Justin Graham, resident lead, had this to share:
The Larry-Mastlands Neighborhood Association (LaMasNA) includes 47 homes along Larry and Mastlands in a compact area just to your right as you drive up Ascot between the schools and the Painted Rocks. We border a number of empty forest areas, including the Sausal creek bed and Marjorie Saunders Park along Ascot, the creek bed on Larry Lane, and Spees Canyon. Naturally, we are concerned about wildfire safety and want to make ourselves safer.
Applying for FireWise certification might have been easier for us than for most.
Our neighborhood has a long history of collaboration and community events, including annual holiday dinners, outdoor get-togethers, and community clean-ups, not to mention the guidance and wisdom of LaMasNa’s own Robbie Neely, longtime leader of the Piedmont Pines Neighborhood Association. We already have an active neighborhood email list, and it didn’t take too much effort to gather the necessary commitments for the survey, including 5-6 volunteers to join the steering committee.
Joelle was incredibly helpful in guiding us
through the application process, answering our questions, and coordinating with the city (and even helping us get a grant from PG&E to clean up some fallen trees and debris from nearby untended city land).
Our annual neighborhood cleanup of Spees Canyon filled up a green dumpster and knocked off our volunteer commitments.
After that, coming up with a plan and submitting the application was pretty straightforward.
Still, the hard parts are yet to come.
We’ve gotten recognition for what we were already doing as a community, but there’s a lot more to do to keep ourselves safe. We’re glad to be part of the Oakland FireWise Community and look forward to working with all of you as we work on fire safety in the coming years.
The (NFPA) Firewise USA® recognition program was designed to help residents learn about wildfire risks and provide a self-directed, collaborative framework for neighbors to work together to reduce these risks by engaging in fuel reduction and home hardening activities.
Oakland Firesafe Council is encouraging Oakland neighborhood groups to join the growing network of Firewise USA® sites from across the nation by taking ownership in preparing and protecting their homes and communities against the threat of wildfire. LEARN MORE