Preparedness Playbooks.
From home hardening to go-bag architecture. Strategic guides for surviving and thriving in fire country.
Lamorinda Evacuation Routes: A Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Guide
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Home Hardening Checklist: Protect Your Lamorinda Home from Wildfire
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
The 30-Foot Rule for Sheds and Outbuildings: CDI Measure #8
A burning shed radiates enough heat to ignite the main house. CDI Measure #8 requires 30 feet of separation for combustible outbuildings. Here is what qualifies, what your options are, and what to do when your lot is not big enough.
Neighborhood Communication Playbook
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Defensible Space Zones: The 0-1-2 System Explained
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Breaking the Fence-to-House Fire Bridge
A wood fence attached to your house is a direct fire bridge. If the fence catches an ember, the fire follows it straight to your wall. Breaking that connection is a simple, high-impact hardening step.
DIY vs. Professional: What You Can Do Yourself
Not every fire-hardening measure requires a contractor. Some of the most impactful upgrades cost under $200 and take a weekend. Here's how to know what you can DIY and when to call a pro.
Elderly Wildfire & Heat Safety
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Ember-Resistant Garage Doors: The WPH Plus Requirement Most Homeowners Miss
The garage door is one of the largest openings on your house and most standard doors have gaps wide enough for embers to slip through. Weatherization is a cheap first step; a full noncombustible replacement is the IBHS Plus requirement.
Emergency Alert & Warning Systems
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Enclosing Your Deck Underside: Stop Ember Traps
The open space beneath your deck collects leaves, pine needles, and debris, perfect fuel for wind-driven embers. Enclosing the underside is one of the most important deck hardening steps you can take.
Enclosed Eaves and Soffits: Sealing the Ember Trap Above Your Walls
Open eaves are one of the most common ember-ignition pathways in wildfire structure loss. Enclosing them with noncombustible soffits is CDI Safer from Wildfires Measure #5, and it is one of the highest-impact upgrades you can make to your roof-to-wall connection.
Applying Fire-Retardant Coatings to Exposed Wood
Fire-retardant coatings slow ignition and flame spread on exposed wood surfaces like eaves, fascia, and deck framing. They are not a substitute for non-combustible materials, but they buy valuable time during an ember storm.
Fire Safety Equipment: Reviews & Recommendations
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Firewise USA: What It Actually Is, and How It Fits Into Your Insurance Strategy
Everyone talks about Firewise like it's a certification. It isn't. Here's what it actually is, what it gets you, and where it falls short.
First Aid & Emergency Medical Kit Guide
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Flammable Species Field Guide for Lamorinda
How to identify the seven most fire-prone plants in Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda, why they're dangerous, and what to do about the ones already growing on your property.
Generator Connection Safety: Interlocks, Transfer Switches, and Why Backfeeding Kills
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
What Size Generator Do I Actually Need? A Watts Calculator for Lamorinda Homes
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
72-Hour Go Bag Build
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Gutter Guards: The Cheapest Big Fix, and the Trap That Cancels It Out
Dry leaves in your gutter are perfect ember fuel, and they sit right next to the most fire-rated part of your house: the roof edge. A gutter guard is cheap, DIY-friendly, and one of the best dollar-for-dollar fixes on the hardening checklist. Just do not buy the foam kind.
IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home Certification: The Complete Lamorinda Guide
IBHS certification is the single most impactful thing you can do for your insurance. It unlocks the largest available discounts and some carriers now require it for coverage. Here's how to get certified — from a Lamorinda homeowner who's doing it.
Lamorinda Insurance Navigation Guide
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Multi-Pane Windows: How to Phase the Upgrade When You Cannot Afford It All At Once
Windows fail fast in a fire, and once they break, embers and flames pour into the interior. Upgrading them is expensive, but you do not have to do them all at once if you know which ones matter most.
Neighborhood Assessment Toolkit
A systematic framework for community volunteers to evaluate neighborhood readiness, identify collective vulnerabilities, and build resilient blocks.
Full Noncombustible Siding: The Second-Biggest Check You Write for Fire Resilience
Full noncombustible siding is the largest hardening investment after the roof, and for many Lamorinda homes it is the line that separates an insurable future from a non-renewal notice. Here is what it costs, what it gets you, and whether the math works for you.
The 6-Inch Rule: Why Your Wall Base Matters More Than You Think
Embers pile up against the bottom of your walls. If the bottom 6 inches is combustible, your house ignites from the ground up. Here's the fix, the cost, and the thing most people miss.
Pet Evacuation: Getting Your Animals Out Safely
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Decoding PG&E Backup Power Rebates: A Lamorinda Homeowner's Walkthrough
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Post-Fire Recovery & Rebuilding
A step-by-step guide for navigating the challenging process of recovery after a wildfire, from insurance claims and debris removal to mental health support.
PSPS Preparation: Ready Your Home for a Public Safety Power Shutoff
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Replacing Your Wood Shake Roof with Class A Fire-Rated Material
Wood shake is the highest-risk roofing material in wildfire country. Replacing it with a Class A fire-rated roof is the single biggest structural upgrade you can make, and it may be the key to keeping your homeowners insurance.
How to Screen Your Foundation Vents for Ember Protection
Foundation vents are one of the most overlooked ember entry points on your home. This guide walks you through screening them with metal mesh, a low-cost, high-impact upgrade you can do in an afternoon.
Year-Round Fire Safety Maintenance Calendar
A month-by-month maintenance calendar for Lamorinda residents, aligned with the Green/Gold/Red Protocol. Keep your property fire-safe all year with this comprehensive checklist.
What to Do If You Cannot Evacuate
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
The Big Three: Roof, Vents & Defensible Space
Most wildfire damage to homes comes down to three vulnerabilities. Fix them, and you dramatically change the odds for your family.
Tree Trimming & Arborist Guide for Fire Safety
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.
Balancing Water Conservation and Fire Safety
Interactive guide for hardening your home and preparing your neighborhood for the next fire season.