NFPA and State Farm announce 2016 Wildfire Preparedness Day award recipients

Funds to support community wildfire risk reduction projects during May 7 event

March 15, 2016 – The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and State Farm® today announced the final recipients of the Wildfire Preparedness Day Project Award. A total of 125 projects were selected from nearly 300 entries that spanned 40 states.

The project funding awards, in conjunction with NFPA’s third annual national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day event on May 7, 2016, were started to help raise wildfire awareness, promote collaboration, and bring neighbors together to work on projects that can help protect homes, neighborhoods and entire communities from future wildfire risk or current post-fire impacts.

As a co-sponsor of Preparedness Day, State Farm, with its long history of providing proactive wildfire safety education to its policyholders in high-risk regions, will provide monetary awards of $500 each to help fund these winning community projects.

To be eligible for a funding award, residents provided a brief description of the proposed project and how the State Farm award will fund the project that will begin or be completed on May 7, 2016. Descriptions included how groups or individuals would work toward reducing the risk of wildfire or impact of a recent fire, and/or advance preparedness for wildfire in the community.

Wildland fires are a serious threat to lives and property. The National Association of State Foresters (NASF) cites more than 72,000 U.S. communities are at risk from wildfire. The combination of drought, mild temperatures, high winds and an excess of dried vegetation in forests and grasslands has made fire seasons progressively worse over the past 50 years.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), more than 68,000 fires burned over 10 million acres in 2015, now considered one of the worst fire seasons in decades.

For more information about national Wildfire Preparedness Day, please visit www.wildfireprepday.org. 

About State Farm®

The mission of State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto, home and individual life insurance in the United States. Its 18,000 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve more than 82 million policies and accounts – nearly 80 million auto, home, life, health and commercial policies, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 41 on the 2015 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.

About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Founded in 1896, NFPA is a global, nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. The association delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering the NFPA mission. For more information visit www.nfpa.org. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed online for free at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.