Be Ready, Butte!

FOCUS AREA: Wildfire Preparedness, Defensible Space Education, Community Engagement
Blue Flamingo awards: Gold winner, Silver winner, Communicator Awards

The Challenge

Butte County has endured some of California’s most devastating wildfires, including the Camp Fire and North Complex Fire. Defensible space compliance remained low in rural, high-risk areas, and existing communications weren’t breaking through. The County needed a trusted, hyperlocal strategy to reach residents in its most fire-prone communities.

Be Ready, Butte! Defensible Space Inspections Mailer Image
Max DSI Inspector, Be Ready, Butte! Waving

Our Solution

Blue Flamingo launched Be Ready, Butte!—a multi-year wildfire education and outreach initiative built around behavior change by engaging community groups, residents, CAL FIRE, Butte County Fire, and other local entities.

Key tactics included:

  • Community Engagement: 20+ rural town halls, custom materials for HOAs, landowners, and residents.
  • Agency Coordination: Partnered with CAL FIRE, Fire Safe Council, and local officials on shared tools, messaging, and reporting.
  • Campaign Identity & Messaging: “Get Ready, Be Ready, Stay Ready” framework addressing defensible space, home hardening, and evacuation.
  • Integrated Media: Direct mail (13k+ households), social, TV, radio, billboards, bus wraps, video.
  • Youth Program: 5-day wildfire curriculum for 4th graders, engaging both students and families.
  • Accessibility: Trilingual, ADA-compliant materials.

The Results

  • 10% YoY increase in defensible space compliance
  • 74% structure save rate during 2024 Park Fire (compliant zones)
  • Zero lives lost in recent wildfire events
  • 22M+ media impressions; 4,000+ inspections portal visits
  • Multi-award-winning campaign in wildfire education
Create Defensible Space billboard for Be Ready, Butte "Get Ready" wildfire preparedness campaign

Why It Matters

Be Ready, Butte! transformed awareness into action. By combining strategic communication with trusted local outreach, the campaign built public trust, shifted behavior in high-risk areas, and directly saved lives and property.

74%

house save rate – 74% and zero lives lost

4000+

visits to Inspections website page

19,176

households received seasonal mailers

10%

increase in compliance YOY

13,202

DSI mailers sent

20+

community meetings

22M+

yearly media impressions