How Ember Stomp Is Helping Marin Get Fire-Ready, 1 Go Bag at a Time | KQED

"Children climbed up fire engines, gripped hoses, and fired bursts of water to knock down wooden flames in the windows of small model houses. Local gardening experts offered tips on growing native plants. Welcome to Ember Stomp, a free festival hosted by the nonprofit Fire Safe Marin, focused on wildfire safety and preparedness. Held at the Marin Civic Center last month - home to the county fair - Ember Stomp felt like a small-town music festival, complete with food trucks and kid-friendly activities."

"This organization, the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, supports Fire Safe Marin and helps drive local preparedness initiatives. "Marin has found a great way to create a local funding stream that has been a critical innovation, especially in a landscape where we see fluctuations in the availability of state and federal funds," said Jacy Hyde, executive director for the California Fire Safe Council, during a recent state wildfire task force meeting."

"Dozens of agencies - including all of Marin's fire departments - joined forces with nonprofits to showcase fire prevention programs and community resources. "Embers that can pass through here typically don't have enough energy to ignite things on the other side," Quarles said. "Not the case for the quarter-inch and not the case of the half-inch." One type of sixteenth-inch mesh is ember-resistant but could let in flames. The state fire marshal approves the other to be flame-resistant, as well."

Ember Stomp attracted thousands to the Marin Civic Center for hands-on wildfire safety demonstrations, live burn tests, go-bag tips, and family activities. Children explored fire engines, practiced using hoses on model houses, and attended educational booths by gardening experts on native plants. Dozens of agencies, including all Marin fire departments, nonprofit organizations, and the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority showcased fire prevention programs and community resources. Local officials emphasized the importance of a local funding stream to sustain preparedness amid fluctuating state and federal funds. Officials demonstrated ember-resistant mesh options and warned that larger mesh sizes can allow flames to penetrate and ignite homes.

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