Annual Firewise USA Renewal Process

As the Firewise Leader you can log into the Firewise USA portal. If you encounter a “redirect” to another NFPA web page, remove other NFPA cookies from your computer’s system, then try again.

You have to be a “resident leader” to be able to login…if you have changed leaders, please get the previous leader to login and give the leadership over, so the new leader can access the portal.

Self explanatory

Site details, leadership, etc. Update information if needed.

Checkbox for “I have reviewed my state’s requirements.” California now requires use of a new action plan form. This is a link to the generic California Action Plan Template. However, we encourage you to consider using the Marin action plan (Marin action plan.pdf) completed template we created to simplify the process (see step 6). You will need to add your community name and a brief description of the area where your Firewise site is located. It is in .docx format, so should be easy to edit and upload.

The risk assessment needs to be updated every 5 years. The Firewise portal will tell you when you need to submit a new risk assessment. Here is a link to the blank NFPA risk assessment form. Here is a link to a Marin risk assessment completed template that will probably work for all or most Marin Firewise sites. You will need to add information about your Firewise site on pages 3 and 4. On page 10 of the form you will need to upload a map of your website. You can find maps of all the Marin Firewise sites here. Just take a screen shot of your site and upload. Here is a VIDEO passcode: 825Svm^* that describes in detail how to complete the generic Marin risk assessment and modifications you might need to make if your community differs from the typical Marin Firewire Site. Feel free to contact us at firewise@firesafemarin.org if you need assistance.

Please make sure the Firewise Leader for your site is correct, as are the names and contact information for your committee.

There is a new action plan form that is required for all California Firewise sites. Fire Safe Marin has created a completed action plan using the new form that you can submit for a Marin Firewise site. You will need to add the name of your site and a brief description of the site. It is based on the universal firewire actions that should be followed by each of our Firewise sites and links to the recommendations contained in the updated Marin Firewise Site Risk Assessment.

Check the appropriate box(es) to indicate your educational activities. If your Firewise site has promoted Fire Safe Marin’s Webinars, Wildfire Watch TV, and/or Youtube Educational Videos this can count as “Wildfire workshop for residents with speakers/demonstrations from a forestry agency, fire department, or emergency management office.”  You may have done this by including our webinar links and/or our webinar page on your website, in your monthly newsletters, through your block captains, or in an email blast to your residents. We strongly encourage you to promote these educational programs by showing one of our educational videos at each Firewise meeting and encouraging a discussion about the content. If questions come up that you cannot answer, just contact firewise@firesafemarin.org and we will assist.

Follow the directions on the portal to record your Vegetation Removal information.

Vegetation Removal and Volunteer Hours Spreadsheet

All of you have done vegetation removal. Here is an optional use excel spreadsheet to help you calculate the required information on the form.

INSTRUCTIONS: Fill in following values on the spreadsheet: 

1) number of homes in your firewise site 

2) number of curbside pickups and cubic yards reported by the MWPA Curbside Chipper Program for your Firewise Community. Here is a link to a spreadsheet with that data. The program continues beyond the renewal reporting date and we will update the spreadsheet when the program ends on November 13. Meanwhile, you can simply report the current data from the for which will far exceed your required investment requirement.

3) any additional volunteer hours that you tracked.   

Formulas are already inserted to give you the totals you need to report to Firewise USA. You simply need to report the total cubic yards of vegetation removed as calculated by the worksheet formulas.

Note you can record events such as goat grazing and chipper program in the “comments” section.

During this step, you will have the opportunity to record your financial and volunteer hour investment that you spent during this calendar year.  A list of time and expense examples is embedded in the portal. The Fire Safe Marin spreadsheet will help you to calculate your volunteer hours

The easiest way to complete this page is to record the “Hours Worked” under two categories.   Time spent on filling green cans and curbside pickup can be entered under “Landscaping 0-100 ft. from Base of Dwelling Unit.”   Hours related to “Meetings, presentations, program administration, home site visits etc.” can be recorded under “Miscellaneous.”

Volunteer hours you spend meeting as a committee, hosting an educational event, coordinating a chipper program, meeting with fire department personnel all count. Here you can also record the hours you and your residents spend landscaping, doing DIY home hardening and working in community common space or community adjacent open space.

If you are recording “Money Spent” you will need to know what categories of spending were reported to you.   For example: Contractor, Home Improvement, Landscaping, etc.

This is your chance to make sure all that you recorded is correct.  You will be able to go back and make changes before you submit your work!