Announcements
Roadside vegetation clearing
Wildfire season is here, and there is a significant need to address the overgrown roadside vegetation in our neighborhood. Please deal with any overgrown vegetation where your property meets the road, and many thanks to those residents who have already done a fantastic job on this. This is a critical item required on our Firewise 3 Year Action Plan, key both for our own safety during an evacuation and for firefighter access. Firefighters will not enter to defend a neighborhood that is unsafe for them!
Per the BCFD website, we need to maintain:
1) 10ft clearance from the edge of the road, with the exception of single specimens of trees (limbed 6-8ft from ground), single specimens of ornamental shrubbery, or plants used as ground cover provided they do not form a means of transmitting fire from native growth to any structure.
2) 14ft vertical clearance everywhere above the road - firefighters cannot risk damage to engines and will not drive past areas with insufficient clearance.
If you are unable to address the roadside vegetation along your property, please reach out to us for volunteer assistance. Thank you everyone!
Upcoming Events
March in the Boulder Creek 4th of July Parade: Join us to march in the Boulder Creek 4th of July Parade! Firewise groups across SLV are marching together in the parade to raise community awareness of Firewise, to promote a safer, more resilient and more connected SLV, and to celebrate our growing network of Firewise communities. It would be awesome to get strong representation from China Grade Firewise - RSVP to march with us here!
Recent Past Events
2nd Annual Firewise Festival: Residents from SLV and across the Santa Cruz Mountains came together on May 17 for the Firewise Festival at Roaring Camp, hosted by Felton's Forest Lakes Firewise.
China Grade Firewise Spring Meeting 2025: Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in our Spring Meeting for 2025! The meeting recording, presentation, and list of links are included below.
Central Coast Good Fire Faire: October 5 at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, 10AM-3PM. This community event was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about how, where, and why good fire is applied to help lower our future wildfire risk. There were also booths with resources to learn how to increase your home's resilience to wildfire, educational demonstrations, food trucks, kids' activities, and more!
Meet the SLV Fire Chiefs: October 3, 6:00-8:00PM at the Zayante Fire Station. This forum was a fantastic opportunity for the community to meet with the San Lorenzo Valley Fire Chiefs to hear important updates from them on key topics, discuss local issues, and to ask them all our fire-related questions. Organized by the San Lorenzo Valley Firewise Community, this event aimed to foster increased communication and collaboration between the community and the local Fire Protection Districts, and increased neighborhood engagement towards reducing regional wildfire risk. Light refreshments were served.