The San Marcos Trout Club (SMTC), a neighborhood of 37 homes in the Santa Barbara foothills, is the first community in Santa Barbara County to be approved as a Firewise USA participant by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

To earn this designation, SMTC residents completed a formal wildfire risk assessment; recorded volunteer time for fire safety activities; directed part of their homeowners’ association dues to vegetation management; and created a three-year action plan to reduce wildfire risk in their community.

While many residents are new to the small community near the junction of Highway 154 and San Marcos Road, at least a dozen current homeowners lived in the SMTC during the 1990 Painted Cave Fire.

The SMTC Firewise committee volunteers include new and tenured residents with a shared commitment to the safety of its residents, the surrounding community, and local habitat.

“We live in a very high-risk fire zone, and safety is a key factor in the decisions we make as a community,” said Matt Thomas, the SMTC Board president. “Our action plan identifies ways to further improve our defenses and readiness for wildfire together.

‘We’re fortunate to call this beautiful part of Santa Barbara home, but it also requires a special vigilance.”

The action plan includes increased fire education for residents, expanded vegetation management to reduce fuels, defensible space evaluations, improving water reliability in case of fire, and a communitywide evacuation plan.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council (FSC) is a key partner in the initiative. Anne-Marie Parkinson, Community Wildfire Resilience Domain lead, partnered with SMTC in its wildfire risk assessment and application.

“Many of the Trout Club residents are already incredibly wildfire savvy, and they have a lot of energy and ideas to make their community even safer,” she said. “The biggest benefit of becoming a Firewise USA community is that residents have mapped out strategies to keep themselves and their homes safer.

“They may also benefit from reduced fire insurance costs and be better positioned to apply for grants to help fund some of their risk reduction programs.”

For more information, contact Richard Siegel, chair of the SMTC Firewise committee, 805-452-1487.

For more about Firewise USA visit https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA.