About Old Bisbee Firewise
Former Board members Al Anderson and Anne Carl spent several years watching fires in Bisbee and wondering when a wildfire would break out on the land above their house. Al called the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, and within 24 hours they met in person to create Old Bisbee Firewise.
At a well-attended community meeting at Central School, more Bisbee folks came together to discuss future steps, and this energetic volunteer group continues to grow and take action. Local residents have been certified as Firewise Community Assessors. We have lobbied local, state and federal leaders for support.
A successful partnership with Step Up Bisbee/Naco and the Bisbee Fire Department in the winters of 2021, 2022 and 2023 exchanged safe, new space heaters for older “killer” units and provided CO/smoke detectors and fire extinguishers to Bisbee and Naco residents.
Our efforts continue. They include but are not limited to:
Getting even greater participation throughout Old Bisbee. If you are hesitant about joining, know that we ask very little: EITHER
Doing at least one (1) hour of “sweat equity” per year on your own property AND letting us know you’ve done this. Sweat equity projects can be easy: they might include cleaning dry/dead/ flammable leaves out of gutters, sweeping up and disposing of flammable pine needles, or managing clutter in the yard (moving a pile of firewood away from the home, for example). By tracking each resident’s risk reduction information, we can leverage resident participation and help our Bisbee Fire Department if/when a fire happens.
OR
Spending at least $28.54 PER YEAR to hire someone else to perform that work
Old Bisbee Firewise’s priority is to educate you on how to reduce your risk from fire…which reduces our collective fire risk and makes all of Old Bisbee more resilient.
Bisbee has burned to the ground twice in its history. Our Fire Chief agrees that fires will happen again in Old Bisbee. The question is when…and will we be prepared when they do? We face the same dry/warming climate trends and wildland-urban interface issues as the California towns devastated by fire in recent years.
We love our town and our neighbors; let’s work together to make sure that we can all continue to live here together safely.