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Mono County updates wildfire readiness: Firewise growth, home-hardening outreach and a multi-year USFS grant bid
Summary
Emergency management and wildfire mitigation staff briefed the board on alerting upgrades, opt-in emergency messaging (Genesis/Ready Mono), and Firewise community growth; county staff supported a SCOG-backed Community Wildfire Defense Grant application to fund five years of hazardous-fuels removal and community chipping events.
Emergency Manager Chris McCrasick ran the board through a likely wildfire scenario and described how Mono County uses Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) for life-or-death messages and opt-in channels (Genesis Protect/Ready Mono) for more detailed evacuation and sheltering instructions. McCrasick urged residents and businesses to opt in to the county's alert systems and to add the county dispatch number to contacts to avoid mistaking emergency calls for spam.
Wildfire mitigation coordinator Wendy Grisevski reported a rapid expansion of local Firewise activity: 25 communities in the region are at recognized, forming or in-process stages, with eight fully recognized communities and eleven more progressing through assessments and three-year action plans. Wendy highlighted the practical focus on home hardening (vent replacement, clearing fine fuels, small non-combustible buffers), and said inexpensive interventions can materially raise survivability for buildings.
A consistently raised barrier is hazardous green-waste removal and disposal capacity; staff described several Mini-Grant projects and community cleanup days and said the county is seeking scalable, sustainable solutions for chipping and hauling yard waste from multiple communities. Wendy said an Eastern Sierra regional Community Wildfire Defense Grant application (led by SCOG with Inyo participation) would fund a five-year hazardous-fuels removal program, workforce development, and a public education campaign. The board approved a letter of collaboration in support of the SCOG grant application (5-0).
Board members recommended strong coordination with the town of Mammoth Lakes, local fire districts and regional partners to avoid duplicate effort, stressed the need for clear public outreach and testing of alert systems in each community, and asked staff to provide maps identifying Firewise coverage and gaps to guide targeted outreach and grant-funded work.
Staff flagged an imminent winter storm (70 mph winds) for which they would post preparedness messaging, evaluate office closures and stand ready to open warming centers or shelters depending on impacts.
