Fire Adapted Communities Program

Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities: A Collaborative Effort

The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) is a program designed to help residents and visitors prepare for wildfire. This multi-agency and community collaboration helps residents take individual action to collectively reduce their neighborhood’s risk from wildfire. The Tahoe Network is led by Tahoe Resource Conservation District in collaboration with local fire districts, University Nevada Cooperative Extension and University California Cooperative Extension.

Three logos: Tahoe Conservation District with mountains, Fire Adapted Communities network, and Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT).

FAC helps residents engage in their community, identify partners, and identify the suite of potential actions and programs communities can do to protect themselves from wildfire. FAC works closely with community members to spearhead and support wildfire preparedness efforts in neighborhoods while helping to connect Neighborhood Leaders around the Basin.

Fire Adapted Communities wheel diagram showing elements like landscape treatments, prevention, recovery, and public health.

Some of the work includes:

Collaboration with the University of Nevada Reno Cooperative Extension, local fire protection districts, land management agencies and community members to create fire prepared community networks
Supporting neighborhood preparedness and providing grant funding for curbside chipping and defensible space inspections
Creating access to fire related educational events, leadership trainings, workshops, and publications
Providing guidance for fire preparedness tools such as Firewise USA

Neighborhood Leaders

Neighborhood Leaders play a vital role in the Fire Adapted Communities Program. They rally their neighborhoods to work together in getting ready for wildfires. Each neighborhood's involvement can vary in scale.

Meet the FAC Team & Learn More with the Short Videos Below

Video 1: Introduction to the Fire Adapted Communities Program

Video 2: Fire Adapted Communities Partners

Video 3: Neighborhood Leaders: the Who, What and Why

Video 4: Neighborhood Leader Activities

May contain: sign, symbol, plant, and tree

Two people under an orange tent at a wildfire preparedness event, with information materials on a table.

A firefighter smiling under a red tent, wearing a uniform with badges, with a table of supplies and cars in the background.

A person using a pole saw to trim tree branches in a sunny garden.

A woman at an outdoor booth holds green mesh trays with informational materials about fire embers and home safety.

Three people raking leaves in a forested yard.

A group of people chatting outdoors in a garden with a dog.

A person wearing a flame-shaped wig outside on a sunny day, with autumn trees and another person in the background.

Regional Coordinator for Firewise USA

Tahoe RCD is also the Regional Coordinator for the Firewise USA program. The Firewise USA® recognition program is one of the many tools' neighborhoods can use to address their wildfire risk. Focused on residential action at the parcel scale, the Firewise USA® program is an important piece of the wildfire adaptation puzzle. In the summer of 2024, there were 39 Firewise USA recognized neighborhoods in the Lake Tahoe Basin and more in the works. For more information on Firewise, visit the National Fire Protection Association at www.nfpa.org.