Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Coordinator?
The goal of the Coordinator is to recruit and train ambassadors (residents/volunteers) to be experts at the community level. They support ambassadors in developing and implementing projects, help build community cohesion, track volunteer hours for funders, and coordinate projects such as vegetation removal and disposal. Coordinators can also act as a liaison between residents and agency/subject matter experts, helping to coordinate financial assistance to support mitigation work. CWA Coordinators answer day-to-day questions from residents and volunteers and keep ambassadors informed of training, funding, and partnership opportunities.
What is an Ambassador?
Ambassadors help to engage and motivate their neighbors in their wildfire preparedness efforts. They help build neighborhood cohesion, share needs with CWA Coordinators, and help coordinate projects and other volunteers in their own community.
Why adopt the CWA approach?
Ambassadors know their communities best. They know what aspects of the FAC wheel will be most influential within their communities and any work they do will bring their community closer to a fire adapted community. The CWA approach can be used as a standalone program or in addition to existing programs.
What is the difference between CWA and Firewise USA®
Firewise USA® is an NFPA recognition program which is focused primarily on reducing structural ignitability within a community. Firewise ® communities are led by a board or committee of Resident Leaders and requires annual actions to maintain recognition status, sometimes with the assistance of a Regional Coordinator or State Liaison.
With CWA, it is critical that there are Coordinators and Ambassadors to address community specific needs and goals, which may not necessarily include reducing ignition. Actions are guided by the Ambassadors knowledge of their own community and can be drawn from any aspect of the FAC wheel including but not limited to evacuation preparedness, infrastructure improvements, and landscape scale treatments. CWA also increases engagement between Ambassador communities by hosting regular meetings for Ambassadors to share successes and challenges to further remove barriers to becoming a Fire Adapted Community and inspire additional resilience actions.
In many areas, your Firewise USA® regional coordinator may also be utilizing the CWA approach and Firewise USA® resident leaders may be functioning as Ambassadors without utilizing the CWA brand or name. The most important thing is to continue the good work happening in communities across the state led by strong leadership within a community.
How do I know if there is a CWA program in my area?
Check out the map or reach out to your local DNR Community Resilience Coordinator.
Who leads CWA programs?
CWA programs are led by fire districts, conservation districts, non profit organizations, and others.
We do something similar. Are we a CWA program?
Many organizations across the state are utilizing best practices from the CWA approach with or without knowing it. CWA was designed to bring additional resources to local organizations and provide a framework to decrease workload for local groups while increasing action within communities through strong resident leadership in the form of ambassadors.
What is the difference between CWA and WRN?
Wildfire Ready Neighbors is a collaboration between Washington State Department of Natural Resources, fire departments, conservation districts, and community organizations to help everyone in Washington prepare for wildfires. The initiative provides homeowners, renters, and private landowners with access to local experts and free resources to reduce wildfire risk in their communities. WRN is a year-round program backed by local outreach in each county to sign up as many neighbors as possible and help everyone take action to prepare their properties and reduce wildfire risk in our communities.
The ask to individuals is simple – get your free Wildfire Ready Plan. Each resident who signs up at WildfireReady.com or ListosParaIncendios.com (Spanish language site) receives a tailored action plan based on survey results about their individual property. Participants can also request a Wildfire Ready Home Visit or Forest Health Consultation if they want additional in-person support.
CWA focuses on long term engagement of Ambassadors within communities to scale up efforts from individual properties to coordinated community action led by a Community Wildfire Ambassador Coordinator. While reducing structural ignitability is a key aspect of CWA, Ambassadors may prioritize actions from any aspect of the FAC wheel based on their knowledge of their community including community motivating factors, needs, and limitations. Ambassadors are also expected to engage with other Ambassadors to inspire neighboring communities to create fire adapted communities across the landscape.
