Del Norte Fire Safe Council

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Crescent City, CA
Del Norte Fire Safe Council

Founded in 2002, the Council's monthly meetings are the first Tuesday of the month at 1:00pm.

08/01/2026

🔥 A Hot, Dry and Windy Weekend Ahead

As we head into August, take a little time to complete this month’s wildfire-safety chore.

Hot, dry weather is expected this weekend, with down-canyon northeast winds strengthening Saturday night and continuing through Monday. The current inland canyon forecast calls for strong east winds with gusts around 30 mph, potentially becoming stronger Sunday night.

Before the winds pick up:

🏠 Make sure your address is clearly visible from the road.
🚒 Clear driveways and access routes for emergency vehicles.
🍂 Remove leaves, needles and other debris from roofs and gutters.
🌿 Clear dead vegetation and other flammable material from around your home—especially within the first 5 feet.
🪵 Move firewood and other burnable materials at least 30 feet from structures when possible.

Please avoid mowing dry grass or using equipment that could create sparks during hot, dry and windy conditions. A little work ahead of time can make your home safer, help protect your neighbors and give firefighters a better chance if a fire starts.

Stay aware, use extra caution and check the latest forecast:
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-123.943&lat=41.832

07/22/2026

Strategic fuel breaks can’t be planned from an office alone. Maps show us the possibilities, but it takes boots on the ground to understand the fuels, terrain, access, and what will actually work during a fire.

The proposed Hardscrabble Connection is a priority fuel break for the Smith to Klamath Initiative. We’re scouting a potential link between the Station 3 and Gasquet Mountain fuel-break systems across the steep Hardscrabble Creek drainage.

Reducing the thick brush and accumulated fuels would create a shaded, maintainable corridor where prescribed fire can be safely reintroduced—on our terms. It would also provide firefighters with a prepared line to help protect powerlines, Low Divide, Hiouchi, Gasquet, forests, and water quality.

This is how planning moves from lines on a map to a more resilient landscape.

06/04/2026

Wildfire resilience and recreation go hand in hand.

Thanks to a Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) grant, the Del Norte Fire Safe Council’s Wildfire Resilience Crews have been hard at work restoring trails on federal lands within our National Recreation Area. This is just one more project DNFSC is doing to help make Del Norte Fire Safe.

From May 18 through early June, crews restored 17.2 miles of trail, reopening previously limited or blocked access to Elk Camp Ridge, Craigs Creek, and High Dome Trails, while also completing maintenance on Stony Creek and French Hill.

This work is about more than trail maintenance. Restored trail corridors provide safer access for firefighters, create strategic fuel breaks that can support prescribed fire and wildfire operations, and help keep our public lands open and usable for hikers, riders, hunters, and outdoor users.

In Del Norte, wildfire mitigation and recreation should not be separate goals. They can—and should—be one and the same.

We have more trails we’ll be working on in the near future, but for now, we encourage the community to get outside, enjoy these reopened routes, and explore Del Norte.

Learn more about the Del Norte Trail and Fireline Project here:
https://www.delnortefsc.org/trails

Thank you to the RAC, the U.S. Forest Service, Del Norte Trail Alliance, our crews, partners, and community members who continue to support this work. Every cleared trail, every reopened corridor, and every mile restored helps build a safer, more resilient Del Norte.

04/08/2026

🌿🔥 FREE Curbside Chipping is Back – Spring Clean-Up! 🔥🌿

Del Norte Fire Safe Council is offering FREE curbside chipping this May to help you get your property wildfire ready.

If you’ve got piles of brush, limbs, or small trees—this is your chance to get them taken care of safely and easily.

⚠️ Chips must remain on-site (no hauling)

🗓 Community Schedule:
• Gasquet: May 2–3
• Hiouchi / Low Divide: May 9–10
• Fort Dick / Smith River: May 16–17
• Rock Creek / Big Flat: May 30–31

⏰ Chipping runs 9 AM – 3 PM

✅ How it works:
• Sign up at: www.delnortefsc.org

• Cut and pile your vegetation
• Place piles 10 feet from the road, cut ends facing out
• Our crew comes to you

🌲 What we chip:
• Brush, limbs, and trees (up to 15” diameter)
🚫 No rocks, stumps, dirt, boards, nails, or wire

⚠️ Chips must remain on-site (no hauling)

03/25/2026

We’re hiring!

Del Norte Fire Safe Council is looking for Wildfire Resilience Crew Members to join our team and help reduce wildfire risk across Del Norte County.

This is hands-on, meaningful work:
• Fuels reduction & prescribed fire
• Defensible space
• Working outdoors in real conditions

$25/hr starting | 2 positions | 3% 401(k) match
Apply by April 6, 2026

If you want to be part of building a more fire-resilient future in our communities, we’d like to hear from you.

Apply: http://www.delnortefsc.org

Email: [email protected]
or [email protected]

01/23/2026

2025 Year in Review: Building Wildfire Resilience Across Del Norte County

In 2025, the Del Norte Fire Safe Council continued delivering meaningful, on-the-ground wildfire resilience work across Del Norte County—despite funding uncertainty, challenging conditions, and a rapidly changing landscape.

Over the course of the year, our Wildfire Resilience Crew and partners:
• Created defensible space for 128 homes
• Completed 143 wildfire risk assessments
• Treated more than 240 acres in and around high-risk communities
• Successfully implemented 64 acres of prescribed fire
• Burned and chipped tens of thousands of cubic yards of hazardous vegetation
• Completed trail and fireline rehabilitation critical for access and firefighter safety

Beyond the numbers, 2025 marked a turning point. Prescribed fire continued its transition from planning to practice, local capacity expanded through the formation of the Del Norte Prescribed Burn Association, and lessons learned on the ground helped shape a new, long-term effort: the Smith to Klamath Initiative.

This emerging initiative is focused on coordinated, cross-boundary wildfire resilience at a landscape scale—building on the work already underway and setting the stage for increased pace, scale, and collaboration in the years ahead. More information on the Smith to Klamath Initiative will be shared soon.

This Year in Review reflects the dedication of our crew, the strength of our partnerships, and the importance of sustained, community-driven action to reduce wildfire risk and protect the places we care about.

📘 Read the full 2025 Year in Review:
https://wix.to/OmkkkFr
https://www.delnortefsc.org/newsletter

Address

255 W. Washington Boulevard
Crescent City, CA
95531

Telephone

+15305241872

Website

http://delnortefsc.org/

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