By Betsy Cotton & Susan Mattmann
The Evergreen Slater Neighborhood Firewise community grew out of our neighborhood’s experience living through the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire. The fires came within feet of homes in our Firewise community and tragically destroyed many just next door to us. Since that time, we have been part of several efforts to educate and prepare for the next one. Sitting on one end next to the eucalyptus grove behind the Claremont Hotel, and Garber Park on the other end, we know we need to be vigilant.
Following a presentation by the Oakland Firesafe Council, we learned about Firewise and how through this program we could better protect and prepare our homes and neighborhood for fire and other disasters. We announced our intentions to create a Firewise community at our annual fall neighborhood gathering in 2025 and got to work.
With the guidance of Joelle Fraser and Christophe Marcant, we embarked on this journey. One year later we are thrilled to be recognized as a Firewise Community and hope to join our Oakland neighbors in joint efforts to make our neighborhoods safe and resilient.
