County Wildfire Protection Plan

An Action Plan for Wildfire Mitigation

*[County Name]

*[Date]

*[DOF Fire Specialist]

*[Office Address]

*[City, State ZIP]

*[Phone]

*[Email user.name@dof.virginia.gov]

*Right-click on the table of contents and update entire table before finalizing.

About this Plan	2

Wildfire Mitigation Objectives	2

Introduction	2

County Overview	2

Prioritized Mitigation Recommendations	3

Action Plan	3

Cost-Share Assistance Programs and Grant Opportunities	5

General Recommendations	5

Additional Information	5

Information Resources	6

Other Resources	6

Local Contacts	7

County Wildfire Protection Plan

About this Plan

*[Purpose Statement]

The development and implementation of this plan is the responsibility of *[insert responsible party name]. All the following management recommendations are for your consideration. This plan is intended for planning purposes ONLY and is not intended for making economic decisions where more detailed information would be required.

Wildfire Mitigation Objectives

Introduction

The overall objective of *[County Name] is to set clear priorities for the implementation of wildfire mitigation in the identified county. This includes prioritized recommendations for the county as a whole and for individual homeowners where appropriate.

*[Insert applicable examples of the Benefits of Hazard Mitigation and Fire Prevention]

The goals are fuel reduction and structure ignitability reduction that will protect communities and its essential infrastructure within the county.

County Overview

This plan has been prepared for the area defined and described below.

County Description

County: *

Latitude: *

Longitude: *

Fire Departments (name/location): *

County Size

Number of Woodland Communities: *

County Infrastructure

Wildfire Hazard Rating:

☐ Low	☐ Moderate	☐ High	☐ Extreme

Date Evaluated: *

County Assessment Highlights (roads, water sources, primary fuel types, topography): *

County Wildfire History (include surrounding areas)

Relative Frequency: *

Common Causes: *

Areas of Future Concern: *

Additional Comments: *

Prioritized Mitigation Recommendations

The following recommendations were developed by the County Firewise Working Group because of the county wildfire risk assessment and follow-up meetings with local, state, federal and county stakeholders.

The recommendations are prioritized based upon the following factors:

*Identify and describe recommendations here.

Proposed County Hazard Reduction Priorities

List area and treatment recommended.

*

*

*

*

*

Proposed Structural Ignitability Reduction Priorities

Actions to be taken by homeowners.

*

*

*

*

*

Proposed Education and Outreach Priorities

Activities planned and implemented by county, local fire departments and Department of Forestry.

*

*

*

*

*

Action Plan

Identify and prioritize project work that needs to be completed in the county. This project work is prioritized based upon what is identified as the greatest risk or where you can make the greatest impact. Identify the capability of your county to complete projects. It is often preferable to start with simple, low-cost projects that can be effective, and gain buy-in by county members. Sometimes you need to consolidate small wins into larger ones.

Goal 1: Create fire-resilient communities.
Action	Crucial Activities	Success Metric	Project Lead/ Partners	Importance
1	Pursue Firewise USA site recognition.	Complete risk assessment with DOF. Plan Firewise Day. Write a county action plan.	National recognition as a Firewise USA site by *[Year].	Project Lead: Local prevention officer DOF fire specialist Partners: *	High
2	Provide information to recreational users about fire safety.	Posters about “One Less Spark-One Less Wildfire” at park kiosks.	Reduced number of recreational user wildfire ignitions.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	Medium
3	Reducing risks for home ignition.	Completing risk assessment of individual homes.	More homes compliant to local ordinances.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	High

Goal 2: Create fire-resilient landscapes through collaboration on public and private lands.
Action	Crucial Activities	Success Metric	Project Lead/ Partners	Importance
1	Remove flammable material around homes in neighborhoods.	Organize county clean-up day. Secure a donated dumpster. Plan and host event.	Amount of material removed.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	High
2	Assist vulnerable populations with fuel reduction assistance.	Organize event to help homeowners who cannot do landscaping maintenance on their own.	Number of residents assisted.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	High
3	Remove deadfall left by windstorms.	Secure the donation of a chipper, etc.	Amount of material removed.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	Medium

Goal 3: Improve fire response capabilities.
Action	Crucial Activities	Success Metric	Project Lead/ Partners	Importance
1	Provide weather information to local emergency responders.	Installing weather monitoring equipment and computer applications.	Provide daily updates and, during a wildfire weather event, hourly updates.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	High
2	Develop a communications plan for sending information and notices to the public.	Integrate with public alerts and warnings plan for status updates and instructions for evacuation. Coordinate with county leaders.	Public is informed of current event status, what to do, where to go, and when and how to leave in an evacuation.	Project Lead: Local emergency manager Partners: Fire Department communications teams Local news	High
3	Identify water sources	Add reflective blue marker in center of road where hydrant is located	Number of hydrants marked throughout the county.	Project Lead: * Partners: *	Medium

Cost-Share Assistance Programs and Grant Opportunities

Cost-share assistance programs and grant opportunities may be available to help with project costs. Programs generally may pay between 35% and 75% of the costs in certain projects. Funds are available on a competitive basis and must be approved prior to the start of any management work. Please check with your local Virginia Department of Forestry representative for availability of programs and funds or visit the DOF website for details.

*Cost-share program eligibility requirements vary between the programs and funding may not be available. Contact your local DOF fire specialist for up-to-date information about various programs.

Cost-share funding may be available in the form of Wildfire Mitigation grants, Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) grants, Dry-Hydrant grants, Federal Firefighter Property (FFP) program grants, as well as additional forest management funding opportunities.

General Recommendations

*[Insert general recommendations & additional maps if needed. Remove if not needed.]

Additional Information

Outline additional information, such as firefighting capabilities, needed memorandums of agreement between other entities, future development plans for the county, etc.

*

*

*

*

*

Note that this document is a living document, which means that it needs to be revisited and updated as project work is completed, maintenance items are identified, or the county expands and includes new partners. Make sure that you make the document available for everyone to view and approve before implementing.

Appendix

Information Resources

Firewise USA Program

National Firewise USA Program [https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA]

Firewise Resources

www.dof.virginia.gov

Take Action to Be Firewise

Fire and Emergency Response Financial Assistance Programs

www.dof.virginia.gov

Dry Hydrant Program

Firewise Virginia Community Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program

Volunteer Fire Assistance Grants

Federal Firefighter Property Program

Other Resources

*[Identify source(s) of technical, educational and/or financial resources provided to a county by the state forestry agency or other program partners.]

Local Contacts

Insert any local government, non-profit organization or individual contacts available to provide advice and/or assist with wildfire mitigation and prevention.

Local Government Contacts	Name	Email	Phone
Local Non-Profit Organization Contacts	Name	Email	Phone
Other Contacts	Name	Email	Phone