Protecting an area from wildfires takes the entire community. That was the message Tuesday at the California Wildfire Mitigation and Resiliency Symposium in Santa Barbara.
"Give it a little rain, and it grows and grows and grows these last two years, and we had a lot of rain. I mean, it was up like five-foot-tall grass down here," longtime Santa Barbara resident Stuart Sweeney said as he described the vegetation around his property.
Sweeney is no stranger to wildfire. In 2019, the Cave Fire burned right up to his property line.
His neighborhood is one of 16 Firewise communities recognized by the Fire Safe Council of Santa Barbara County, a free program run by the National Fire Protection Association, providing a framework for communities to identify their wildfire risks and work together on mitigation.
"The risk doesn't stop at your property line. What your neighbors do impacts your own risk," Sweeney said.
Volunteer Firewise neighborhood groups are essential to reducing overall community fire risk, says UCSB professor of Environmental Policy Sarah Anderson.
"Because we're going to be living with wildfire, not really fighting wildfire. I think we now know that it's critical that everybody be prepared," Anderson said.
She spoke at Tuesday's symposium, which brought fire experts, community members, and first responders together to discuss new ways to reduce wildfire devastation.
"Protect our electricity infrastructure, take care of those trees that need to be taken care of, very like practical but kind of small things actually, that we can do collectively," Anderson said.
During the symposium, Brian Rice with the California Fire Foundation stressed the importance of prioritizing innovation.
"Things are changing in California and we need to be the change agent in the world that makes people realize that we are on the cutting edge and are doing everything we can to make California fire safe and fire resilient," Rice said.
Some of the recommendations from the symposium included developing flexible funding mechanisms, enhancing hazard reductions such as prescribed burns, and supporting more community education, engagement, and outreach.
