, when, and how, the county or Kensington and El Cerrito will enforce fuel reduction in the 0-5 foot or the 5-30 zone around our houses and in the first few feet from the curb. Excellent links to videos on home hardening, fuel reduction, disaster prep.

Many valuable links: ***

YOUR WILDFIRE PREP PLAN: PUT IN YOUR ADDRESS FOR A PERSONALIZED PLAN:

CAL FIRE Ready for Wildfire App⁠

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Resource Guide 3 Home Hardening and Defensible Space Resources for Residents.pdf (ca.gov)⁠

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Homeowners-Checklist.pdf (readyforwildfire.org)⁠

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CAL FIRE Ready for Wildfire App⁠

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*** REDUCING VULNERABILITY TO WILDFIRE:

Reducing the Vulnerability of Buildings to Wildfire: Vegetation and Landscaping Guidance _UC ANR publication 8695⁠

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2) FUND RAISING: We will very briefly discuss fund-raising strategies including residents’ contributions and grants. We currently have zero funding! Alan Siegel has applied for matching grants from the Diablo Firesafe Council and is seeking funding via Contra Costa Measure X and other sources. We will also be asking our members for donations of money, equipment, and time. CAN YOU HELP WITH FUNDRAISING, GRANT WRITING, OR DONATE $, TIME OR EQUIPMENT?

3) REPORTING HOURS & EXPENSES FOR HOME HARDENING AND FUEL REDUCTION: We will briefly explain how residents of Wildcat Firewise must report their donated labor, monetary or in-kind contributions (like donation of tools or wheelbarrow, money spent on clearly brush or ANY other fire prevention hours of labor or expenses, etc.). This tally is crucial and should take about 5 minutes a month for each household and you will be sent a very simple automated form to remind you each month. Keep in mind that even tasks such as reducing foliage around your home, cleaning or replacing gutters, improving home hardening, etc. …count as in-kind donations that will make your home and our neighborhood safe but will also help us obtain matching funding grants!

4) BRIEF UPDATE ON CURRENT TEAMS/COMMITTEES: WE NEED MORE HELP!! PLEASE VOLUNTEER!

A) WECOM EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION NETWORK: 25 members meeting weekly for 15-20 minutes— Tuesdays at 7 PM on GMRS radio, coordinated by Armando Picciotto.

Apicciotto2016@gmail.com⁠

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B) HOME INSURANCE RESEARCH AND UPDATE ON WHICH COMPANIES ARE CANCELLING AND WHICH ARE WRITING POLICIES: Coordinated by Tom Ayres. Very occasional meetings, and group email discussions to keep our members informed. If you have been cancelled or found a new insurance company, contact

tjayres@sbcglobal.net⁠

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C) *** FUEL REDUCTION IN WILDCAT CANYON AND OUR HOMES: Coordinated by Alan Siegel. Meets on weekends. We need more volunteers, donations and help with fundraising, and possible donation of tools.

Resource Guide 3 Home Hardening and Defensible Space Resources for Residents.pdf (ca.gov)⁠

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D) *** EVACUATION AND RED FLAG DAY PREP: Coordinated by Alan Siegel, Alice Chanowitz, and Pam Martin. Simulated evacuation drill scheduled for September 9th.

E) *** FUND RAISING, GRANT WRITING, ADMINISTRATIVE HELP: We need skilled members to guide us. Alan has begun to submit grant applications for Contra Costa County Measure X funding. Contact Alan Siegel if you can help or have skills in this area. We will also be seeking donations from members soon.

F) *** NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS! BE A RESILIENCE INFLUENCER and share your knowledge and support others! We also need friendly volunteers that can help guide residents who are not sure how to connect with CWS and other emergency notification apps or are not sure how to analyze and prioritize their home hardening, fuel reduction etc., and could use friendly advice. We also need help with administrative and fund-raising tasks and personal communication with neighbors on our own block. Can you be a resilience influencer for your block?

LET US KNOW IF YOU CAN JOIN ONE OF OUR TEAMS OR CONTRIBUTE YOUR TIME, EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES:

alansiegelphd@gmail.com⁠

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Key Links for Educational Purposes:⁠

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EVENT #2: SEPTEMBER 9TH WALKING EVACUATION DRILL + SIMULATED RED FLAG DAY EXERCISE FOR ALL RESIDENTS OF WILDCAT FIREWISE:

SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 9TH AT 9 AM— (more details will be posted here and sent by email later in August)

Add to your step count for the day and join us and a local fire official in walking the streets of Wildcat Firewise Community to identify, explore, discuss (as we walk) and practice all options for regular and emergency evacuation. You will receive a working DRAFT of a digital map with all current known emergency exit routes. This may include possible emergency exits between houses that may have gates or paths behind their homes on the west side of our streets as well as access to some routes east of our houses. On the day of the event, we will also post signs and flags for a simulated red flag day. Residents will be asked to park on the west side of the street. This will not be enforced as it is a simulated drill. BTW-- There are no formal full evacuation drills currently planned for El Cerrito or Kensington. This event will combine a “meet and greet” event-- and may improve our ability to escape and survive a real fire or earthquake event if our streets are blocked by fire or fallen trees and poles. It will also give us a chance to connect and brainstorm as we walk. As part of the preparation for that day, we will be asking residents living on the east side of all our streets if they have a gate or opening behind their home that could be used in an extreme emergency if our roads are blocked. A few homeowners have already volunteered and offered use of emergency gates or paths that would allow alternate escape routes. These additional emergency exits would ONLY be used during an actual fire or earthquake and would not be publicized to the public. For more information or to volunteer a gate or exit west to a lower street, or east to Wildcat Regional Park--contact

alansiegelphd@gmail.com⁠

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CAN YOU HELP? PLEASE JOIN US TO HELP PLANNING AND TO HELP WITH ORGANIZATION ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT. CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE EVACUATION TEAM INCLUDE ALICE CHANOWITZ, PAM MARTIN, AND ALAN SIEGEL.

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