AHAH Monthly Program Update - California Wildfires (April 2022)

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RELIEF UPDATE APRIL 2022

TOTAL IMPACT 103

VOLUNTEERS

6,238

LIVES IMPACTED

11

FUEL BREAK ACRES CLEARED

534

HAZARD TREES FELLED

Current Activities The latest group of volunteers are nearing the end of their first month on program, and their initial month undergoing the sawyer training program. The introductory weeks of classroom training went well, and the trainees are now utilizing the training areas in Berry Creek and Paradise to hone their skills. As well as continuing their theoretical training, the teams have been getting practical training and are felling their first trees.

In tandem with the ongoing sawyer training, our team is hard at work supporting the community of Berry Creek. This month, work has included removing fire hazard trees that are preventing rebuild efforts and making the land safer for homeowners to access. These felled trees are then put into piles to streamline the removal process from our partner at Butte County FireSafe Council.

Alongside the sawyer training program, we have been busy connecting with partners in Butte County. In the last week of March, team members attended a California Fire Safe Council workshop and networking event with the aim to build connections and identify opportunities to plug our volunteer labor force and project management expertise into local wildfire mitigation projects.

Program Spotlight: BioChar Workshop Butte County Fire Safe Council conducted a BioChar training workshop for the team. Biochar is the product of burned organic material promotes better forest regeneration once inoculated. It is also one of the cleanest methods of burning potential fuels due to the minimal amount of carbon produced.

The workshop taught the team proven alternative approaches for treating forest fuels on-site while providing long-lasting carbon for soil improvement and carbon sequestration. Making BioChar in the woods uses clean and almost smoke-free techniques. BioChar left in the woods improves the forest’s soil water holding capacity and resilience.

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Photos: (Top) Our team of wonderful volunteers and staff members in Butte County; (Bottom) BioChar Workshop - members of Butte County Fire Safe Council in the process of creating BioChar

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 the 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 running 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 training for additional risk reduction are planned.

Photos: Chainsaw training program in action. (Top) Volunteers practicing in the training area; (bottom) staff member sharing practical advice

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