The Plumas County Fire Safe Council reports that staff participated in the California Fire Safe Council‘s 2025 Wildfire County Coordinator Workshop, held in Sacramento in November. PCFSC staff participated alongside county coordinators from across California. Representatives from 47 of the 48 funded counties were in attendance, making this one of the most comprehensive gatherings of county coordinators to date, said the council.
The county coordinator position is funded by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and plays a critical role in aligning wildfire preparedness, mitigation and community engagement efforts at the county level. The county coordinator framework within PCFSC continues to serve as a critical connector between state policy, local agencies and community-driven partners like Firewise, said the council. Conversations at the workshop reinforced the importance of this role in translating statewide priorities into locally meaningful action.
The workshop focused on strengthening statewide coordination while allowing counties to share what is working locally. Breakout sessions brought together coordinators from diverse regions to discuss challenges, tools and strategies for building durable wildfire preparedness systems that extend beyond individual projects or grant cycles.
Key takeaways
One major theme was the rapid growth of Firewise across California. Both Cal Fire and the National Fire Protection Association are actively adapting their programs to support this growth and ensure Firewise remains a credible, consistent and effective preparedness framework, said the council. Since 2023, Cal Fire has overseen the NFPA Firewise annual renewal process, reinforcing Firewise as a legitimate and measurable preparedness program driven 100% by resident leadership and regional coordinators.
Cal Fire also highlighted Firewise as a capacity-building tool and shared updates on the Qualified Entities Program, which trains local leaders to conduct defensible space and home hardening assessments. PCFSC is actively engaged in shaping how this program will be implemented locally by discussing and supporting collaborative training strategies, streamlined data collection, relationship-building and program frameworks that better serve rural neighborhoods across Plumas County.
Another key area of discussion was youth engagement, which aligns closely with PCFSC’s mitigation work and its contribution to the multijurisdiction Plumas County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. PCFSC staff participated in a youth engagement and workforce development breakout session that explored how counties across the state are engaging students, young adults and early-career community members in wildfire preparedness, education and workforce development. Conversations highlighted the value of hands-on learning, school and community partnerships, and early exposure to wildfire resilience as a way to build long-term community capacity.
Capacity building
Through strong partnerships and coordinated action, PCFSC is already advancing many of the tools and strategies discussed at the workshop, said staff. This work positions Plumas County at the forefront of wildfire preparedness and long-term capacity building in the rural far north.
Breakout conversations reinforced the value of this work and provided an opportunity to align PCFSC’s efforts with broader statewide momentum. Key areas where PCFSC is already helping move strategy into action include
- Firewise at the neighborhood scale: supporting resident-led preparedness efforts that strengthen local ownership and sustained engagement
- Youth engagement as capacity building: connecting wildfire preparedness with education, workforce development and early exposure to resilience concepts
- Hands-on learning and experience: emphasizing practical, experience-based engagement that builds understanding and trust
- Clear and coordinated communication: using consistent messaging, trusted partnerships and authentic storytelling to reach residents effectively.
- County-level coordination: acting as a connector between agencies, community groups and statewide initiatives to support alignment and shared priorities
Leading with science
A key component of the workshop was grounding fire-adapted communities in science, said PCFSC. A presentation by wildfire researcher and University of California, Berkeley, Professor Michael Gollner, “Fire Risk to Structures in California’s Wildland-Urban Interface,” reinforced why layered preparedness strategies matter and how they directly influence whether homes survive wildfire exposure.
Research shared during the workshop shows that embers and structure-to-structure spread, not just large flames, are among the leading causes of home loss in wildfires. Embers can travel far ahead of the fire front and ignite small vulnerabilities around homes, which is why conditions immediately surrounding structures are so critical. The council points out that this science reinforces PCFSC’s focus on near-home defensible space, Firewise guidance and home hardening education that addresses ember exposure, not just vegetation farther from the house.
Data-driven analysis of tens of thousands of damaged and undamaged structures across recent California fires shows that defensible space, spacing between structures and specific building features all play measurable roles in whether a home survives wildfire exposure, said the council. These findings validate the importance of PCFSC’s assessment-based approach, including defensible space evaluations, Firewise community planning and consistent data collection that helps prioritize actions where they matter most.
