Local nonprofit group Fire Safe Moraga-Orinda (FSMO) has been granted $40,000 by Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen. The grant is intended to identify and help vulnerable/low-income residents prepare their properties for wildfire and plan for evacuation – neighbors helping neighbors.

    The application for the grant was submitted to the county by Marc Evans, FSMO president. The program for which he sought the funding is the FSMO Wildfire Prevention Defensible Space Project for Individual Vulnerable Residents. The project will provide funding to selected vulnerable residents, who live within the Moraga-Orinda Fire District boundary. 

    The funds will be used to pay for Hazardous Vegetation Removal Contractors to cut grasses, limb trees, remove dead wood and dry vegetation material on private property. In addition, the grant will cover removal of all material, such as branches, leaves, and needles, from the roof and gutters. Completed work will comply with the MOFD Exterior Wildfire Hazards Abatement Requirements (e.g., the MOFD exterior fire code).

    Evans explained that vulnerable residents are typically elderly, with limited ability to perform the necessary defensible space work on their homes. These vulnerable residents are also the least likely to survive or recover from a significant wildfire event. This project is aligned with the FSMO mission to help residents prepare for and respond to the effects of wildfire.

    In applying for the grant, Evans said that it was assumed that each vulnerable resident would require an average of $2,000 of hazardous vegetation removal from their private property. A $50,000 grant would support 25 vulnerable residents.
 
    Although the grant of the county is only $40,000, FSMO has an additional $10,000 available from its fundraising efforts. The Orinda Community Foundation has donated $2,500 to FSMO for each of the past three years, for example. 
    
    FSMO, in conjunction with the Moraga Orinda Firesafe Network and MOFD, will be implementing outreach efforts to identify and assist those who qualify for this special assistance.

    Last year, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors indicated its desire to allocate $1 million per District from the COVID 19 FEMA Reserve funds for direction by each District Supervisor.  The amount in question was $37,544,395. 

    The grant funds originally came from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. In July, the Board allocated $15,000 per District to fund the costs of a community engagement process to help inform the allocation of the $1 million per District.
 
    Supervisor Andersen allocated a number of grants in District 2. In addition to the FSMO grant, other grants went to, among others, Lamorinda Village, Meals on Wheels, Moraga Education Foundation, Orinda Network of Education, Lafayette Partners in Education, and the Orinda Association’s Seniors Around Town program.