Strike Team for Safety: Clearing the way in Herald

🌲 Neighbors Protecting Neighbors

Eight years ago, seniors made up nearly a quarter of Herald. Today, only 14% remain. Many have left — not because they wanted to, but because they could no longer keep up their land. Those who stay face acres of eucalyptus and brush they cannot clear alone. What was once beauty has become fear.

I spoke with two women who recently lost their husbands. They smiled as they talked, but you could feel the pain underneath. They described how their properties used to be places of pride and beauty. Now, the upkeep is overwhelming. Their children visit less, hesitant to help with the heavy work. They rarely go out, living with the constant fear of fire.

One of them, a former business owner who ran a horse stable, shared how a pile of stored rags once caught fire while she was away. She was lucky — the fire department arrived before the blaze turned deadly. But the memory lingers as a reminder of how quickly disaster can strike.

Herald is in a CAL FIRE red zone. A catastrophic fire is coming. Seniors living on five-acre parcels are surrounded by fuel. Without defensible space, their homes — and lives — are at risk.

That’s why we’ve built the Strike Team. Volunteers step in to clear brush, trim trees, and carve out safety zones. But this work takes equipment, protective gear, and sustained effort.

Your donation goes into a Defensible Space Fund — ensuring seniors’ properties are maintained as long as they live in their homes. It’s not just fire prevention. It’s dignity. It’s community. It’s neighbors protecting neighbors.

Together, we can turn fear into safety. Together, we can keep Herald’s seniors home, where they belong.

This version keeps the raw urgency but adds human faces and lived experience — which is exactly what donors respond to. It’s no longer just statistics and risk; it’s real people, real fear, real resilience.