May 2025 Newsletter

Hello Neighbors…

While we are still working on our defensible space with permitted burn piles and free green waste drop off, our May newsletter begins the shift of focus to fire season preparedness. This is the time to do your planning so that you will be fully prepared once fire season is in full swing.

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News and Reminders…

• Free green waste disposal. Free green waste disposal events continue every Monday through Memorial Day at McCourtney Rd. Transfer Station from 9-3.

• Free defensible space advisory visits! Take advantage of this free service to help you prioritize work on your home and property. Greenhorn Firewise is lucky enough to have a trained inspector in our midst. The visits are purely educational and the information is shared only between you and the inspector. Call Paul Tebbel at (916) 215-6172 and schedule an appointment!

• Burn piles—it’s permit season! A reminder that since May 1, a permit (available free on line) is required for residential burning. And it won’t be long before burning is suspended until wet weather returns in the fall. Nevada County’s Burn Permits page provides all the information you need about safety, permits, and more. As always, check burn day status at MyAirDistrict, and even if it is a burn day, use common sense and put out your pile if the wind picks up. Burn day status is also typically reported each morning on YubaNet, or you can call (530) 274-7928.

• Log your time and expenses. Greenhorn Firewise must report investment in our community each November to keep our recognition from the National Fire Protection Association (which qualifies you for an insurance discount). All expenses and time related to defensible space and home hardening are valid. Logging regularly is easier than waiting until the end of the year.

• Never too much helpful information? The new Fire Safe Nevada County Coalition (FSNCC), has a quarterly newsletter that you can sign up for here.

 

Prepare Now for Fire Season Alerts

Later in the summer, when you see a smoke column on the horizon or hear something about a fire in the vicinity, you will want to quickly know whether it’s something you need to be concerned about. Now is the time to make sure you are signed up for text alerts and that you “know your zone” for evacuation announcements.

• Know Your Zone! In the event of an emergency, authorities will use Zone numbers in emergency alerts, on the Ready Nevada County Dashboard, and on social media to notify residents which areas are under an evacuation warning or order. The County uses a system called Genasys Protect to manage these zones. Genasys Protect also has a mobile app that provides updates on your home zone, and allows you to follow other zones. This could be important if you have family living, working, or in school in a different zone from your home. You can also turn on your location in the app to get notified about situations when you are away from home.

• CodeRED. If you haven’t already, make sure you are signed up for CodeRED. CodeRED is an opt-in notification system used by the County to notify residents in an emergency. These alerts may be received as text, email, landline, cell phone, and TTY.

 

Evacuation Planning

This is also the time to think about what you will do if you need to evacuate. The time to plan is before an emergency happens. It’s always beneficial to coordinate with neighbors during an emergency. Make sure that you “find your five” and share your plan. You should have people on your list that live close to you, but have at least one that lives out of the area.

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Key things to consider for your evacuation plan are:

• Where will you go? Do you have friends or family outside a likely evacuation area to stay with or will you need to be self sufficient? This impacts what you will need in your go bags.

• How will you get there? What are the routes away from your home as well as your workplace? There is only one primary route out of Greenhorn. Are there private roads or off road options that you can take?

• How will you connect with family who may not be with you when an evacuation happens?

• What do you need to take with you? This is the time to start getting your “go bags” ready, including important papers. Nevada County has checklists for what you need to pack for yourself, your family, and your pets. If you have livestock, how will you take care of them?