HOA WILDFIRE RISK ASSESSMENT
HOA Wildfire Risk Assessments For Communities Across Napa, Solano & Contra Costa
Protect your community, your residents, and your shared spaces with a neighborhood wide assessment and a board ready written action plan.
$1M
Liability Insurance
4
Verified Certifications
3
Counties Served
HOA Wildfire Risk Assessment
HOA Assessments Built For Every Community And Every Board
HOA boards and property managers across Napa, Solano, and Contra Costa counties, from valley floor townhome communities to hillside estate neighborhoods, from single street HOAs to multi phase developments. Whether you manage twenty homes in Vacaville or two hundred in Orinda, we assess the specific ways wildfire threatens your community, your residents, and your shared spaces.
Every assessment is delivered online in partnership with Fire Aside
What You Receive
A Visual & Fully Interactive HOA Wildfire Assessment Report You Can Easily Digest
Every HOA assessment is delivered as a digital report you can share with your entire board in one click. Whether you’re preparing for an insurance renewal, a budget meeting, or a resident town hall, the report is ready to travel with you.
- Annotated site maps of vegetation and structures around your community
- Full photo documentation with GPS tags
- Prioritized action items ranked by cost and fire risk impact
- Insurance ready documentation format
- One page action summary for quick reference
- Cal Fire Chapter 7A compliance notes where applicable
why choose red lion wildfire defense
Certified HOA Wildfire Risk Assessment Specialists
Wildfire defense is safety critical work, and HOA boards deserve to know exactly who is walking their community. Our credentials in arboriculture, wildland fire, and community protection are verifiable before we start.
ISA Certified Arborist
Essential for evaluating trees across your community, from mature canopy along shared roads to landscape shrubs in common areas. Every risk assessment reflects real arboricultural expertise applied at neighborhood scale.
Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist
Verifies advanced knowledge in wildland fire science, home hardening, Home ignition zone, defensible space and community-wide planning within the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI).
Cal Fire Timber Ops
California state licensed for vegetation management. Authority to work across HOA communities in State Responsibility Areas and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone neighborhoods.
Firefighter 2 Trained
NWCG certified, Fire Forward trained, Good Fire Alliance credentialed, with current 2026 Wildland Firefighter Type 2 status. We apply the same fire behavior science used by the U.S. Forest Service and CAL FIRE to read how fire will move across your specific terrain and topography.
What’s At Stake
Six Ways Wildfire Threatens Your Community
Wildfire risk to an HOA isn’t one threat. It’s six overlapping ones, and they don’t all show up at the property line.
Shared Vegetation
Bark mulch beds along common walkways, overgrown greenbelts between homes, and unmaintained slopes at the community edge create fuel corridors that carry fire across property lines. What one homeowner clears, another homeowner’s landscape can undo.
Community Roads And Evacuation
Single access neighborhoods, narrow HOA roads, and dead-end streets turn evacuation into gridlock during the first minutes of a wildfire. When every household leaves at once, road capacity matters as much as vegetation clearance.
Common Areas And Amenities
Clubhouses, pool houses, mailrooms, and landscaped medians are often overlooked in wildfire planning. Combustible construction and unmaintained vegetation around these shared structures create ignition points that spread fire back into residential streets.
Perimeter And Interface
The line where your community meets open space, wildland, a neighboring property, or an undeveloped hillside is where community wildfires begin. Perimeter defensible space is a shared responsibility that no single homeowner can address alone.
Board Liability And Governance
When a wildfire damages an HOA community, boards face questions about what they knew, when they knew it, and what they did about it. Documented risk assessment and mitigation planning is increasingly a fiduciary duty, not just a nice-to-have.
Community Insurance And Property Values
HOA master policies, individual homeowner policies, and community property values all move together on wildfire risk. Documented mitigation supports insurance renewal at both levels. Undocumented risk drives non-renewal, premium hikes, and reduced home sale values across every unit.
Our Process
4 Steps From Board Consultation To Digital Report
01
Board Consultation
A free 30 minute call with your board president, property manager, or committee lead to understand your community, current concerns, and mitigation goals.
02
Community Assessment
A certified specialist walks your community perimeter, common areas, shared roads, and representative homes. Typically 4 to 8 hours on site depending on community size and layout.
03
Interactive Report
You receive a full digital report with community maps, GPS tagged photos, and prioritized recommendations your board can act on immediately.
04
Board Review Meeting
We walk your board and property manager through findings and help you sequence the work, whether it’s DIY committee action, contractor engagement, or our crews.
faq
Common Questions From HOA Boards And Property Managers
How long does an HOA wildfire risk assessment take?
An HOA wildfire risk assessment typically takes 4 to 8 hours on site for a single community walkthrough, plus 5 to 10 business days for report preparation and delivery. Larger communities with multiple phases, extensive common areas, or complex perimeter interfaces may require a second site visit.
Who in an HOA typically requests a wildfire risk assessment?
HOA wildfire risk assessments are typically requested by the board president, property manager, or a community safety committee. Any board member or manager can initiate the free consultation call. Full engagement usually requires board approval, and we support the approval process with a written proposal and scope document.
How much does an HOA wildfire risk assessment cost?
HOA wildfire risk assessment pricing depends on community size, number of homes, perimeter length, and complexity of common areas. Most HOA assessments range from $3,500 to $15,000. We provide a fixed price quote after the free consultation call, so boards can approve a known number rather than an estimate.
How does an HOA assessment differ from a Cal Fire defensible space inspection?
Cal Fire defensible space inspections check individual homes for minimum state compliance under PRC 4291. HOA wildfire risk assessments evaluate community wide risk factors that Cal Fire inspections don’t cover, including shared vegetation between properties, common area buildings, community road capacity for evacuation, and perimeter defensible space where the community meets open space.
Can a wildfire risk assessment help HOAs get insurance renewed?
A documented wildfire risk assessment supports HOA master policy renewals, appeals against non-renewal, and negotiations for premium reductions. California insurers under the Sustainable Insurance Strategy are required to factor documented mitigation into pricing. Individual homeowner policies in the community also benefit when the HOA can demonstrate community wide mitigation planning.
Does the assessment help HOAs become Firewise USA certified?
Yes. HOA wildfire risk assessments provide the community risk assessment component required for Firewise USA site recognition under the National Fire Protection Association. The report satisfies NFPA documentation requirements and gives your community’s Firewise committee the technical foundation needed to complete the multi step recognition process.
Are HOA boards legally required to assess wildfire risk?
California doesn’t currently mandate HOA wildfire risk assessments as of writing this answer, but board fiduciary duty under Corporations Code Section 7231 requires directors to act in the community’s best interest with reasonable care. In wildfire prone areas, documented risk assessment increasingly demonstrates this standard, and boards that fail to assess known risks face growing exposure to negligence claims after a fire event.
Does the HOA assessment come with help implementing recommendations?
Yes. Every HOA assessment includes a board review meeting to walk through findings and sequence next steps. Boards can hire Red Lion crews for defensible space, fuel reduction, and hardening work, engage their own contractors using the report as a specification document, or coordinate a phased approach across multiple budget cycles.
How do HOAs communicate wildfire risk assessment findings to residents?
HOAs typically share wildfire risk assessment findings through board meeting summaries, resident newsletters, community town halls, and dedicated safety pages on HOA websites. Red Lion assessments include an executive summary formatted for board agendas and resident communications, so boards can share findings without alarming residents or minimizing real risk.
HOA Communities
WE KNOW HOA COMMUNITIES
HOA communities are not single family homes or ranches. Fire risk crosses property lines, moves through shared vegetation, and travels along community roads that connect every household to the same evacuation route. We assess the shared vegetation between homes that no individual owner controls, not just what looks tidy from the street. We evaluate whether your community can actually evacuate under wind driven fire conditions, not just whether the entrance is clear on a normal day. We check whether common area buildings meet current hardening standards and whether your perimeter defensible space holds up where your community meets open space. Generic wildfire assessments miss all of this. Ours is designed around it.
Schedule Consultation Call
Schedule Your HOA Wildfire Risk Assessment Consultation
Free 30 minute consultation call with your board president, property manager, or committee lead. We will tell you honestly whether a full assessment fits your community and your situation, and how much difference it will make.