SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA (July 17, 2023) The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCCFSC) has expanded their commitment to improve residents’ wildfire resilience in partnership with Fire Aside. SCCFSC will be supporting and managing county-wide chipping and defensible space evaluations using Fire Aside’s ChipperDay software. The results of the Santa Clara County Chipping program have been compelling with many of Santa Clara County’s residents that have used the Chipper program saying the program caused them to take action for wildfire risk reduction. This translates to over 25,000 cubic yards of high-risk vegetation that has been removed from the community. Seth Schalet, CEO of the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council shared “We have been working with Fire Aside for two years. We started by pilot testing Fire Aside’s ChipperDay software in a community and quickly saw the benefits the software brought to us and our community. The software has automated an otherwise manual process and the reduction in time, complexity and cost using Fire Aside’s ChipperDay software allows us to scale the program. Residents are more engaged because they can register and manage their registration easily online, and we can offer more events to more areas.”
Based on the success of the Chipper program, SCCFSC has started pilot testing Fire Aside’s Defensible Space Inspection (DSI) software, which replaces a previous manual process of forms and checklists with an interactive and easy to use product. Residents are empowered with clear, actionable information that is specific to their property, including photos of vulnerable items and associated risk levels so they can prioritize costs while getting useful education along the way. Fire Agencies can dramatically increase the velocity of evaluations and efficiency, report on resident actions taken, inform compliance for grants while gathering actual structural and vegetation data at the ground level to target areas of highest risk and allocate resources efficiently and with impact. After the pilot, based on the data collected, SCCFSC plans to expand its use of the Defensible Space Inspection (DSI) software to other WUI communities.
“With this partnership we will be well positioned to get actual structural and vegetation data and be able to allocate resources effectively to the highest risk areas, further enhancing our evidenced based approach to defensible space”, stated Schalet.
Jason Brooks, CEO of Fire Aside said “SCCFSC is doing amazing work in the County to help the community adapt to wildfire. We are honored by the expanding partnership to continue to support their mission while giving residents best in class tools to access information and take action for their homes.”
About Fire Aside: Fire Aside, Inc. provides a software platform that supports Fire Agencies and Fire Safe Councils in their mission to help communities adapt to wildfire. Fire Aside’s software is currently supporting millions of high-risk properties in Western US through the use of its Defensible Space and ChipperDay products. Enabling property owners to receive comprehensive & customized data about their home’s risk to wildfire, while at the same time providing access to range of resources to help residents take action including community fuel removal, grants, insurance, and other information.
About Santa Clara County FireSafe Council: As a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a 20-year history, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council’s core mission is to mobilize the people of Santa Clara County to protect their homes, communities, and environment from wildfires. As a trusted partner across the government, fire service, corporate and WUI residential communities, SCCFSC has led some of the most complex hazardous fuel reduction projects in the region. With a board and advisory council that has a deep expertise across the wildfire ecosystem including wildfire and environmental research, academia, emergency management, regional planning, technology products and wildland firefighting leadership, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council is uniquely positioned to lead cross-sector collaborations, government-private partnerships in Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County and beyond. For more information, visit www.sccfiresafe.org
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Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
14380 Saratoga Ave
Saratoga, CA 95070
Phone: (408) 975-9591
Website: www.sccfiresafe.org/
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