AHAH Monthly Program Update - California Wildfires (February 2021)

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RELIEF FEBRUARY 2021

CAMP FIRE, PARADISE, 2018

153,335 18,800 $8.4 billion 86

ACRES BURNED

STRUCTURES DESTROYED

Current Activities Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our Program Development Team over the past few months, we’re pleased to announce the launch of our pilot wildfire program in Paradise, Butte County, California.

INSURED LOSSES

DEATHS

Our small staff team have set up a base of operations and will be welcoming an initial group of six volunteer trainees to the program on 6th and 7th February. The focus for the team will be on mitigation and capacity training, and we have three fuel break sites lined up for them to work on that have been approved by the Butte County Fire Safe Council.

Chainsaw Training Program Objective: To train All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) volunteers into competent sawyers in order to improve skill, safety and efficiency during saw operations in future AHAH response work in the aftermath of fires and other natural disasters. The program will also generate reliable chainsaw Standard Operating Procedures organization-wide.

Time Frame: One month of training, one week of regrouping and debriefing.

Certification: Beginner feller (FAL3), Intermediate feller (FAL2) and Advanced feller (FAL1).

Learn about our programs at

allhandsandhearts.org

Disaster Profile While the wildfire season (historically May through October) is a natural part of California’s landscape; in recent years it has started earlier, and finished later, and the wildfires have increased in size eightfold since the 1970s. The annual burned area has grown by nearly 500%, and this year saw the biggest fire season ever recorded in California’s modern history. The climate crisis is considered one of the key drivers of this trend, with ongoing droughts causing dry vegetation and dead trees making them more susceptible to severe wildfires.

Our Work One of the deadliest wildfires in California’s history is the Camp Fire, which tore through the town of Paradise in Butte County in 2018. In the two weeks it raged, 153,335 acres of land were burned, destroying 18,000 structures and resulting in the loss of homes for 30,000 people (source: pbs).

All Hands and Hearts launched a pilot wildfire program in Paradise in early 2021. Alongside local partners, our focus is on prevention and recovery activities. These include rebuilding homes and fire mitigation projects, such as creating fuel breaks and defensible spaces by felling and removing trees. This pilot program will also build further capacity in our organization through our sawyer 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.

We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for the seventh year in a row. This year, only seven percent of rated non-profits received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency

Our Partners

info@allhandsandhearts.org