Fire Safe Councils

The California Fire Safe Council (CFSC), a California non-profit corporation, was first formed as a project of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) in 1993.

Under the leadership of the California Fire Alliance—an effective networking group of federal, state, and local fire agencies—it was decided that CFSC should facilitate a more efficient way to get federal fire prevention and mitigation funding to local communities. They were tasked with developing and maintaining an online, “one-stop shop,” Grant Clearinghouse mainly for the four primary federal agencies: the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and the Department of the Interior agencies the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Fish & Wildlife Service.

These agencies now provide large master grants to CFSC to conduct, select, manage and monitor sub-grants to local community groups such as Fire Safe Councils, homeowner associations, local government, fire departments, and other entities working on wildfire prevention activities such as defensible space, community fire planning, and education. CFSC also provides technical assistance to grantees to ensure successful granting and projects.

Since 2004, the CFSC has provided more than 1,200 grants totaling more than $118M in grant funding to help build a fire-resilient California.

In addition to the primary Grants Clearinghouse program, CFSC over the years has provided varying levels of technical assistance and support to Fire Safe Councils and other community wildfire preparedness groups—they refer to them as community wildfire practitioners—assisting them in both education in wildfire issues and in organizational issues related to capacity building and sustainability.

At the same time, CFSC has forged a strong network of partnerships with local, regional, state, and national organizations and works continuously to build and maintain effective linkages with government officials in California and Washington DC.

With the threat of wildfire looming ever-larger for many California communities, CFSC is redoubling its efforts to build strong local and countywide Fire Safe Councils, and lead efforts in community wildfire preparedness, education, and mitigation to build fire-adapted communities throughout California.

Please visit the California Fire Safe Council website form more information:
https://cafiresafecouncil.org/