Challenges, best practices, and recommendations for Firewise USA sites

In 2019, NFPA started a new journey with seven active Firewise USA® sites spread across the country, challenging them to improve their resilience to wildfire.  The two-year pilot program, Sites of Excellence, was designed to increase participation in active wildfire risk reduction through a focused approach.  The goals:

• To have 100% participation of homes within the designated pilot boundary (sites were able to self-identify up to 100 co-located homes in each pilot site).
• To complete identified mitigation tasks within 30 feet of every home, based on recommendations from individual assessments.

Through 2019 and 2020 these sites worked to change how they engage with their community members to increase the amount of meaningful risk reduction work being done to the structures and home ignition zone. At the end of the two years these communities showed that big goals of a focused approach are achievable.

We are excited to share this journey with you. Download the full report (PDF) or navigate through the interactive story map and use the lessons learned from these communities to enhance your community's wildfire risk reduction efforts.