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Firewise USA®, a program administered by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), provides a framework to help communities reduce their risk of wildfire.
In 2024, Firewise approved an application representing 338 residences in the northern area of the Kings Mountain community to become an official Firewise USA® site. This designation covers homes along Skyline Boulevard from Highway 92 down to (and including) Swett Road, extending approximately 2.5 miles east and west of Skyline. The community is organized into three zones—North Mountain, Mid-Mountain, and South Mountain—with Henrik Ibsen Park recognized as a special area within the Mid-Mountain zone.
See detailed description of each area here.
While the primary goal of the Firewise program is to reduce wildfire risk, California’s Safer from Wildfire program initiative requires all insurance providers operating in the state—including the California FAIR Plan—to offer discounts to residents of recognized Firewise communities. To receive this discount, homeowners must notify their insurance providers. A letter template is available for this purpose.
Maintaining Firewise status requires only a modest annual contribution—either one hour of labor or $33.39 in investment per household for 2024. However, Firewise also emphasizes demonstrating broad community participation. Financial investments, such as hiring contractors to install fire-resistant fencing, siding, or roofing, help meet the community’s investment goals. At the same time, tracking simple, everyday fire-safety efforts—like clearing leaves or trimming vegetation—shows the widespread engagement needed to sustain our Firewise designation.
Please help document our community’s dedication to fire safety by recording time spent and investments made to reduce fire risk using this form. Submitting information helps the Firewise team estimate how many households participate in Firewise activities and develop a community-wide tally of labor and financial investments to reduce fire risk. The data are not shared with Firewise at the household level; the team simply needs a way to estimate community participation. Assuming we demonstrate progress toward our goals each year, our certification will be valid through 2027.
Interested in learning more about what needs to be done to maintain our Firewise certification? A copy of our 3-year action plan is available for viewing. The plan includes community-wide goals for education and outreach, home hardening, fuel reduction / defensible space, and evacuation planning.
The Firewise team made every effort to include all 410 homes covered by Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, but Firewise rejected our first two applications because it prefers small, cohesive communities. After narrowing its focus to the areas where most of the Kings Mountain community is located, we were able to include 338 homes.
The Firewise committee would be happy to help residences that weren't covered in the Kings Mountain application form their own Firewise communities; as few as eight homes can establish a Firewise community. Committee members include:
Barbara Heydorn (barbaraheydorn@gmail.com)
William McClenahan (seemacrun@gmail.com)
Jack Rix (president@kmvfb.org)
John Ronneberg (ronnebergjohn@gmail.com)
Additional resources:
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