Topanga Canyon Fire Safe Council
15 April 2024: Topanga Firewise Community Info:
Because of the work we have done and continue to do to mitigate the risk of wildfire, Topanga has been designated a FireWise Community. This entitles us to a discount on insurance with the California Fair Plan. (Check with your insurance broker for more details). In order to keep our Firewise designation, Topanga residents need to document their fire mitigation activities, such as brush clearing, home hardening and attending educational events, like our recent Webinar. ( Here’s a more complete list of qualifying activities.)
Here's how you do it:
1) Enter your address on this online map to see if you are in the boundries.
2) Report your activity using the Firewise Activity Reporting link
That's it!
Every time you do something, please log it in!
Remember, If you watch the YouTube recording of our webinar you can also log that hour in your activities. The reporting link is quick and easy to use, and it places a premium on privacy. You do not have to provide a street address, phone number, or even any receipts. Any information that you do share will not be made public. The only purpose of the database is to enable us to aggregate community efforts and monitor activity at the Zone level to comply with the program requirements for widespread community access and participation.
For more info visit OneTopanga.com
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18 October 2022 Los Angeles Times: California to require insurance discounts for property owners who reduce wildfire risk. New rules mandate that insurance companies reward consumers who take wildfire safety and mitigation actions under the state’s Safer From Wildfires framework, the Department of Insurance announced Monday. The framework includes a list of expert-recommended actions that home and business owners can take to better protect themselves from fires.
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8 August 2022. Bloomberg Law: Billions in Feds’ Spending on Megafire Risks Seen as Misdirected . This article says what we've been saying all along. Put more focus on hardening homes!
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16 and 18 May 2022: Zoom Webinar: We Can All Make Our Homes Less Vulnerable to Wildfire! Beth Burnam and Ryan Ulyate Co-Presidents of the Topanga Canyon Fire Safe Council describe simple steps to reduce the risk to homes from burning embers. If you missed the live Webinar on May 16th, 2022 you can watch a recording of it on our You Tube Channel.
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10 July 2022: The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) launched a new program called the Wildfire Prepared Home. "Wildfire Prepared Home™ is a voluntary, research-based mitigation program designed to meaningfully reduce wildfire risk." If you want to take the next step, this is worth checking out!
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7 October 2021: Update on Wildfire-Focused Legislation in California. Here's the another article about SB63 from the Canyon Chronicle * (* Please note If you want a Home Ignition Zone Evaluation, don't email us, just click here to go directly to the RCDSMM website
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13 May 2022: Los Angeles Times (subscription required) Why Laguna Niguel fire was so destructive: Flying hot embers, huge homes, dry brush
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4 May 2022: University of California: Wildfire Preparation : Great concise information on this website!
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2 May 2022: Fire Safe Marin 2021 Webinar (90 minutes) Zone Zero: Ground Zero when Protecting Your Home from Wildfire (with Stephen Quarles and Jack Cohen). A deeper dive into wildfire and home hardening featuring nationally recognized experts.
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1 May 2022: New CFSC Video (25 minutes): Home Design and Retrofitting Techniques for Wildfire Defense . Good, detailed, state of the art home hardening info.
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Read the "Near-Building Noncombustible Zone" report from IBHS on why it's so important to keep the first 5' around your house free of combustible material
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29 Nov 2019: L.A. Times Editorial: "California will never control raging wildfires if it doesn’t stop building in high-risk areas"
October 2019: Fire Adapted Communities: Building for Wildfire Summit: Understanding How Homes Burn and How to Build Better
3 October 2019: L.A Times: "Fireproof" Your House Guide
L.A. Times: Sept 11 2019: Forest thinning projects won’t stop the worst wildfires. So why is California spending millions on them?
December 2018: Los Angeles Times: A Million California Buildings Face Wildfire Risk (With Topanga interviews)
Mashable, November 2018: How A Quiet California Town Protects Itself Against Against Today's Megafires
L.A. Times, November 2018: Camp Fire and Evacuation Stories
July 2018: "Built To Burn": How scientist Jack Cohen changed the way we look at wildfire
Check out our new Emergency Notifications page!
Get Fire Wise with Tips & Plants to Protect Your Home
Behind Most Wildfires, a Person and a Spark: ‘We Bring Fire With Us’
Scientists Racing to Develop a Deeper Understanding of Wildfires
Home and landscape wildfire defense: lessons learned from the 2017 California wildfire season
The Lesson of How One California Home Survived Last Year's Historic Wildfires
Fire-wise Gardening - Embrace Natives, Not Embers!
You Can Make Your Home Less Vulnerable to Wildfire! -Topanga Library Presentation On Dec 4th 2017
October 9th 2017: Wildfires in Northern California Kill at Least 10 and Destroy 1,500 Buildings
June 2016: "Old Fire": Luckily the winds calmed down and Topanga was spared!
Great Online Article: Fighting Fires: You're Doing It Wrong!
Home Ignition Zone Evaluations: Praise From a Homeowner
Take simple steps today to Be Ember Prepared
For more detailed info, download and and follow the Wildfire Home Assessment & Checklist
Create Defensible Space
Check out more News and Announcements