Wildfire authority, Firewise programs protect Marin

In a letter to the IJ published on Oct. 20, Keeley Wright of Novato shared that close friends of her family lost their home to the 2017 Tubbs fire that destroyed parts of Santa Rosa. I would like to share my sorrow for their loss.

Wright goes on to state, correctly, that controlling California wildfires is an important discussion, and that our communities must unite to protect our homes. We must find ways to protect more homes before the next wildfire event.

I hope Wright is aware of what Marin County and our shared town of Novato has done to address her concerns. The passage of Measure C has provided 10 years of funding to create the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, which has created a multicity jurisdiction that coordinates to update evacuation routes, aid homeowners in assessing their wildfire risk and work on open space vegetation management. Information can be found at MarinWildfire.org.

There is also an amazing amount of information available, both articles and videos, at FiresafeMarin.org. There are many things homeowners can do to create wildfire-resistant landscaping and home-hardening improvements.

Our neighborhood in Bahia has a robust affiliation with Firewise USA. We have a network of street captains and a steering committee. We work all year to remind and educate our residents about what they can do to make our neighborhood more wildfire resistant.

We have sponsored homehardening workshops and evacuation drills. We welcomed Novato Fire District captains, who explained how to utilize free home assessments to evaluate what needs improvement and how to receive grants to subsidize vegetation management and home-hardening projects.

Much can and is being done to address Wright’s concerns. If anyone is interested in forming or joining a Firewise program in their neighborhood, contact Aaron Harris at aharris@firesafemarin.org.

— Mark Silowitz, Novato