FAQs

Programs that reduce risk to the community are becoming knows as “Community Risk Reduction,” or “CRR” initiatives. Typically developed and executed by fire/rescue agencies, the most common program involves home visits, including delivery of education and home inspection. The California Fire Prevention Organization is actively involved in CRR within the State of California. Our organization is careful to ensure it follows baseline standards as defined by the NFPA, USFA, as well as an independent fire/safety program called Vision 20/20. Our home safety educators utilize high technology software and other means to achieve measurable results.

We focus on areas in the state where there is the most need, and often the fewest number of available resources. Typically, that means smaller, more rural communities or moderately sized cities. We often work directly with local fire departments, but also with California Fire Safe Councils, other prevention groups, and those entities eager to see resilience improve in their neighborhoods. If you need information on your community, please contact us at support@calfireprevention.org

The California Fire Prevention Organization is focused on the overall threat from fire. The most basic target is home fires – and providing FREE smoke alarms where appropriate. We also provide programming that relates to fire indirectly – as an example, we have an earthquake initiative, and we support the GREAT SHAKEOUT every year. In many cases, earthquakes will cause multiple types of fires to occur, and as such, they are a fire threat to every community at risk.

Wildfire is one of the most significant threats to most regions in the State of California. Wildfire activity continues to increase, and the demands on fire departments, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and CalFire are significant. The California Fire Prevention Organization focuses on two key issues related to wildfire: prevention (prior to), and recovery (after). We teach communities how to organize their activities and homeowners to be better prepared, to create defensible space around their homes, and the steps to take in the event of a threatening wildfire. We believe in the value of organizations like the California Fire Safe Council, as well as the NFPA’s Firewise USA initiative.

Our members may or may not be firefighters. Some have wildland firefighting experience, and some are retired senior fire officers. In every case, our people are trained in fire prevention, community engagement, and resilience. Uniformed members are typically EMTs or even paramedics, and as noted, some have their firefighter I or firefighter II certification.

The California Fire Prevention Organization exists through Federal, State, local, or foundation grants – as well as gifts from the public. While we will accept grants or contracts from cities, we typically will not accept funds from a fire department. Our role is to improve their operations by providing services they cannot or will not deliver. As a partner, it makes no sense to reduce any fire department’s general fund. Every dollar helps, and we encourage you to consider a gift to our organization.

During grant related “smoke alarm” program periods of performance, we provide smoke alarms and the installation of them at no charge – everything is FREE. Our programs are, on occasion, limited by the terms of our grants, but year over year, we typically are able to support multiple communities with free smoke alarms and home inspections. If you need smoke alarm assistance, please contact us at support@calfireprevention.org

The California Fire Prevention Organization environment is ever-changing. Our team will continue to add material on a weekly basis – daily in some instances. As safety information is made available, we’ll post it here. As new videos are developed, we’ll publish them and issue a notification. Stay in touch and visit the site often.

The California Fire Prevention Organization website has been designed to be fully “responsive,” meaning it will auto-adjust for any sized computing device, including smart phones. California Fire Prevention Organization has been tested with a wide array of browsers, including but not limited to Safari, Firefox, Opera and Chrome. In addition, you may access the California Fire Prevention Organization website via an iPhone,  iPad, Slate, or a computer web browser. If you have rendering or display issues, please contact us at support@calfireprevention.org

If you have problems viewing any of our video content, we suggest you first do a test to see if you can view videos posted to YouTube and Vimeo. Our video content has been designed to use an Internet technology called HTML-5, rather than the now antique and outdated Flash solution you may have heard about. If you find you can view YouTube or Flash videos, but not those within our website, please contact us at support@calfireprevention.org If you cannot view videos on other streaming sites, check your browser for compatibility, or if viewing from work, check with your IT manager to see if sites that stream video have been blocked.

California Burns, Volume One is a digital book, including photographs, videos, and downloadable fire safety materials. It is available via this website and the Apple app store: http://www.californiaburns.org/