County proclaims April–October wildfire awareness season and launches preparedness outreach

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors adopted a proclamation establishing April through October as the county’s wildfire awareness season, a move county wildfire staff said is intended to signal sustained outreach and preparedness efforts.

Tom Meyer, program manager for the Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience, told the board the proclamation “underscores our collective responsibility to prepare for, mitigate, and adapt to the wildfire risk that we all face in El Dorado County.” Meyer said wildfires are becoming “larger and increasing in severity” and “more of a year‑round threat,” and called ongoing efforts in defensible space, home hardening and fuels reduction critical to reducing risk.

Tanya Harlow, who works in the same office, outlined the county’s outreach plan tied to the proclamation: a coordinated, multi‑agency social media campaign built around shared weekly messages, a wildfire preparedness and mitigation roundtable with state and local agency leaders, and a press conference to launch the season. Harlow said the campaign’s theme is “hope is not a strategy. Be prepared.” The campaign will emphasize parcel‑level actions (defensible space and home hardening), landscape‑level fuel mitigation, and community‑level efforts such as Fire Safe Councils and Firewise activities.

Meyer and Harlow said the office is coordinating with state, local and federal agencies, fire safe councils and community organizations to link residents to resources and integrate wildfire preparedness into county planning. The presentation included an invitation to residents to attend upcoming outreach events and the roundtable the office plans to host later in the week.

Board members thanked staff for the proclamation and for continuing to prioritize wildfire resilience; no formal controversy or vote on the proclamation was recorded beyond routine adoption within the consent and agenda process earlier in the meeting.