Smokey visits the local community.

Smokey Bear Park and Lookout Tower located at Susanville Fairgrounds.

The Volunteers in Prevention of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) are a valuable fire prevention education force in California.

Thousands of wildfires annually ravage hundreds of thousands of acres of California's watershed, timber, and grasslands.  As a result, millions of dollars in damage are done to the environment.  Homes are destroyed; lives are threatened and sometimes lost.

With 90 percent of the wildland fires CAL FIRE responds to each year being person-caused, fire prevention and public life safety education are key to reducing losses from fires in California.  In 1980, CAL FIRE conceived and developed a fire prevention volunteer program and called it "Volunteers in Prevention".  Citizen volunteers have been staffing and operating many aspects of CAL FIRE's fire prevention program ever since.

Lassen-Modoc-Plumas Unit is proud of their VIP Program, with 55 volunteers involved in activities including fire and life safety education to children in schools and public education through participation in fairs and parades.  You'll find our VIPs providing public information education during wildland fires and other emergencies and conducting homeowner property inspections for fire safety as required by Public Resources Code 4291.  They also patrol selected hazardous area during declared critical fire weather and on holidays, and provide a network of HAM radio communications for CAL FIRE during emergencies.