Golden Bear neighborhood is first South Lake Tahoe National Firewise USA® Designation

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Golden Bear community in South Lake Tahoe has been at the forefront of neighborhood fire safety and their hard work has paid off. They have earned a Firewise USA® designation by the National Fire Protection Association, making them the first South Lake Tahoe community to earn this designation.

A fire at a home on Lodgepole Trail on September 12, 2018, started the team effort to become a safer place to live. The Golden Bear community established neighborhood leaders that partnered with Lake Valley Fire Protection District, CAL FIRE and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District to complete stringent criteria in order to participate in the Firewise USA® program and prepare their community for wildfire.

The leaders, Steve Martenson, Donarae Reynolds, and Patti Assayag, started finding out what they could do as residents to be more fire safe. The neighborhood has not only the area leaders but also street coordinators who walked door-to-door to both spread and gather information, create a database of household information including pets at each home and special needs, if any.

"We really got to know our neighbors," said Reynolds. "It brought us closer together in the process."

The residents completed a wildfire hazard assessment, developed an action plan to guide their efforts to reduce the risk of wildfire in their community, coordinated a community evacuation drill and created a neighborhood website for dissemination of information as it relates to crises and natural disasters. They have also prepared "go bags" as a group.

When asked why the neighborhood wanted to become a Firewise USA® community, Martenson also referred to the fire on Lodgepole during red flag conditions.

"Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire and prevent spread to the neighboring homes and vegetation, but it was a wakeup call," said Martenson. "It made us realize that there is more that we can do without relying on local heroes. We wanted to know how we could help ourselves and take steps to make our community safer."

In order to complete the required criteria homeowners volunteered hundreds of hours of their time to complete defensible space projects, which removed 189 cubic yards of biomass fuels through curbside chipping and defensible space projects with the help of the Tahoe Resource Conservation District’s Fire Adapted Communities Program. The Golden Bear Community invested nearly $13,000 (in time and labor) in fire prevention and defensible space work in 2019.

This designation makes Golden Bear one of approximately 1500 neighborhoods in the country recognized for their efforts in wildfire preparedness.

"Lake Valley Fire Protection District would like to thank community leaders Donarae Reynolds and Patti Assayag along with website designer Steve Martensen for their efforts in helping to establish a Firewise USA® community," said the fire district.

Reynolds also wanted to thank Leona Allen for her guidance throughout the process. She also said LVFPD Chief Tim Alameda was a great help and source of expertise.

Building on the accomplishments of Golden Bear local agencies have scheduled additional evacuation drills in the Meyers area and will use Golden Bear as their blueprint for success. Communities interested in participating in the Firewise USA® program can learn more at www.firewise.org/usa or contact the Tahoe Resource Conservation District at 530-543-1501 ext. 114.