We're your neighbors. And we're tired of watching things burn.
NCPBA was built by people who live here, work this land, and understand what's at stake if we don't bring good fire back to the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Built from the ground up. By the community, for the community.
The Nevada County Prescribed Burn Association was founded on a simple conviction: the people who live on this land are the ones best positioned to steward it. Not outside crews. Not distant agencies. Neighbors.
Prescribed fire is one of the most effective tools we have for reducing catastrophic wildfire risk and restoring ecological health to fire-adapted landscapes. But using it safely and legally takes coordination, equipment, trained hands, and trust. That's what NCPBA exists to provide.
We're a community of landowners and volunteers who show up for each other's burns, share knowledge and equipment, and work in close partnership with CAL FIRE, the Nevada County Resource Conservation District, and the Wildfire Safe Coalition of Nevada County. We're not here to replace agency fire management. We're here to extend its reach into the places where community-led action makes the difference.
Join the communityThree principles that guide everything we do.
Community-led
Every burn we support is planned and conducted by the landowner. Our role is to show up with trained volunteers, shared equipment, and organizational support. The land is yours. The decision is yours. We back you up.
Agency-partnered
We work within the regulatory framework, not around it. That means close coordination with CAL FIRE on burn permits, weather windows, and fire behavior. Our members understand the rules because following them is what makes this work sustainable.
Ecologically grounded
Prescribed fire isn't just a fuel management tool. It's an ecological process that this landscape evolved with. We take that seriously in how we plan burns, choose timing, and think about long-term land health.
The people behind the organization.
Theo Fitanides is a Landscape Resilience Project Coordinator with the Yuba Watershed Institute, bringing over a decade of expertise in botany, habitat restoration, and native plant cultivation to his work in the Sierra Nevada foothills. A Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, Theo specializes in the ecology of California native plants and their role in fire-adapted, resilient forest ecosystems. He has led landscape-scale fuel reduction and forest health projects across the Nevada County region, including the 205-acre Little Deer Creek Landscape Resilience Project, working to reduce wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface while balancing habitat diversity and ecological integrity. As Board President of the Nevada County Prescribed Burn Association, Theo brings both scientific grounding and deep place-based knowledge to the community's efforts to reintroduce fire as a land stewardship tool.
Kit Kohler is a Nevada City-based filmmaker, land steward, and prescribed fire practitioner with deep roots in the Sierra Foothills. As founder of Riparian Studios, he has spent over a decade documenting conservation and land stewardship work across the Sierras. Kit brings hands-on experience in prescribed burn operations and a commitment to community-based fire resilience to his role as Secretary of the Nevada County Prescribed Burn Association.
Our Advisory Council brings together expertise in fire ecology, conservation, land management, and local policy to help guide NCPBA's work.
NCPBA is a fiscally sponsored project of the Nevada County Resource Conservation District. NCRCD is a trusted local conservation authority with deep roots in Nevada County's land and water stewardship. Their partnership makes our work possible while we build toward full organizational independence.