MENDOCINO Co., 2/2/23 — Building more fire safe and resilient communities requires addressing the risks of wildfire year round, and it also means considering wild fire risks from the ground up, whether it is prescribed vegetation burns during the winter or using fire-resistant materials in home construction.
To help local contractors, building designers, and hardware stores provide more fire safe options for customers and adapt to increased fire risks, the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council is offering a free two day training on March 13 – 14 in Ukiah designed for those in the building and construction industry by the National Fire Protection Association. Spots are limited, so you can request a seat at firesafemendocino.org/nfpa-training/, or call MCFSC at (707) 462-3662.
More details are included in the announcement from the Fire Safe Council, below:
Wildfire is a natural part of our environment, and we must learn to live with it. Because the State of California realizes this, it has begun to adjust its laws requiring wildfire preparation, just as it did for earthquakes. Insurance companies are also beginning to demand certain preparation standards in order for homeowners to receive favorable insurance premiums and outcomes.
This means that home-improvement customers will increasingly be demanding wildfire-related advice, products, and services. Hardware stores, contractors, and building designers will be on the front lines in helping people make the best decisions that could save lives and homes.
To help position your business for this potential growth in revenue and reputation, the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is hiring the highly respected National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to provide a free two-day training designed for building-supply stores, architects, building designers and contractors located within Mendocino County.
There is no entity better qualified to provide this training than NFPA, a well-established organization familiar with up-to-date fire-safety codes and strategies. MCFSC is providing this training for free and even including a free lunch, so that this important knowledge can be shared and implemented more widely throughout our community.
The training, to be held Monday–Tuesday, March 13–14 at the Alex Rorabaugh Center in Ukiah, will provide state-of-the-art best practices on products, standards, and strategies that you can share with your customers to prepare their homes and properties as well as possible for wildfire. You will learn how to help them think through wildfire risks and harden their homes against wildfire through products and improvements such as 1/8-inch screening on all vents, dual-pane tempered-glass windows, fire-resistant decking, siding and paving types and placement—and much more.
Participants are required to attend both days of the training. We realize that two full days may be a lot for professional people, but we believe it will be well worth your while because:
- You will gain bragging rights as trained in the best current knowledge about making homes and property resistant to wildfire damage.
- This training normally costs hundreds of dollars per person, but this one-time opportunity offers it to you for free, including lunch on both days.
- MCFSC will add all businesses who complete the full training to a business directory of NFPA-trained stores and contractors that will be shared with all MCFSC members and contacts as well as on its website.
- MCFSC will also share its list of approved businesses extensively with its network of 50+ Neighborhood Fire Safe Councils, in its monthly newsletter, on its social media pages, and at community events including its well-attended Wildfire Safety Expos.
- Attendees who complete the course will be able to advertise that they have increasingly in-demand knowledge that many of their competitors don’t.
If you operate a building-supply store, or are a local building designer, architect or contractor interested in this rare free-training offer—and if you can commit to two full days to complete it—you can request a spot at firesafemendocino.org/nfpa-training/, or call MCFSC at (707) 462-3662. Attendance is limited to only 40 people, so do not delay.
Please note that submitting a registration form does not guarantee you a spot in the class. MCFSC will try to ensure that all corners of the county are covered, in fulfillment of its mission to create a more fire-safe county. Priority will therefore be given to businesses representing the highest contact potential for geographic and numeric reach to Mendocino County homeowners. MCFSC will, however, endeavor to include all who can sincerely make the best of this unique opportunity.