AHAH Monthly Program Update - California Wildfires (March 2022)

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RELIEF UPDATE MARCH 2022

TOTAL IMPACT 92

VOLUNTEERS

Current Activities

As our year-round California Wildfire Relief Program continues, we are pleased to share that the program is expanding - both geographically and in terms of services performed. Our reach this year includes areas affected by the 2020 North Complex Fire, which borders the 2018 Camp Fire burn scar.

6,224

LIVES IMPACTED

11

FUEL BREAK ACRES CLEARED

534

HAZARD TREES FELLED

Photos: (Top) Chainsaw work responding to the Camp Fire; (Bottom) Volunteer sharing why they give their time to support those affected by the California wildfires

allhandsandhearts.org

The latest group of volunteers arrived in early March, and are now being trained in chainsaw work by our certified staff. This capability creates a valuable skilled labor force for local mitigation projects run by our partners, Butte County Fire Safe Council and Paradise Recreation & Park District. Some of this season's projects will involve new applications of chainsaw skills to buffer communities from fires on a house-by-house basis (see back page).

Disaster Profile

The wildfire season in California has increased in size eightfold since the 1970s, and the annual burned area has grown by nearly 500%. The climate crisis is considered one of the key drivers of this trend, with high temperatures and droughts causing dry vegetation and dead trees, which are more susceptible to severe wildfires. Two of the deadliest and most damaging wildfires in California’s history were the 2018 Camp Fire and 2020 North Complex wildfire. The 2018 Camp Fire incinerated the town of Paradise and swaths of surrounding foothill communities of Butte County in a single day. The 2020 North Complex fire, the deadliest of that year, caused further devastation to the communities of Butte County - leveling the rural towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls.

Our Work

All Hands and Hearts launched a wildfire program in Paradise in February 2021. Recognizing the importance of reducing wildfire risk for fire-affected and fire-vulnerable communities, we have committed to run wildfire relief programming year-round.

Alongside local partners, we are expanding our mitigation work from forest and fuel management to help homeowners make their properties more resistant to fire damage. This will involve continuing our sawyer training program, which has helped increase the capacity of our organization by building a team of trained sawyers. Our mitigation projects will include, but are not limited to, widening evacuation routes, constructing defensible space - the buffer around a home to slow or stop the spread of wildfire - and hazard tree removal. Stay, tuned, as further training in additional risk reduction scopes is planned.

Photos: (top) Defensible space diagram credit of Colorado State Forest Service , (bottom) Staff member demonstrating sawyer work as part of the chainsaw training program.

About All Hands and Hearts We effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters.

We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.

Our Partners

We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for the eighth year in a row. This year only six percent of rated nonprofits received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.

info@allhandsandhearts.org