With the threat of California wildfires omnipresent, one non-profit organization has strengthened its mission to deliver wildfire education and awareness to homeowners and residents in Riverside County.
To that end, MySafe: Riverside wants to be part of the wildfire solution.
“One of our key mission objectives is to create Fire Safe Councils and NFPA Firewise communities,” said David Barrett, Executive Director of MySafe: Riverside. “These are groups of homeowners that understand that wildfire resilience actually has to start with them.”
MySafe:Riverside actively works with homeowners and residents to share preparation and survival tactics in wildfires. By teaching the community, it builds confidence and reduces risks of greater dangers. For instance, homeowner’s associations can become part of NFPA Firewise USA sites and California Fire Safe Councils.
“In many places within Riverside County, there are gaps,” Barrett said. “Homeowners know that there’s wildfire risk. They know about heat and wind, and while some don’t admit climate change, regardless, they know there are risks out there that create damaging wildfire potential.”
However, Barrett added that many of those same individuals believe that no matter what happens, the fire department is going to fix everything.
“But we’re living in different times than we were 20 years ago,” he added.
Just look back to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Fire raged through the region, creating the most devastating fire in years. More recently, The Gifford Fire, which ignited earlier this month and has been estimated to have swept through more than 117,000 acres, is on track to be one the area’s most destructive wildfires.
“The fire department is terrific at suppression, putting out active fires, and responding to threats like wildfire,” Barrett said. “But there’s two issues that homeowners don’t understand. Typically, the most flammable thing you’ll find out in the open is grass. And the second most flammable thing you’ll find are structures.
“And if residents don’t take steps to reduce the ignitability of their structures, the chance of loss if a wildfire impacts them, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s Corona, Temecula, Hemet or wherever, there’s a 40 percent chance that they will lose their home,” he added.
MySafe:Riverside battles the complexities of education and outreach with determination. It actively assists first responders to engage with the community. It encourages residents to join the Riverside Wildfire Alliance.
A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) is greatly helping with these efforts, Barrett said, adding, “If residents take the steps that we teach, which are made possible, in part, thanks to IECF, they can cut these risks in half to 20 percent.”
The nonprofit’s website is filled with information to assist residents and in the coming months, outreach will no doubt increase. And while Barrett is pleased that reducing fire risk to 20 percent is good, it’s not enough.
“Personally, I feel 20 percent is completely unacceptable,” he said. “That’s one-fifth, so for every five homes, one will burn, in theory. That’s not acceptable. What we’re trying to do is build more NFPA Firewise sites and continue supporting the building of Fire Safe Councils.
“The main difference being that a Fire Safe Council can apply for its own grants related to defensible space, and to be able to help homeowners,” he added. “But for us, none of this is possible without the support of organizations like IECF.”
Learn more at mysaferiverside.org.
This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, August 2025.
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