If you’re a Central Coast resident worried about wildfire risk in your community, you’re certainly not alone. Wildfires are now a year-round concern in California as climate change continues to alter weather patterns and the environment.
Luckily, evolving technology and strategies for fire mitigation and protection are meeting the challenge. One company that is harnessing new tools to safeguard homes and businesses, with a unique approach to wildfire preparation, is Redwood Fire Protection, established earlier this year and serving communities and businesses throughout the state—using expert assessment, analysis, education and home hardening solutions.
Redwood Fire Protection can also expertly apply a nontoxic, long-lasting fire retardant as part of its individualized home hardening plan for properties. Newly developed Komodo fire retardant can be sprayed around a property perimeter, providing a 100-foot fire break in case of wildfire. Although other long-term fire retardants are available, only Komodo can stop a fire in its tracks through an annual application.
“It’s a long-term fire retardant that can be laid down once a season,” says Jack Kimmich, founder and president of Redwood Fire Protection, a 17-year Cal Fire contractor and a long-time resident of the Monterey Bay area. “It’s plant-safe, people-safe and animal-safe as well … and once it’s down, it will last through 2 to 3 inches of rain.”
Kimmich explains that Komodo retardant is plant-based and water soluble, it’s colorless and contains no PFAS (“forever chemicals”) and is non-corrosive.
Redwood Fire Protection has worked hand in hand with Komodo in developing the technology and the tools for applying the world’s only environmentally-friendly USDA and Forest Service-approved fire retardant effectively and safely.
Kimmich previously worked as director of operations for Komodo Fire Systems in Morgan Hill, where he designed and tested tools and equipment for the company. He has brought all that expertise to bear on his new role heading up Redwood Fire Protection.
But this barrier against wildfire is just one aspect of Kimmich’s new enterprise. While working for Komodo, he saw a pressing need to work with communities and homeowner groups in protecting their properties, leading to the birth of Redwood Fire Protection. The intent, he says, is to offer homeowners their best chance to protect their property against fire, and to also help make sure they’re able to keep their insurance—and even potentially lower their insurance rates.
Redwood Fire Protection works with HOAs and communities as well as individual homeowners and businesses to assess fire risk and to offer solutions, according to Kimmich’s associate, Steve Levit. “It’s a way to reduce risk, to be safe and be calm,” he says. To that end, he adds, “Knowledge is king.”
That’s why Redwood Fire Protection offers customized state-of-the-art solutions for their clients. Utilizing advanced technologies like Fire Pathways simulations, the team identifies potential routes for wind-driven fires, and creates annual treatment plans to apply fire retardant. The team delivers tailored strategies to safeguard homes which in turn create safer, more resilient neighborhoods, with the knowledge, planning, and action needed to stay protected year after year.
Here’s how it works:
• Redwood Fire Protection experts provide an annual analysis to determine the most effective course of action to reduce wildfire risk for your property.
• They provide a property assessment that is a comprehensive 130-point analysis of a client’s home and surrounding property, resulting in a detailed report as well as comprehensive advice on home hardening and creating defensible space.
• The report that Redwood Fire Protection generates can be submitted to fire departments and insurance companies, showing the wildfire assessment, property assessment, annual mitigation plan and implementation—all key factors that insurers look for—which can help property owners keep their insurance, and may also lower insurance costs.
• They will work with homeowners to offer a range of customized and cost-effective solutions that are affordable, ranging from structure hardening and firewise landscaping to clearing defensible space and applying Komodo fire retardant.
Other members of the Redwood Fire team include Stuart Mitchell, an NFPA Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist who has done more than 1,000 on-the-ground assessments on HOAs, estates and businesses, and Steve Wolf, who develops advanced technologies for combating wildfires, including ground-based jet engine-powered retardant application systems, and has been featured on national media for his work.
Mitchell says that the thought of wildfire can be overwhelming and frightening, but there are a variety of ways that people can protect themselves and their property against the threat, and not all of them are expensive or complicated. “It’s all about empowering individuals and how to set them up for resilience. There are many impactful things that they can do for risk reduction.”
Says Kimmich, “The more educated you are about the risk, the more prepared you will be … the benefit is peace of mind.”
More information is available at redwoodfireprotection.com.
About the author
Kathryn McKenzie, who grew up in Santa Cruz and now lives on a Christmas tree farm in north Monterey County, writes about the environment, sustainable living and health for numerous publications and websites. She is the co-author of “Humbled: How California’s Monterey Bay Escaped Industrial Ruin.”
