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Free from MOFD: Four Programs to Use Before June 30
If you live in Moraga, Orinda, or Canyon, your fire district is currently footing the bill for four of the most useful home-hardening and defensible-space upgrades you can do this year. None require an inspector. None require a contractor. The headline grant runs through June 30, 2026, so the calendar is the only thing standing between you and a quieter ember season.
Three of these four programs map to what we call the Big Three — roof, vents, defensible space — the highest-leverage moves you can make on your house. Pick one this week. The forms take five minutes.
- Free stainless-steel gutter coverings — shipped to your address, self-install. Order form · Why this is the cheapest big fix
- Free ember-resistant vent mesh — or up to $1,000 reimbursement per parcel for qualifying vents you buy yourself. Order form · What "ember-resistant" actually means
- Free brush chipping at the curb — submit, schedule, pile, done. Request form · Tree work + ladder fuels
- Broom puller loan — borrow the leverage tool that turns French broom from a knock-down fight into a 30-second job. Spring soil is the right window. Request form · Which plants to pull first
→ Read the full guide: who qualifies, how to sign up, what to expect
🚨 This Week — Don't Miss
- BEACON 2026 emergency-comms drill — Thursday, April 30. If you have a GMRS or HAM radio (or are curious about getting one), this is the year's best chance to practice on the actual network. Even if you can't operate, listening in is its own crash course. Register: registrar@lamorindacert.org or beaconexercise.org. Full background · The Big Five alert systems you should already have.
- MOFD Community Open House — Saturday, May 2, 11am–1pm at Fire Station 45 (33 Orinda Way). Meet the crew, see the apparatus, ask your Zone Zero and home-hardening questions in person. Especially useful if you're navigating the new WUI code or want help filling out the home-hardening grant forms. This year supports Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area. Details.
Regulatory Update: California's New WUI Code Just Took Effect
On Thursday, April 23, California's updated Wildland-Urban Interface Building Code (Title 24, Part 7) took effect statewide. It's the most significant restructuring of California's wildfire-construction standards in years.
For Lamorinda, this stacks on top of the MOFD ordinances Moraga and Orinda ratified earlier this year (26-01 and 26-02). If you're planning a roof, vent, deck, or remodel project this summer, you're now building under the 2026 statewide code plus any local amendments. Lafayette is served by ConFire, not MOFD — the local ordinances don't apply, but the state code does.
A note about defensible-space inspections at the time of sale: that's not new. AB 38 has required them since 2021. What's true is that inspectors get booked solid in fire season, so if you're listing your home this summer, schedule the inspection now — not in August. (Refresher on what counts: the 0/1/2 zones.)
Insurance Bulletin
No major movement on the State Farm non-renewal front this month — the 1,703 Orinda policies dropped last year remain dropped. The lever that's actually moving is on the resilience side, not the insurer side:
- California FAIR Plan policyholders can now stack up to 12 individual mitigation discounts under the state's "Safer from Wildfires" framework — up to a 16.4% reduction on the wildfire portion of the premium for Dwelling Fire policies. If you're on the FAIR Plan, this is actionable today. CDI's program page.
- IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification remains the single document with the broadest carrier recognition. Base level is the entry point; Plus is the harder-and-more-rewarding path. Our certification guide.
- Lamorinda-specific carrier landscape changes faster than most playbooks can keep up with. Our local navigation guide stays current with what's writing here.
If you missed our piece on the State Farm non-renewals, it's here.
Looking Ahead — Your Fire-Season Calendar
Things to put on your calendar between now and the end of July. Lead-time matters — most of these get harder to schedule once everyone realizes fire season is here.
Next two weeks
- Request your MOFD chipper pickup for May or June. Demand spikes pre-fire-season. Request.
- Borrow the broom puller while spring soil is still moist. Request.
- Orinda residents: Measure R Fire Fuels Reduction reimbursement applications are open. Apply. The free Orinda chipper service is also taking bookings: reservation portal.
Late May through June
- Diablo Fire Safe Council "Five Easy Actions" class — free 90-minute home-hardening overview, scheduled on demand for FIREWISE groups. Counts toward FIREWISE Action Plan requirements. Contact sheryl.drinkwater@diablofiresafe.org. (Curious how Firewise designation actually works? Our explainer.)
- EBMUD landscape rebate stack — lawn conversion ($1–$2/sq ft), drip irrigation, smart controllers, Treebate. All landscape rebates capped together at $2,000 per residence over 24 months. The lawn-conversion super-rebate requires planting in September–February, so applications now line up nicely with fall planting. Rebate index · How we used it for our own Zone Zero.
- MOFD Home Hardening Grant deadline — June 30. Last call for free gutter guards and vent screens. Use it or wait for the next fiscal year (and that's not guaranteed).
July
- IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification — open enrollment year-round. Three-year designation; required for some carrier mitigation discounts. Get started · What Base vs Plus actually requires.
- Selling your home this summer or fall? AB 38 defensible-space documentation is required at the time of sale for homes in High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (most of Lamorinda — confirm your parcel's designation before listing). Schedule the inspection before fire season fully ramps and inspectors get booked. Pre-listing room-by-room checklist.
One Thing to Do This Weekend: Make the Switch to Gold
The hills are turning. We're past the catch-up phase and into the vigilance phase — the season fire professionals call Gold. The mindset shift is real: fire conditions can change in an afternoon, and the highest-leverage actions now are the small ones, repeated.
This weekend, walk the first five feet around your house with a leaf bag. Pull anything combustible — needles in the gutter valley, dry leaves under the deck, the doormat that's three years past its prime, the firewood stack that drifted closer to the wall over winter. It's not a full Zone Zero rebuild. It's a 30-minute reset that changes what your house does when an ember lands.
→ Gold Protocol — what changes when fire season starts · Month-by-month checklist · Why the first five feet matter most
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Lamorinda Ready is a community education resource. This newsletter is for general educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, insurance, financial, or construction advice. Always consult qualified professionals and official agencies (MOFD, your city building department, the California Department of Insurance) before making decisions about your home, safety, or insurance.
Lamorinda Ready
Practical resilience for Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda.
1480 Moraga Rd Ste C #188, Moraga, CA 94556