Gary Petersen is a Nevada City council member with over 50 years of government experience. He can be reached at Gary.Petersen@nevadacityca.gov. Dr. Elissa Lee, OTD, most recently served as the director and senior advisor of community engagement for the California Governor’s Office. She can be reached at elissaleewrites@gmail.com.

As wildfires grow more frequent and destructive, the most effective defense may begin not with technology or top-down policy, but with neighbors. By fostering deep intergenerational connections, Nevada City — one of California’s most fire-threatened communities — has created a communitywide network designed not only to survive disasters but to help people emerge stronger and more resilient.

The approach is part of Neighbor-to-Neighbor, a larger effort with the state to build social connection and resiliency across neighborhoods. The initiative has distributed over $10 million in grants to address the epidemic of loneliness. That epidemic has a spatial dimension: The share of Americans who say they know most or all of their neighbors has been falling for decades, and with it, the informal networks people once relied on in a crisis.

The initiative also launched the Meet 6 Neighbor campaign, encouraging every Californian to get to know their neighbors, and every city and institution to build connections in their own policies and programs.

Building wildfire resilience through community partnership

Founded in 1849 on the site of the Nisenan village of Ustumah, fire has shaped Nevada City’s identity from the beginning. Seven catastrophic fires between 1851 and 1856 prompted early innovations in fire protection, including Firehouse No. 1, built in 1861 to house horse-drawn firefighting equipment. Today, the community of 3,000 faces escalating wildfire threat, as climate-driven megafires intensify across the surrounding Sierra Nevada foothills.

In 2021, Nevada City leaders began asking a critical question: How can a historic, resource-constrained community with limited land prepare for the realities of 21st century wildfire while preserving its cultural identity?

Erin Minnet, a former mayor, convened concerned residents, leading to the creation of the Fire Safety Advisory Committee. The committee became a forum for residents, city officials, and regional partners to collaborate across generations and political differences to identify risks and develop solutions.

“Relationships are the foundation to community,” said Camille Oneto, an Office of Emergency Services specialist with the city. “We continue to see it time and time again; trusting community members proves to be the most fruitful, providing more positive outcomes than we even imagined.” 

That collaboration led to Nevada City Safer from Wildfire, a community-driven program that is emerging as a model for other small or rural communities. Residents have formed Firewise Communities, organized neighborhood cleanups and evacuation-preparedness events, participated in home-hardening workshops, and helped establish a demonstration home showcasing fire-resistant improvements.

These efforts spread across the city, reinforcing a fundamental principle: Wildfire resilience depends on neighbors working together to protect each other.

Supporting grassroots leadership

The city’s role has been to be a good neighbor by supporting and scaling grassroots momentum. Nevada City adopted a bottom-up approach, strengthening relationships with Firewise Communities and local organizations, and investing in the staffing, infrastructure, and resources needed to sustain the work.

Over 70% of voters approved a dedicated sales tax for wildfire prevention, and city staff secured the Neighbor-to-Neighbor grant. Together, these resources supported critical mitigation projects, strengthened neighborhood connections, and helped establish citywide fuel mitigation crews. These crews manage over 450 acres of municipal property and assist residents with vegetation management.

City staff also overhauled the Defensible Space Program, introducing software that enables direct communication with homeowners and provides personalized safety reports and resources. A green waste management system has made it easier for residents to dispose of hazardous fuels. Ongoing workshops and community events, like Wildfire Defense Volunteer Work Days, build knowledge, trust, and a sense of collective responsibility.

Intergenerational connection matters in an emergency

Nevada City’s neighborhood-centered, multigenerational approach matters, given the community’s substantial population of older adults. The number of residents aged 65 and older in the city is double the statewide and nationwide averages. Some seniors may face additional challenges during a wildfire, including limited mobility, transportation needs, medical needs, or difficulty receiving and acting on emergency information. 

At the same time, older residents bring valuable local knowledge, strong relationships, and a deep understanding of the community’s history and landscape. Younger residents, families, caregivers, and volunteers contribute energy, technological skills, and hands-on support. By bringing these generations together, Nevada City is building networks that enable residents to check on one another, share information, assist with preparedness and evacuation, and ensure no one is left behind.

“One of the most tangible outcomes of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program was seeing residents take preparedness into their own hands by organizing neighborhood pods,” said Evan McLenithan, a community risk reduction and outreach officer for the city. “These pods turned wildfire preparedness from an individual responsibility into a shared neighborhood effort and helped build stronger connections between residents of different ages and abilities.” 

A shared responsibility

Nevada City’s approach works because it combines community action with city support. Residents identified needs, organized their neighborhoods, and led many of the program’s most visible efforts. The city helped turn that initiative into lasting capacity by providing funding, staffing, coordination, and technical assistance. As a result, Nevada City strengthened regional partnerships that bridge funding gaps and jurisdictional boundaries, expanded access to expertise and resources, and connected the community with organizations advancing wildfire resilience.

Outreach to the city’s unhoused population was also an important component of the work accomplished by city staff. “I’m incredibly grateful for what we’ve built together and genuinely excited about what may come next,” said Mike Cannatella, winter shelter manager for Sierra Roots, a nonprofit that works closely with homeless residents. “This partnership has set a high bar for what effective, values-aligned collaboration between community organizations and local government can look like.”

Neighbor-to-Neighbor and Safer from Wildfire demonstrates how a significant threat can become an opportunity to strengthen community connections, improve preparedness, and support long-term resilience. Nevada City’s experience offers a lesson for communities across California: Through shared responsibility and sustained collaboration, cities can protect not only homes, landscapes, and culture but also the relationships and regional networks that help them face future challenges.

The opinions expressed here are Dr. Lee’s own. While Neighbor-to-Neighbor was created and led by Dr. Lee during her tenure at the California Governor’s Office, the views in this piece do not represent the official position of the Office or the State of California.