OFSC Year In Review 2025

It has been a busy year for Oakland Firesafe Council (OFSC)!

The fires in the Los Angeles area were a stark reminder of the risk we face in our community. Here in Oakland, more than 25,000 homes are located in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). It is not a question of IF we will see a wildfire emergency, but WHEN.

For the past decade, OFSC has focused on education as well as wildfire and emergency preparedness as the foundation of community resilience. We’re excited to share our actions and accomplishments for 2025, but first, we need your support as we continue this work –delivering meaningful results to our community – in 2026.

Our current fundraising goal is to raise $30,000 to support our work through the first half of 2026, covering operating costs as well as our programs.

Your donation helps keep our organization running and delivering essential wildfire preparedness information and support to our community.

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COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

WEP WORKSHOP

We held eight community workshops this year on wildfire preparedness and emergency response (WEP), including a workshop at Mills College attended by 125 students and faculty. At these events, we have shared guidance on the top 5 preparedness actions, when and how to evacuate, home hardening, Red Flag Warnings, fire-resistant landscaping, and defensible space. Contact us if you’re interested in holding a workshop with your group or neighborhood.

OUT IN THE COMMUNITY

This year, we took part in a wide range of community events, meeting residents and sharing guides and resources. We tabled at the Montclair Farmers Market, Wildfire Preparedness Day hosted by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, and Alameda County District 3’s Emergency Preparedness Day with Supervisor Lena Tam. We also joined the opening celebration of Oakland Fire Station 25 and neighborhood resilience meetings.

MONTHLY COMMUNITY MEETING

We continue to host monthly OFSC meetings that bring together City partners, community members, and neighboring Fire Safe Councils. This year, we introduced a streamlined agenda with a guest speaker segment. Speakers have included the University of California’s Smart and Connected Communities research program’s work on evacuation mapping and wildfire-preparedness gaming tools, guidance from United Policyholders on navigating insurance, and home-hardening lessons from Rebuild Paradise.

Our online meetings were held on the third Wednesday of the month – Register today to join us for our next meeting on January 21st.

Our monthly newsletter now reaches more than 1,200 subscribers.

It shares updates on Firewise USA progress, emerging regulations, preparedness guidance, City wildfire and emergency announcements, volunteer opportunities, and more.

WEBSITE

Our Oakland Firesafe Council website serves as a hub for wildfire safety and emergency preparedness.

Our downloadable Guides offer clear, actionable instructions to help you and your family prepare for any emergency.

FIREWISE USA

This year brought our biggest expansion yet: nine new Firewise USA-recognized communities! Oakland now has 15 recognized neighborhoods, with more than a dozen on track for 2026.

Centered on home hardening, wildfire education, and community-led preparedness, these groups are making an impact on reducing wildfire risk.

OFSC also supported a grassroots evacuation drill with several Firewise communities – an exercise we hope to repeat!

Interested in learning more about bringing the Firewise USA to your neighborhood? Check out our program Firewise USA® for Oakland.

FUEL REDUCTION PROJECTS

In May, OFSC received a PG&E grant to carry out 11 fuel-reduction projects across Oakland. The work focused on vegetation management at 23 residential properties and three key City sites, representing a major investment in local wildfire mitigation.

This work reduced hazardous vegetation along important evacuation routes, improving safety in several neighborhoods within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFSZ). See project details and great before/after photos in our FULL REPORT.

We are grateful to PG&E for making this possible, and are actively pursuing additional grants and donations to continue mitigation work into 2026.

ADVOCACY IS A TEAM SPORT

COMMUNITY RECOGNITION

The Oakland Fire Department (OFD) honored OFSC with the Community Partner Award, recognizing a decade of work to reduce wildfire risk. We’ve continuously advocated for OFD in the City budgeting process and stood with the firefighters’ union to restore the closed fire stations in our community this year.

Last year, we played a leading role in advocating for the passage of Measure MM, the ballot measure that funds vegetation management work on City-owned WUI properties and evacuation routes throughout the hills. Following the passage, the City established the Wildfire Prevention Commission to advise on Measure MM implementation. Among the Mayor’s appointees is OFSC board member Elizabeth Stage.

We’re also grateful to be recognized by the Piedmont Pines Neighborhood Association’s Golden Pinecone Award for our work in the community.

ZONE 0 AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Over the past year, OFSC and neighboring Firewise communities have collaborated to provide input to the California Board of Forestry as it develops new Zone 0 regulations, which establish a non-combustible zone within the first five feet of homes located in the State’s VHFSZ. OFSC Board Members testified at committee hearings advocating for strict science-based regulations. The board has delayed finalizing its recommendations until early next year.

We are thankful to work with our community partners, the East Bay Wildfire Coalition (of Governments), the East Bay FireSafe Alliance (of Firesafe Councils), and the Oakland Wildland Stewards (OWLS). Our partners help prioritize and coordinate wildfire-safety strategies across the East Bay.

GROWING OUR TEAM, GROWING OUR IMPACT

This year, we welcomed three new volunteers to the OFSC Board and hope to further expand the team in 2026. If you’re interested in supporting wildfire preparedness in our community, we would love to hear from you.

As Oakland residents, our commitment is simple: help our community build safer, more fire-resilient neighborhoods and grow the number of Firewise USA communities across the city. With new defensible-space laws on the horizon, the need for education and outreach will only increase in the year ahead.

Thank you for your support!

Please consider donating to OFSC to HELP US CONTINUE SERVING OAKLAND.