It’s now official. The Penn Valley Fire Protection District has been awarded a 57-thousand-537 dollar grant from Cal Fire. District Fire Chief Don Wagner says it’s a planning grant that will update prevention efforts for Lake Wildwood, one of the first Firewise communities in Nevada County…

Cal Fire says the firewise programs are models for cohesive efforts to plan for emergencies and actively mitigate wildfires, through vegetation management and hardening structures from ember intrusion. Wagner says much progress has already been made, but more needs to be done for this summer…

Cal Fire says the Lake Wildwood Association’s efforts reduce the ignition risk and subsequent carbon emissions, by managing hazardous vegetation. It says the association also engages residents to prepare their homes, and amends policies to improve ground conditions for firefighters. Cal Fire has also officially awarded two-point-two million dollars for the Ponderosa West Grass Valley Defense Zone Project. The 18-hundred acre project will improve protection for about three-thousand homes in Lake Wildwood, Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, as well as Grass Valley.