Mendocino County Fire Safe Council

06/20/2026

The Comptche Fire Department will hold a BBQ-chicken fundraiser on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21, noon–4 pm, next to the fire station on Flynn Creek Rd.

There will also be liquid refreshment, a country store, a kids’ play zone, and a raffle with a grand prize of a handmade quilt by the award-winning Comptche quilters. Live music will be provided by 2nd Hand Grass and New Nashville West. No pets please.

The Comptche Volunteer Fire Dept has been a valued part of the community for 62 years, and this event will support their financial stability and valuable services. Go show your appreciation for their work, enjoy the day, and maybe win a quilt or other prizes!

06/19/2026

Now in its fifth year, our Micro-Grant Program continues helping local communities turn wildfire-preparedness ideas into action. This year's awards were announced last month, and now we have a Story Map of last year’s projects, similarly highlighting the creativity and dedication of local groups across the county.

In 2025, with support from the PG&E Corporation Foundation and Measure P funding, we delivered a major boost to wildfire resilience across the county by awarding over $150,000 in Micro-Grants to grassroots efforts by local groups.

Get inspired by their ideas and stories at the 2025 Micro-Grant Story Map linked below!
https://www.firesafemendocino.org/microgrant-archive/2025-micro-grant-awards?mc_cid=35a5dc4b79&mc_eid=7f1cd24638

06/15/2026

On a recent Sunday morning at the Hopland Firehouse, over 30 members of the Feliz Creek & Road 110 Firewise Community got together with some of our staff to play an evacuation board game.

The game was developed at UC Davis, and we are customizing it for Mendocino County locations. Players practiced evacuating in a simulated wildfire event on a gameboard using local maps to give them a realistic sense of what could happen in an actual event. Points were given for real-life preparedness such as packed go-bags or neighbor connections, and “chance” cards simulated unexpected events such as shifting winds or blocked roads.

Local challenges were thought through and discussed, much was learned, a good time was had by all – and no one got hurt!

Read the fascinating details in Sarah Reith’s blogpost linked in the comments below, and/or contact us for more information if your neighborhood is interested in hosting a game.

06/12/2026

We’re wrapping up our 3rd year of Fire Science & Wildfire Safety Education for middle-school students!

This Spring, 734 students from 9 schools participated in this program, which included class time plus a field trip to UC’s Hopland Research and Extension Center, our program partner. They learned about fire ecology and physics, California fire history, prescribed burning, native plant adaptations to fire, low-cost home-hardening strategies, and emergency preparedness.

New this year, we added understanding of the “fire-behavior triangle,” and also partnered with Jughandle Creek Farm & Nature Center to create a customized version of the curriculum for coastal students.

Linked below are a previous-year blogpost and 1.5-minute video about this program, and Emily Lord’s email for schools interested in participating next year.

This program is made possible by the PG&E Corporation Foundation, with volunteer help from the UC Cooperative Extension and California Naturalist Program, Mendocino Redwood Co, the CA Climate Action Corps, and CAL FIRE.

Read more and listen to a podcast by Sarah about this program:

The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) has teamed up with the University of California Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) to teach fire-science and wildfire-safety basics to about 800 students from 16 schools across the county this spring. The program is free to students, parents a

06/09/2026

We were invited to table at the 2026 Coyote Valley Earth Day Celebration last month, where the theme was “Quality Air is Community Care.”

We also gave a 30-minute presentation, in collaboration with the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District, about smoke and public health, including a live demonstration of how to construct a simple air-filtration system.

Thank you to the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians for hosting us, and to all those who dropped by our table to say hello and learn a little more about wildfire preparedness!

Check out our Wildfire Smoke brochure, linked below, which offers tips for managing wildfire smoke, information about air quality ratings, instructions for that DIY air filter, links to helpful resources, and more – in both English and Spanish.

06/05/2026

Emily Lord, Coordinator of our Beneficial Fire & Education Programs as well as for the Mendocino County Prescribed Burn Association, recently attended the 7th annual Plumas Prescribed Fire Training Exchange, or Cal-TREX.

TREX events are hosted worldwide to offer intensive training to prescribed-fire practitioners. Emily served as a member and later lead of a Fire Effects Monitoring (FEMO) squad, where she spent a week learning the science plus many essential skills related to prescribed burning.

She brought back learnings from practitioners across the state to help build capacity and momentum for using beneficial fire in Mendocino County. Go, Emily – and MCPBA!

Learn more about TREX here: https://firenetworks.org/trex/?mc_cid=c20f5d31b5&mc_eid=7f1cd24638

06/02/2026

We qualified again this year for Candid’s 2026 Platinum Seal of Transparency!

This highest-possible rating puts us in the top 0.1% of charities nationally in terms of transparency, certifying that we have shared clear information about our goals, strategies, achievements and progress indicators.

We are proud to receive Candid's Platinum Seal, and remain committed to transparency and accountability. You can see our Candid profile with detailed agency information at the link below

05/30/2026

A community burn next weekend in Round Valley. Contact and registration information are included should you want to join the prescribed burning community.

05/29/2026

Prescribed Burn Association members from both Mendocino and Humboldt Counties (MCPBA and HCPBA) attended a training on a recent Saturday in Laytonville. Participating and helping lead sessions were Emily Lord and Maria Esser from MCFSC, and our board member Mike Jones, also founding member and chair of MCPBA.

HCPBA Co-Coordinator Henri Holbrook says, “This Firelighter training is part of the PBA ethic of neighbor-helping-neighbor, and a way to train up community members who don’t want to be professional firefighters on how to feel safe and effective when engaging with prescribed burning.”

Content shared by the Humboldt PBA will help us expand the training available in Mendocino County, and vice-versa.

Read or listen to a podcast by Sarah Reith about this training: https://www.firesafemendocino.org/the-latest/humco-pba-comes-to-laytonville?mc_cid=c20f5d31b5&mc_eid=7f1cd24638

05/26/2026

The California Conservation Corps (CCC) crew is back to work in Brooktrails, NW of Willits, and their impact is already being felt. These young workers continue to show what steady, hands‑on teamwork can accomplish to protect our communities from wildfire.

The CCC crew has been clearing hazardous vegetation on undeveloped lots, as well as defensible space near residences. Their dedication, energy, and willingness to take on tough terrain make a real difference for residents who rely on these projects for safety and peace of mind.

Partnerships like this between local communities, Fire Safe Councils, and the CCC improve wildfire resilience, strengthen communities, and will reduce fire risk in the dry season ahead. We’re grateful to have the CCCs back in action, and look forward to helping make Brooktrails a safer place.