As the world reflects on yet another devastating wildfire event, a scene Californians have sadly become all too familiar with, we collectively ask ourselves, “What can we do to ensure this doesn’t happen in Marin?”

Your local leadership, all of the Marin County fire chiefs, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority officials and policy leaders around wildfire prevention and protection share your concerns and want to share our perspective.

Following the 2017 North Bay fires, Marin supervisors commissioned a “lessons learned” study that resulted in over 60 recommendations to guide fire departments, law enforcement, emergency managers and the public. This led to significant investments by local governments, homeowners and, ultimately, the electorate supporting Measure C to establish and fund the MWPA.

While progress has been made, recent events in Los Angeles, Hawaii, Northern California and elsewhere show that no community is fully prepared for the increasing intensity and frequency of wildfires due to climate change. Fire seasons are 45 days longer, on average, than in the 1970s. More regular and increasingly devastating wind events occur more commonly, extending well into what historically has been winter months.

Fires spread rapidly in each of these events, propagated by millions of burning embers carried by ferocious winds finding their way to receptive beds of landscape and combustible materials in yards and into homes’ attics, crawl spaces, decks and combustible fences. They set off a chain of unstoppable home-to-home and building-to-building ignitions.

Marin has a well-equipped, well-trained, experienced group of firefighters, many with countless hours logged on the frontline of these horrific fires. But the reality of these new megafires is we can’t fight our way out of them. Taking collective actions ahead of these fires would give firefighters the best chance of both ensuring your safe evacuation and saving of your homes and businesses.

Through the investment of Measure C funding and the organization of the MWPA, significant investments have been leveraged to improve evacuation routes and software to manage evacuations; enhanced warning systems; and increased attention to defensible space, home hardening and fuel reduction zones around our communities. These actions, though helpful, are only part of the solution needed.

Here is our call to action: There are three things that residents must do collectively across Marin. These are critical steps: All must ensure personal preparedness, create defensible space around homes and harden homes against ember storms.

Personal preparedness involves registering online with AlertMarin, creating an evacuation plan, having a “go bag,” preparing to evacuate with pets, assisting neighbors with mobility challenges and being ready for safe evacuation.

Creating a “fire smart yard” includes developing defensible space around homes to slow or stop a wildfire. This involves creating buffer zones between buildings and combustible materials, with different zones requiring specific actions. The area from 0 to 5 feet from the house (aka Zone 0) is most critical. It is intended to create an ember-resistant buffer.

Home hardening is essential to protect buildings from igniting during wildfires. By resisting ember ignition through proper vent installation, removing combustible materials, sealing openings, enclosing soffits and correctly installed gutters with guards, homes can better withstand wildfires.

Preventing the devastation seen in Los Angeles is possible through a collective effort of every homeowner in the county. By creating fire-resistant yards and ember-resistant homes, as well as promoting early and safe evacuations, communities can become more resilient to wildfires. If every homeowner does their part, we will see resiliency at a scale that will have the impact necessary to become fire-adapted communities.

The time to act is now. Together, we can work toward a future where wildfires are less destructive, and communities are better prepared for the challenges of climate change.

Visit Fire Safe Marin at firesafemarin.org to learn more about evacuation preparedness, creating fire-smart yards and hardening homes. Then, go to alertmarin.org and sign up.

Let’s roll up our sleeves and work together to build a safer, more-resilient future. Small investments now will save lives and billions of dollars later.

Ross Valley Fire Chief Dan Mahoney is president of the Marin County Fire Chiefs Association. Mark Brown is executive officer of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.