Living with Fire

Living with Fire is a challenge in the Sierra Nevada. We live in a fire adapted ecosystem where wildfires used to burn naturally every 8 to 35 years depending on elevation. Since we started suppressing wildfire over a hundred years ago, Sierra Nevada forests and woodlands have gotten overly dense with vegetation creating a high risk of high severity fire. Residents of the Sierra must learn to live with fire by creating defensible space around their homes and retrofitting their homes using construction materials and techniques that reduce the risk of burning during a wildfire.

The University of California offers publications, websites, events and workshops on living with fire in the central Sierra. We have expertise in defensible space, fire resistant home construction, and living with fire in the Lake Tahoe basin.

Living with Fire in the Tahoe Basin - Lake Tahoe is a special place with both beauty and a highly flammable landscape. Special considerations on living with fire there are featured during Wildfire Awareness week to be held May 26th to June 3rd in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The theme this year is “Wildfire Survival: Your Home, Your Responsibility”. The focus of the week will be to promote homeowner and resident actions that reduce the risk from wildfire to homes and communities.

University of California Web Resources

Center for Fire Research and Outreach College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley
Know Your Wildfire Zone - Wildfire zones create an awareness of wildfire risks and hazards and offers tips on how you can reduce them.
Surviving Wildfire - eXtension's Wildfire Information Network (EWIN).
UCCE Contra Costa County Wood Durability Program - improving the long-term performance of wood and wood-based product.

Would you like information about our workshops?

We offer workshops throughout the year on various subject matter such as, defensible space, wildland urban interface building codes, and home upgrading to reduce risk, just to name a few. Please add your name to the Join our Mailing List on the top menu to receive information about our next workshop.