Highway 168 Fire Safe Council at a Glance

A Bit of Background

The Highway 168 Corridor is the gateway to several mountain communities. Diverse, beautiful and
interspersed through landscapes of flat to rolling hills, to scenic forest and rugged terrain, the Corridor
presents special challenges and opportunities for reducing wildfire hazard and risk.  

Rapid growth in and around Prather, Tollhouse, Auberry, Friant, Meadow Lakes and Shaver Lake has
resulted in an economy centered around the service industry. Because of this rapid growth, an increasing
number of homes and businesses are now in the intermix where people and the wildland meet – the Wildland
Urban Interface, known as the WUI. Due to these and a myriad of other factors, a plan is needed to address
all the components of community wildfire mitigation and protection. This includes everything from
individual defensible space to fuelbreaks – from information and outreach efforts to collaboration among
all interested parties.

In response to this, the Highway 168 Fire Safe Council’s mission, since its formation, has been to educate
and assist those residents interested in creating and maintaining a more resilient landscape and assets that
are more resistant to the impacts of fire. The council made it possible for a diverse set of stake-holders to
speak with one voice about fire preparedness and safety. The council distributes fire prevention educational
materials to businesses and residences, evaluates legislation pertaining to fire safety, encourages grassroot
groups to spearhead fire safety programs and activities, and sends its representatives to attend homeowner
association meetings, providing those groups with information about defensible space, evacuation
procedures, and working with neighbors to increase their mitigation efforts.