PG&E Grants $220,000 to Fire Safe Councils in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity Counties

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Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has joined forces with local Fire Safe Councils and other 501(c)(3) organizations across Northern and Central California to enhance the safety and preparedness of local communities in connection with the 2020 wildfire season.  PG&E is providing $2.3 million to fund the organizations’ projects across 28 counties to reduce the threat of wildfires and help keep communities safe.  This includes a total of $220,000 to Fire Safe Councils in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity Counties.

“The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is PG&E’s most important responsibility and we are once again committed to supporting local wildfire prevention efforts in the North Coast.  This collaboration among PG&E and local Fire Safe Councils will help the communities we serve prevent and prepare for wildfires,” said Carl Schoenhofer, senior manager of PG&E’s Humboldt Division.

The Lower Mattole Fire Safe Council, with the Mattole Restoration Council, will use the $70,000 grant to reduce hazardous fuels, primarily Eucalyptus trees, along Humboldt County roads in the Petrolia area.

“Treatments include the use of a bucket truck for overhanging branches and local ground crews to both cleanup and reduce roadside fuels,” said Ali Freedlund, Director for the Working Lands Human Communities Program at the Mattole Restoration Council.  “Firewood will be processed and given to the elderly or low income and alter-abled,” added Freedlund.

The Mendocino Fire Safe Council received $75,000 to expand its chipper program.

“Thanks to this new PG&E funding, we have been able to hire the crews to run our chipper (which PG&E helped us purchase last year) and expand our reach by offering chipper days county-wide.  For example, in the current two-week period we are bringing days of chipping service to residents of Anderson Valley, Fort Bragg, Albion, Redwood Valley and Covelo.  We are leveraging PG&E’s assistance to offer free chipping when local community groups organize themselves to do enough work to keep a chipper crew busy all day.  In exchange we bring the crew and do the chipping work for free, which provides a substantial savings for those community members relative to having to pay for that work or haul the brush they cut to a green waste facility,” said Scott Cratty, Executive Director, Mendocino Fire Safe Council.  “This grant has helped us inspire communities throughout the county to work on their defensible space and to accomplish substantial fire fuel reduction work,” added Cratty.

A $75,000 grant to the Trinity County Fire Safe Council will enable The Trinity County Resource Conservation District to create shaded fuel breaks in the Mad River area and clear overgrowth along roadsides.  In a new program, the organization will also be able to provide fuel reduction services on private land within 100 feet of PG&E assets, for the first time in Southern Trinity County.

Since 2014, and including this year, PG&E will have provided $17 million to local Fire Safe Councils and 501(c)(3) organizations to fund more than 300 projects in Northern and Central California. Projects have included fuel reduction, shaded fuel breaks, emergency access and wood-chipping programs. This year, PG&E is providing funding to local councils and nonprofits to complete approximately 41 projects in 28 counties. Projects must be completed by November of this year.

Community Wildfire Safety Program

In addition to partnering with local Fire Safe Councils and 501(c)(3) organizations, PG&E is preparing for wildfires through its Community Wildfire Safety Program. The company launched the program in 2018 as an additional precautionary measure intended to reduce wildfire threats and strengthen communities for the future. Through the program, PG&E is bolstering wildfire prevention and emergency response efforts, putting in place new and enhanced safety measures, and doing more over the long term to harden its electric system to help reduce wildfire risks and to keep its customers safe.

 

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 23,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.