WAFAC has brought a spark of life to our nonprofit, CAFÉ. Since joining the network, CAFÉ has engaged over 50 Latin members in wildfire preparedness, developed a city-wide Wildfire Preparedness Proclamation in Wenatchee, started a disaster preparedness neighborhood program, and received training to implement a wildfire home assessment program. This would not have been possible without the support from the many partners we met through the WAFAC Learning Network.

Relationships are at the core of the WAFAC Learning Network. They have connected us to partnerships and solutions for fire adaptation that are real, innovative, and specific to our community.

WAFAC members and local partners inspired us to take action. By thinning and removing vegetation from 50 acres around our homes, we’ve increased the odds of our community surviving a wildfire.

WAFAC brings together partners from different backgrounds to experiment with ideas, share, and learn. Fire adaptation is never finished, and we are allies for the long haul.

WAFAC taught me almost everything I know around this topic, from defensible space to how to word my fuels reduction event advertising to how to do a home assessment. For our work in Washington there is no other entity making sure that practitioners have a well-rounded set of tools to serve their communities like WAFAC.

Without the assistance of WAFAC our community would not be as advanced as we are on our work plan to reduce the risk of wildfire.

WAFAC has helped my focus on my role and encouraged me to engage partners in roles I cannot fill. Instead of taking it all on myself, I have built a local network from concepts I learned about at the state level of WAFAC.