Grants offered for wildfire risk reduction, preparedness projects
QUINCY, Mass. (KTVZ) -- Home improvement projects that resist flames and embers. Teaching neighbors about wildfire risks and how to reduce them. Removing flammable debris that could fuel a wildfire. These and other related activities are being actively supported by the National Fire Protection Association and State Farm® via the national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day campaign.
The seventh annual Wildfire Community Preparedness Day will take place on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Since 2014, community groups and individuals have taken part in the campaign, completing hundreds of wildfire safety projects across the United States. Preparedness Day gives people of all ages a chance to plan and participate in a risk reduction or wildfire preparedness activity that makes their community a safer place to live.
Financial support from State Farm will once again enable NFPA to provide 150 applicants from across the country with $500 awards to complete a wildfire risk reduction project on Saturday, May 2. Project applications can be submitted through February 28, 2020. Apply for an award.
Currently, an estimated 43 million homes are in areas prone to wildfire, and wildfire risk is present in every state. In 2018, nearly all of the $13 billion in property damage and losses from large fire incidents was due to just six wildfires. That same year, 88 people were killed in wildfires, most in the devastating Camp Fire that obliterated the town of Paradise, California.
"According to the recent, staggering statistics, preparing our communities for wildfire is more critical today than ever before,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “NFPA and State Farm work closely together on this yearly campaign in a continued effort to raise awareness and educate homeowners that they have the power to save their homes and communities before a wildfire ignites, and we have the resources and information to help.”
“State Farm finds it important to inform and encourage homeowners and communities to adopt effective wildfire mitigation programs that produce stronger, safer homes where lives are saved and a family’s largest investment is better protected,” said Vickie Hodges, State Farm Underwriting Analyst.
For more information about Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, funding awards, project ideas, and free resources to download, please visit www.wildfireprepday.org.
