Truckee meadows fire protection district (tmfpd) in cooperation with carson city fire department (ccfd) is seeking bureau of land management community fire assistance program grant funding to…

The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District (TMFPD), in cooperation with the Carson City Fire Department (CCFD), received a $779,497.87 Cooperative Agreement from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program (CFDA 15.228). The funding will support a multi-pronged effort to address the threat of wildfires in the communities of New Washoe City, East Washoe Valley, and Northeast Carson City, Nevada. The key products and services to be delivered include: 1) public education and awareness campaigns on wildfire safety, 2) home defensible space assessments and community-level risk assessments, and 3) hazardous fuels mitigation and reduction activities based on best practices. The expected outcomes are to enhance public safety, protect natural resources, safeguard critical infrastructure, promote community engagement, and build overall resilience against the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in the region.

Truckee meadows fire protection district (tmfpd) in cooperation with carson city fire department (ccfd) is seeking bureau of land management community fire assistance program grant funding to address the threat of wildfire in the communities of new washoe city east washoe valley and northeast carson city. These areas have been assessed as a high risk due to an increased accumulation of wildland fuels around homes throughout the communities. To prevent a catastrophic wildland-urban interface fire likely resulting in loss of life and severe property and infrastructure damage, fire prevention and fuels reduction must be a priority in these communities. Both tmfpd and ccfd will enact integrated project management to simultaneously address three key program areas: 1) promoting public education and awareness of wildfire safety, national and state-level community engagement programs, and local fire department engagement. 2) identifying most at-risk areas properties through home defensible space assessments, and community assessments. 3) providing the community with complementary hazardous fuels mitigation reduction based on best practices and national guidelines. All three project strategies will be evaluated and judged for their success in delivering on the project goals throughout the period of performance. Through the efforts listed above, the expected outcomes for the communities in the project area are: 1. Enhance public safety: prioritizing the safety of residents, visitors, and emergency responders by minimizing the threat of wildfires and reducing the potential for fire-related accidents and injuries in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). 2. Protect natural resources: preserve the ecological integrity of the area and its surroundings, including vital habitats, watershed areas, and sensitive ecosystems, from the destructive effects of uncontrolled wildfires, both natural and human caused. 3. Safeguard infrastructure: mitigating the risk of damage to critical infrastructure, such as power lines, roads, bridges, and communication networks, thereby ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of essential services to the community. 4. Promote community engagement: fostering collaboration and partnership among local stakeholders, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and residents to collectively address the wildfire threat through education, outreach, and participation in fuels reduction activities. 5. Build resilience: strengthening the resilience of communities against the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires by implementing sustainable, science-based strategies for fuels management and fire prevention. Tmfpd and ccfd intend to leverage the funding in this grant opportunity to provide a tangible benefit to the nearly 500 properties encompassed in the project area. Both departments will host community wildland fire awareness events, provide defensible space assessments for homeowners and conduct hazardous fuels mitigation reduction in our respective districts. Truckee meadows fire protection district would take ownership of the grant and subaward carson city fire department for grant-allowable billable services conducted in their section of the project area. Both departments are pursuing collaborative efforts to address hazard mitigation across jurisdictional boundaries in the form of large-scale fuel breaks. Both departments intend to bolster carson city blms existing efforts to wrap fuel breaks completely around the communities in the project area. By entering into this cooperative agreement project, our departments can build carson city blms capacity to finish their projects ahead of schedule. This agreement will also allow US to grow the newly formed working relationship and continue our project prescription to benefit more communities and BLM jurisdictions into the future.