Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reports that $950,000 in wildfire safety grants has been awarded in the region, including to five groups in Plumas County.
Despite the coolest summer in Northern and Central California in more than a decade, wildfire risk remains constant, said PG&E. That’s why the California Fire Foundation, with support from the PG&E Corporation Foundation, is helping communities prevent and prepare to respond to the ongoing wildfire threat. Together, they have awarded wildfire safety grants to 63 local fire departments, fire agencies and nonprofit groups primarily in Northern and Central California.
The grants will be used to purchase personal protective and specialized equipment for firefighters, complete defensible space and vegetation management work, reduce fuels and hazards and conduct fire safety public education and outreach.
The following grants were awarded in Plumas County:
- Beckwourth Peak Fire Protection District: $3,550
- Bucks Lake Volunteer Firefighters Inc.: $15,000
- Meadow Valley Fire Protection District/Meadow Valley Volunteer Fire Department: $10,000
- Peninsula Fire Protection District: $10,200
- The Healthy Forest Alliance Foundation: $10,000
The full list of grant recipients is available online.
This is the eighth year CFF and the PG&E Foundation have partnered to award grants to help communities bolster their disaster preparedness and response programs, said PG&E. This year, the PG&E Foundation committed an additional $200,000 to enhance the grant program and provide more community funding.
CFF reviewed over 190 submissions during a month-long application window and distributed the annual wildfire safety grants to agencies in areas of high wildfire risk. The grant awards come during National Preparedness Month, observed each September to raise awareness of preparing for disasters and emergencies.
The PG&E Foundation and PG&E support CFF’s broader 2025 Wildfire Safety and Preparedness Program with $1.65 million in charitable funding. The program works to raise awareness about wildfire safety throughout California and deliver resources to underserved communities in areas of high fire risk. The grants to local organizations are a core component of the WSPP. Funding also supports CFF’s public safety education and outreach multimedia campaign in a variety of languages.
“This time of year is critical for the California Fire Foundation as we review WSPP grant applications from fire departments, agencies and nonprofits. Each application reinforces the urgent need for resources to help mitigate wildfire risk,” said Brian K. Rice, chair of CFF. “The WSPP program is a lifeline for many of our firefighters, and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of PG&E. … The threat of wildfire remains real. These grants allow us to equip local agencies with funding for vegetation management, fuel reduction, specialized equipment, community outreach and essential protective gear.”
Since 2018, 431 grantees that include fire departments and fire agencies statewide have received $5.5 million in direct funding through the grant program as part of WSPP, and each year the program receives more applications than the prior year. Funding targets specific communities identified as having extreme or elevated fire risk by the California Public Utilities Commission high fire-threat district map.
“PG&E has the privilege of serving 16 million people every day who live in 48 counties and 246 cities and towns in Northern and Central California,” said Sumeet Singh, PG&E executive vice president, operations and chief operating officer. “As the risk of wildfire continues to grow, partnerships like the one with the California Fire Foundation are critical for protecting the hometowns where our friends, families and neighbors live and work. By making homes and businesses fire-safe, by providing firefighters with the tools and equipment they need, by raising awareness of how we all can prevent wildfires — we are truly making everyone and everything safer.”
The WSPP focuses on two key areas to help keep communities safe:
- A wildfire safety campaign that features fire safety education, developed by CFF, in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Hmong to promote early evacuation during fires. The WSPP has worked diligently to overcome language barriers by developing and distributing in-language fire-safety messaging, said PG&E. This campaign includes advertising on radio, television and digital platforms, as well as outdoor billboards in areas of high fire threat.
- A grant program administered by the CFF through an application process. The CFF awards grants to recipient fire departments, agencies and community groups in support of projects and programs focusing on wildfire/disaster prevention, preparedness and/or relief and recovery assistance.
How the WSPP helps communities
Grant funding this year supports projects anticipated to have the following impact:
- Purchase of over 1,000 pieces of personal protection equipment such as helmets, boots, gloves, goggles and fire shelters
- Fuel reductions/vegetation management
- Multiple acres of hazardous tree and brush removal
- Chipping and hauling of millions of pounds of tree limbs, branches and other combustibles
- Multiple prescribed fires or pile burns
- Fire safety education provided across 12 counties potentially benefiting over 1.4 million residents.
- Acquisition of over 1,000 pieces of specialized equipment including water storage tanks, portable radios, headlamps, hoses/clamps/nozzles, chainsaws and gear packs
- Total estimated impact on 1,269,224 residents
There were 196 applications and $4.29 million in funding requests submitted from agencies in California during the 2025 wildfire safety grant application period. PG&E and the PG&E Foundation have provided $10.45 million in total support for fire safety awareness through the WSPP since the partnership began, with more than half the funding supporting community-based grants. The charitable contribution is shareholder-funded, not paid for by PG&E customers.
CFF’s Firefighters on Your Side program, also supported by PG&E, provides multilingual culturally relevant fire safety messaging in both digital and print form to assist the public in staying safe.
The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation. The California Fire Foundation, also a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, provides emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters, firefighters and the communities they protect. Formed in 1987 by California Professional Firefighters, CFF’s mandate includes an array of survivor and victim assistance projects and community initiatives. More information is available at cafirefoundation.org.
