Probably not. The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is a small nonprofit. We are not a government agency and have no regulatory authority, so we cannot force anyone to take action. Our role is to provide tools, education, and resources for people who want to improve their wildfire safety.

It’s also important to know that private property rights are strongly protected by law. Even local governments, which may have some enforcement authority, can usually only act when a property poses a clear and significant risk to the broader community, and those processes can be slow and costly. If it seems likely that they will not be able to recover costs, authorities may choose not to pursue enforcement.

That said, here are some strategies you can try. Working together as neighbors is the best place to start and often the most successful strategy:

Talk with your neighbor. Share your concerns and explain how their property could put the whole community at risk.
Provide information. We can give you brochures and other materials about wildfire safety that you can pass along.
Connect them with resources. If your neighbor wants to make improvements but lacks the means, point them to our Defensible Space Assistance Program. For larger properties, the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District may offer cost-share programs for forest improvements.
Organize a work party. If your neighbor is open to it, gather other community members to help. This could also be a good opportunity to start a Neighborhood Fire Safe Council.
Contact fire authorities. If the property is a significant hazard, reach out to your local fire department or CAL FIRE (Mendocino Unit: 707-367-7416). Ask if they can take action or support your request to another authority.
Check with Code Enforcement. If you live outside city limits, you can contact Mendocino County Code Enforcement to see if the County can step in:Code Enforcement Information. If you inside city limits you can try contacting code enforcement for the city.

Homeowners insurance in California is in a state of uncertainty and rapid change. Industry standards are evolving with new research on best practices for home-hardening and defensible space. According to the Safer from Wildfire guidelines issued by the CA Dept of Insurance, insurers are now required to offer discounts for homeowner mitigations. Living in a recognized Firewise Community is one action that can provide a discount for homeowners.

If you reside in a Firewise Community in good standing, email your insurance agent a copy of your communities certificate and boundary map to inquire about discounts. Certificates and boundary maps can be found on our Firewise USA webpage.

DSAFIE is intended to provide help clearing defensible space for people who due to age or temporary or permanent physical limitations are unable to do the work for themselves and who cannot afford to hire a contractor to do the work for them. Currently the program relies on applicants to self-certify that they meet those qualifications instead of applying any specific income limit.

Probably not. MCFSC focuses on education, on advocating for home hardening work and on wildfire fuel reduction work immediately around homes and communities and along roads that function as fire breaks and critical emergency ingress and egress. We typically do not do work on larger properties and do not develop forest management plans.

Organization that can help with that type of work include the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.