October 2026 Newsletter

Hello Neighbors…

Well, the mid-October Red Flag Warning turned out to be not much (for us) in terms of wind, but the humidity was very low. It’s always good to be vigilant this time of year with potential for dry fall winds and vegetation is as dry as it’s been all year. So please keep up your evacuation readiness, your defensible space, and your situational awareness.

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Red Flag Day Reminders

The National Weather Service provides prior notice for Red Flag days. This gives you time to prepare and be ready to evacuate if needed. If the winds don’t pan out or even if they do and nothing happens, you had practice being ready. When you know a Red Flag Warning is coming:

• Make sure your gate and/or garage door are open in case power goes out.

• Point your vehicle outward and keep it gassed or powered up.

• Keep your go bags ready—you could even put them in your vehicle. Make sure you have appropriate fall clothing. Check medications and food.

• Clean up Zone Zero so you don’t have to when evacuation is imminent. Put all combustibles (cushions, patio umbrellas, door mats, etc.) inside or somewhere else further from your house.

• Clean up leaves and needles on your roof and near your house—they are falling every day this time of year so it’s a constant battle!

• If you have an RV you would stay in during an evacuation, consider moving it now—to somewhere outside the red flag zone.

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Residential Burning

It should go without saying that the outdoor burn ban is still in effect. Even if the weather cools down and we get a little rain, CALFIRE will not allow outdoor residential burning until there is sufficient moisture in the ground and vegetation. The upcoming rain may not be enough! Always check burn status before starting a burn.

Volunteers Improve Safety on Alternate Evacuation Route

During spring and fall of this year, resident volunteers from Greenhorn Firewise and Banner Mountain Firewise put in over 350 hours on 10 work days to improve roadside vegetation clearance on the route from Greenhorn Rd. to Banner Lava Cap Rd. (via Jones Ridge, Meadow Way, Tumbling Creek, and Red Dog). While Greenhorn Rd. is still the best evacuation route for most people in our area, the work has greatly improved safety along this alternate route.

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Residents worked tirelessly with chainsaws and loppers, as well as with their hands, dragging vegetation to piles on the roadside to be chipped by the County at no cost to us. In addition, special thanks for the many hours put in by Paul Tebbel from the Greenhorn Firewise board and Mo Graber from Banner Mountain to organize the project and volunteers and get permission from owners to work on their roadside frontage.

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This project is funded by a federal grant administered by Nevada County Office of Emergency Services (OES). All time and expenses were tallied to create a “match” dollar amount. The next phase will involve an OES-hired contractor matching that amount to do more difficult work (larger dead trees, steep slopes, etc.) as well as more of the kind of work done by our volunteers. The match is significant but the amount won’t be shared until after the county vendor bidding process is complete.

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As a reminder, the minimum legal clearance for private roads and driveways is 10 feet on each side (brush and small trees, not all trees) and 15 feet overhead. This allows minimum clearance for emergency vehicles. For maximum risk reduction and to avoid lethal radiant heat in an evacuation, 30 feet of thinning and clearance (or more) is much better, especially on the downhill side of the road.

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Ideally we should all be working with our neighbors to do this on our own roads for safer evacuation. Before we can get down Greenhorn, we have to be able to get TO Greenhorn. And as we all know, the brush doesn’t stop growing, so this is an ongoing effort for residents of private roads. Those who worked on this project found it very rewarding to get to know their neighbors while improving safety for everyone.​

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Generator Safety

Fall is a good time to review generator safety. You’ll be ready for any windy day Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) and for upcoming winter weather.

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Other Reminders​

As always, keep up your situational awareness:

• Know your evacuation zone.

• Make sure you’re signed up for CodeRed alerts.

• Consult multiple information sources. Watch Duty and YubaNet are especially helpful.

Be ready to evacuate if needed.

• Review your evacuation plan. Familiarize yourself with alternate routes (including “unofficial” ones that may cross neighboring properties).

• Leaving early increases your chance of survival.

Help Us Keep Our Firewise Community Recognition

In mid-November we will apply to keep our recognition status (and insurance discount) for 2027. Please complete one or more Firewise Activity Forms to help us with that effort. We prefer that you use the online form, but there is also a fillable PDF that you can email (or print and mail if you must). More detail can be found in the September newsletter.

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Community Survey

You can still take our survey about what concerns you related to wildfire.

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PLEASE PASS ON THIS NEWSLETTER to your neighbors! You can send a link to this page, email the PDF (link in the upper left in the green box), or print it to post or hand out. 

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Have Questions or Concerns? Contact your Section Representative or email us at greenhornfirewiseboard@gmail.com.​​

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