Free defensible space and home hardening assessments by trained neighbors
HelpBerkeley offers free wildfire assessments in collaboration with Berkeley Firewise groups:
- Our trainers are trained by the Berkeley Fire Department, and undergo rigorous training before being able to conduct assessments on their own
- Our assessors are all homeowners, local residents like all of us, and understand well our own priorities and pressures as residents: cost, beauty, feasibility, insurance…
- Our assessments cover both defensible space and home hardening. They are long and thorough, typically taking two full hours, sometimes more.
- Our assessments include a brief report with a number of pictures along with reminder notes for what has been discussed.
Assessments are NOT inspections
- None of the information in our assessments ever gets shared with BFD
- There are NO violations ever generated as a result of a neighborhood assessment
- Our assessors are very well trained—but they are NOT inspectors. A BFD inspection is the only final authoritative answer to whether you comply with the Berkeley Fire Code
- Our assessments are the opinions of well-informed but by no means authoritative neighbors. You cannot and must not rely on them to make final decisions on remodeling or landscaping. It is your responsibility to conduct your due diligence with licenses contractors and with BFD.
To ask for an assessment
To get an assessment, there are two ways to register. The best way, which allows us to contact you easily and keeps both of us easily in contact, follows:
- Register on the website as a new member
- In the registration process, select “I need help: I want a defensible space or home hardening assessment”
- Include all contact information required for us to reach out to you
- Validate your email address
- Come back to this category and start a thread asking for an assessment
- Here is a sample assessment request: Example thread asking for an assessment
- From here on, it is easy for you to ask further questions and get in touch directly with the assessment team directly from your thread
The second way, which also works but does not create an easy follow-up contact channel, does not require you to register on this website, but requires filling a Google Form with the same information here:
DISCLAIMER
Our free wildfire assessments can help you get going on your defensible space plan—but—our assessors are volunteers: they offer this service for free as a friendly way to help their neighbors. Assessors are not licensed contractors or fire inspectors. They do not work for the city. You should not, under any circumstances, reply on their opinions for critical decisions about your house or your property: it is you responsibility to conduct due diligence, and contact license contractors and BFD prior to making important wildfire mitigation decisions.
We are looking forward to meeting you in person!
This QR code will bring you back to the HelpBerkeley Wildfire Assessments page