El Dorado County Fire Safe Council – Defensible Space Grant Program

How it works

The Placerville Fire Safe Council’s Defensible Space Committee reviews homeowner applications, approves funding, and then reimburses the homeowner after the work is completed and verified by the evaluator. The presentation states that the homeowner first gets one or more bids from a licensed contractor and forwards them to the evaluator.

What the money covers

The official materials describe the program as funding “defensible space improvements” and “defensible space” work. The materials provided do not list a full line-item scope of eligible work, but they clearly place the program in the vegetation-management / defensible-space category.

Amounts and reimbursement

The presentation says bids submitted to date have ranged from $500 to $2,500. It also says that $4,000 has been approved to date in the program example shown. The approval letter template says the reimbursement check is sent as soon as possible, most likely within ten business days after the evaluator confirms the work was completed per the agreed summary.

How to apply

Homeowners obtain one or more bids from a licensed contractor and send them to the evaluator with the application package. The Defensible Space Committee votes on approval and funding, and the evaluator notifies the applicant.

Timing and deadlines

The approval letter template gives homeowners 60 days from the date of the approval letter to complete the project. If more than 30 additional days are needed, the homeowner must contact the evaluator to request an extension, and the extension must be approved by the Defensible Space Committee.