Apply for a Grant
The Santa Rosa Fire Department periodically offers funds for projects in and near fire-threatened neighborhoods to reduce the fuel load and improve our resiliency to wildfire. Review the following projects below to see what your property qualifies for.
UPDATE for 2023 Grant Opportunities: The Santa Rosa Fire Department is no longer accepting resident requests for participation in the WUI Fuel Modification/Home Hardening grant program or the evacuation route vegetation removal grant program as the application period is now closed. For those who have applied, our department will be reaching out to applicants shortly to schedule property evaluations and discuss the next steps in the process.
- Fuel Reduction Along Evacuation Routes Program
- Includes the removal and/or treatment of vegetation and fuel along specific segments of the following evacuation routes : Alta Vista Avenue between Osage Avenue and Montecito Avenue., Brush Creek Roa between Highway 12 and Badger Road., Calistoga Road between Badger Road and Harville Road., Chanate Road between Fountaingrove Parkway and Murdock Drive., Cross Creek Road between Meadowcroft Way and Markwest Springs Road., Fountaingrove Parkway between Brush Creek Road and Kendall Hill Road, Los Olivos Road between Brush Creek Road and Montecito Avenue., Montecito Avenue between Norte Way and Chanate Road., and Montgomery Drive between Los Alamos Road and Jackson Drive. Work anticipated to begin in the spring of 2024.
- APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED (Closed 8/18/23)
- Questions about this grant may be directed to [email protected]
- Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fuel Modification Program
- This grant funds vent screening and roof gutter guards for structures and defensible space improvements for qualifying residents located in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Area on a first come, first serve basis. Determine if your household is located within the WUI Area here.
- APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED (Closed 8/18/23)
- Questions about this grant may be directed to [email protected]
Ongoing City Efforts to Reduce Wildfire Risk
- PG&E Settlement Funds
- $8 million of the City’s $95 million PG&E 2017 wildfire settlement funds is allocated following uses:
- $5.25 million for implementation of a 5-year Vegetation Management Program using the City’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan as a roadmap to reduce the risk of wildfires locally through evacuation route improvements, community wildfire education, wildfire and evacuation preparedness, structural hardening of the built environment, vegetation treatments to reduce wildfire threat, implementation of defensible space standards and increased staffing dedicated to the wildfire mitigation workload.
- $2.75 million for implementation of the Fire Department’s Wildland Resiliency and Response Strategic Plan. This plan provides additional resources to legislative efforts, community engagement and education, and additional wildland firefighting apparatus and equipment to significantly improve the Fire Department’s capacity and abilities to prevent, mitigate, and respond to wildland fires using current staffing and fire stations.
- In the spring of 2022, Santa Rosa City Council allocated an additional $1.25 million from the PG&E settlement funds to cover the local cost share of the two federal vegetation management program grants.
- $8 million of the City’s $95 million PG&E 2017 wildfire settlement funds is allocated following uses:
- Prescribed Burns 2023 Season
- A burn was successfully completed on the undeveloped park land on the northwest end of Youth Community Park, between Paradise Lane and Fulton Road, south of Piner Road. The burn occured on Tuesday, July 25th, Wednesday, July 26th and Friday, July 28th. The planned burn provided a training opportunity for our firefighters and helped reduce the invasive growth of vegetation on this property. This will in turn help reduce the threat of wildfires in this area to the surrounding homes and buildings. Thank you our Santa Rosa Firefighters and assisting allied agencies on this project - CalFire LNU and Sonoma County Fire District.
- Prescribed vegetation management burns are carefully planned and must meet strict criteria for ecological benefit, weather parameters, smoke management, and fire safety guidelines. When all conditions are met, trained wildland firefighters conduct the burn while monitoring the set criteria, fire behavior, and designated fire control lines. Prescribed burns must also comply with the requirements of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
- Click on the corresponding FAQs below for more information about prescribed burns.
Yes, prescribed burns are also sometimes referred to as Rx fires, prescribed fires, controlled burns, hazard reduction burns, vegetation management burns, or planned burns.
Not typically. The City of Santa Rosa is surrounded by State Responsibility Areas where CAL FIRE has jurisdiction. Our Department regularly responds to vegetation fires in and Santa Rosa which CAL FIRE, Kenwood Fire Protection District, Sebastopol Fire Department and the Sonoma County Fire District. Based on these working relationships, any of these agencies may be asked to be involved with one of our burns. At a minimum, we plan to have CAL FIRE present with us.
There is risk assumed when excluding fire from fire-adapted ecosystems. There is risk, as well, when using fire to obtain ecological and other management objectives. Close evaluation of daily and seasonal weather and fuel conditions, public health, and social and economic considerations—and other important factors—influencing fire behavior and fire effects are integral in determining appropriate place, time, and circumstances to use fire to accrue beneficial fire effects.
The City of Santa Rosa will utilize various communications tools and strategies to notify our community. This will include social media, Nextdoor, door to door notification to locations in the immediate area, and a CivicReady text and community message. Generally, there is also a news release to inform the local media who will help spread the message. Roadside signs may also been placed on the property.
Grazing is used in numerous locations across Santa Rosa’s Wildland Urban Interface. Grazing helps reduce the fuel load of vegetation. Prescribed burns consume hazardous fuels that also can included the growth of invasive non-native weed and plant species. It also helps promote and restore healthy native growth that is easier to manage and significantly reduces wildfire risk.
