Community Wildfire Risk Assessment Project

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The City of Agoura Hills is currently undertaking a CWRA project. A Community Wildfire Risk Assessment (CWRA) serves as a tool to help communities better understand the potential wildfire hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities of their community and neighboring communities. The CWRA serves as the basis for government agencies, community organizations, residents and other stakeholders to develop targeted mitigation activities, programs and policies unique to help increase its resiliency to wildfire threats in future. The CWRA is typically the first step in developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), which is a collaborative strategy or plan developed by local citizens, state, and federal agencies to address wildfire risks.

Due to our unique landscape, the City of Agoura Hills is at high risk of wildfire. A CWRA for Agoura Hills will serve as a roadmap to guide and prioritize wildfire prevention and preparedness efforts for communities, agencies, and individuals.

Why develop a CWRA?

The City believes developing a CWRA will assist with developing a future action plan. Upon completion of the CWRA (estimated Aug/Sept 2025), the City of Agoura Hills, in collaboration with agency and community stakeholders, will look to develop a CWPP based on the outcomes of the CWRA to achieve the following overarching goals:

Enhance safety and preparedness for responders and the public

Create healthy and productive fire adapted communities

Restore and maintain healthy and fire resilient landscapes

A CWPP aims to achieve the following objectives:

Restore and maintain healthy, resilient landscapes in all ecotypes

Plan, prioritize, and coordinate fuels reduction treatment projects and funding sources to ensure smart investments based on risk and potential effectiveness

Identify and prioritize potential hazardous fuel reduction treatments, as well as types and methods of treatments (including maintenance and fire use)

Create collaborative partnerships for county-wide lands treatments (large scale)

Plan, fund, and implement wildland urban interface (WUI) fuel reduction treatments

Identify and communicate potential evacuation ingress/egress routes to responders and residents

Support and actively engage recognized Firewise Communities to reduce fire risk throughout their neighborhoods

Identify measures that homeowners, businesses, and communities can take to reduce the ignitability of structures

Reduce human-caused ignitions

What is the process for developing and implementing a CWRA?

The Draft CWRA will be developed using updated modeling and mapping of current wildfire risk as well as community input. Community input will be gathered through stakeholder and general public workshops, as well as comments received by the City of Agoura Hills.

The Draft CWRA will then be reviewed by the public, and agreed to by the City of Agoura Hills.

The Final CWRA will then be used to examine the best ways to mitigate wildfire risk and improve safety through community projects, policies, and funding programs.

What is a CWRA vs. a CWPP?

A CWRA provides the technical analysis used to understand potential wildfire hazards, risks and vulnerabilities across a community. It is not a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), which is a strategic planning document that is based on the outcomes of a CWRA.

A CWPP is a collaborative strategy developed by local citizens, state, and federal agencies to address wildfire risks. CWPPs are utilized where homes, neighborhoods and communities are in high fire prone areas, known as the wildland-urban interface (WUI). This plan helps communities identify their specific wildfire protection needs and priorities, such as hazard mitigation, community preparedness, and structure protection. CWPPs enable communities to access resources and funding for implementing wildfire mitigation measures. These plans are crucial for enhancing resilience to wildfires across various states by tailoring strategies to local conditions and priorities.

Note: CWRAs and CWPPs are not regulatory documents or local ordinances. They are guiding tools to help reduce wildfire risk in a community.

How do I get involved in the CWRA?

City of Agoura Hills, CA

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Community Wildfire Risk Assessment Project