CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR GRANT FUNDING

Good news! We have grant funding available to assist homeowners with defensible space, removal of dead or dying trees (including oaks affected by the Gold Spotted Oak Borer), and home hardening retrofits! Follow the link above to our Application for Service page.

 

 

 

Check out our new publication, Living with Wildfire!

Special Thanks to All Who Contributed

(click on the image to open/download PDF)

 

Welcome to Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council!

The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council (MCFSC), a nonprofit public benefit corporation, was formed by residents of the Hill communities in 2001. They organized for purpose of educating local residents about fire safety issues related to the communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Education is still the priority of the MCFSC, but we now offer much more to our neighbors living on the mountain.

Stay up to date and fire safe! Check out our recent Summer 2021 newsletter here.

Free Consultations to Help with Your Property Inspection
We have a trained field supervisor to work with you to identify areas in need of mitigation to increase the probability of your home surviving a wildfire.  Once the work is completed, your property will pass fire inspection. Contact us to request a consultation today.

Grant Funds
If the needed fuels reduction work is more than you can accomplish on your own, we have grant funds to help you hire a licensed and insured contractor. Property owners will only pay a cost-share of the lowest bid as a match to the grant. Interested local homeowners should complete our Application for Service to find out more.

Dead and Dying Bark Beetle Tree Removal Program
This program will assist homeowners remove trees due to bark beetle infestations. They must be within 100’ of your home and trees within 30’ are our highest priority.

Newsletter
We publish a biannual newsletter mailed to more than 10,000 owners of property located in the San Jacinto Wildland Urban Interface.

Fire Safety News
On occasion, the President of the Board of Directors writes a column, Fire and Forest, for the local newspaper.

Community Education
The council hosts public meetings with programs on fire safety and gives presentations to community groups and HOAs. We have found the one-on-one interaction between our project manager and property owners to be a highly effective educational practice. Interested in having us speak at your association meeting? Contact us today!

The Woodies
MCFSC has a nationally recognized crew of volunteers, the Woodies, who donate thousands of hours each year:

• Helping low-income seniors and physically disabled persons create and maintain defensible space around their homes by trimming and thinning trees and brush, raking dead leaves and pine needles and providing on-site education about effective defensible space.
• Processing trees removed from fuel reduction jobs into firewood, which is donated to the Idyllwild Help Center for distribution to the needy.
• Providing fire safe education to their friends and neighbors.

Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST)
MCFSC is a regular participant in the multi-agency Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST) meetings.  Formed in 2002, MAST is a coalition of local, state and federal government agencies, private companies and volunteer organizations in Riverside County that are working together to help prevent catastrophic wildfires.

2018 Cranston Fire
In July, our peaceful village was turned upside down when an arsonist started a fire on Highway 74 just above Hemet. Thousands of people were evacuated, and 13,139 acres burned. Sadly, 7 homes were destroyed and 6 other structures were damaged or destroyed. Thankfully, no one lost their lives and no civilians were injured, however three firefighters were injured.

We owe our deepest gratitude to the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire, Idyllwild Fire and many other fire agencies from several states for their heroic efforts to save our community. The fuel breaks created by the Forest Service and CAL FIRE played a key role in mitigating the fire. Additionally, the defensible space that was created by MCFSC provided protection for firefighters to defend homes.

• For a check list on Vulnerable Ember Areas, Click Here.
• For a digital or printable Fire Safety Code Requirements check list, Click Here.

Give us a call at 951-659-6208 or email us at info@mcfsc.org if you have any questions or would like to share some thoughts about our work.

To donate to the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council and help a worthy cause, simply click on the PayPal donate button below!