April 2026 Newsletter

Hello Neighbors…

April and May are prime time for working on defensible space. Our warm winter has afforded many good work days between storms. This month we have mostly news and reminders—all important stuff! In May we shift our focus to emergency preparedness—evacuation, go bags, important papers, knowing your zone, and more.

​

Stay tuned and keep working on defensible space and home hardening! And don’t forget to log your time and expenses here, to help us keep our NFPA recognition (and FAIR Plan discount).

​

Roadside Clearing Saves Lives

As you do your spring vegetation clearing and maintenance, please don’t neglect working on your driveway and the roads you share with your neighbors. In addition to the one way in and one way out on Greenhorn, the vast majority of us have only one way to get TO Greenhorn. Will your road be a tunnel of fire? Could one fallen tree block everyone’s way out?

​

Local regulations say you need 10 feet of clearance (this does not mean no trees) on each side of the road and 15 feet up. But that’s a bare minimum for first responders to get in. 30-100 feet of thinned forest is what’s truly needed for safe ingress (emergency responders) and egress (evacuation). Remember when you look at ladder fuels that flame heights will be at least three times the height of the shrub. Will that be enough to catch surrounding tree canopy on fire? Are there trees tall enough to block the road if they fall? Food for thought as you look at your roadsides.

​

Wildfire-Ready Festival & Expo: May 2 at Western Gateway Park, Penn Valley

Join us on from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. for this free and fun event to celebrate National Wildfire Awareness Day! The event is being organized by the Wildfire-Ready Coalition of Nevada County and promises to be even bigger and better than last June’s event at Pioneer Park, when the organization had just been formed. The exhibits areas will include:

​

• Wildfire-Ready Home and Garden

• Firewise Community Pavilion

• Fire Tech Showcase

• Tools for Fuels (including a goat grazing demo!)

• Fire Safety and Emergency Response Alley

 

In addition, there will be games, expert speakers, food trucks, evacuation races, fire muster, go-bag showdown, and a visit from Smokey Bear! You don’t want to miss this event.

 

“Nevada County Alerts” Replaces CodeRED

Every year we remind you to sign up for CodeRED, which is an opt-in system used by agencies to send emergency information to subscribers. Nevada County is no longer going to use CodeRED (for very good reasons) and just recently announced that it has been replaced by Nevada County Alerts.

​

There will be a test of the new system in May, so please go to the County’s Emergency Alerts page to sign up as soon as possible.

​

Nevada County still has several other systems in place that you do NOT need to register for, including Wireless Emergency Alerts (to your cell phone), Genasys Protect (“Know Your Zone”) for evacuations, Emergency Alert System (radio and tv), and Hi-Lo sirens.

 

Burning

• Permit Season starts May 1. As of 8 a.m. on May 1, you will need a permit to burn on your property. The permit is free and you can get it on line. The end of burn season varies depending on weather. Meanwhile, get your permit if you want to burn and always check burn day status before lighting up. (Note that broadcast burning permits have a different application process and will require a site visit by CALFIRE.)

• Burning Workshops. The Nevada County Resource Conservation District is offering several free workshops in April and May (weather permitting) on prescribed burning and pile burning.

 

Green Waste Disposal

The county has three free programs for green waste disposal this year. Please see last month’s newsletter and the link below for more details.

• Green Waste Drop Off. Green waste drop off days on five consecutive Mondays from April 27 through May 25 (Memorial Day). Please see the County's website for additional information.

• Neighborhood Chipping: Coordinate through your Greenhorn Firewise rep or contact greenhornfirewiseboard@gmail.com.

• Neighborhood Green Waste Bins. Coordinate through your Greenhorn Firewise rep or contact greenhornfirewiseboard@gmail.com.

 

Standing Dead: Overstocked. Overgrown. Overdue.

If you haven’t yet seen this 11-minute documentary commissioned by the Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County, please take the time. It is an eye opener. As their YouTube page says “There is still time to change the outcome. Start by watching. Then be part of what comes next.”

​

Please Consider Supporting the Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County. This volunteer-driven organization provides invaluable support to Firewise Communities (including ours) and many educational opportunities to the residents of Nevada County.  They have accomplished so much in one year, but they need financial support to keep going. Donation tiers start at just $2/month or $25/year, but please give more if you can. Supporting them supports us.

​

Have Questions or Concerns?

If so, contact your Section Representative or email us at greenhornfirewiseboard@gmail.com.