As anyone who lives in northern Nevada or the Sierra knows, the threat of wildfires is present year-round.

A local organization called Living with Fire is here to help folks do just that. It has a webinar scheduled for September 3rd at 11:30 a.m. over Zoom.

It says the focus will be on what to do during an evacuation, how to protect yourself and your property from fires, and why you should get your neighbors to do the same.

"You could do a lot of work to your property, but if your neighbor doesn't, then the risk is still really high," says Living with Fire Manager Megan Kay.

Kay says that work should start with creating defensible space. By removing dead vegetation and other fuels from the edge of your property, you're creating a barrier that defends your home from wildfires and makes it easier for firefighters to knock down the fire.

But Kay says it's not a one-and-done process - it's a constant one.

"We want to make sure that we're cleaning up that dead vegetation in the spring all the way through the summer and into the fall," Kay says.

Evacuations for a fire can happen at any time. Living with Fire says Washoe County folks can sign up for Smart911 alerts on the county's emergency management website. You can also use third-party apps like Watch Duty.

Once an evacuation order comes, you should get ready to go within five minutes and have a plan.

Living with Fire has a guide to planning for an evacuation online. Kay says you should pack all of your medications and enough food, water, and clothing for several days, just in case.

"During the Davis Fire," she says, "people were evacuated from their homes for over a week."

Once your personal safety is settled, you can get the rest of your household ready to go.

While this information is well-known to some, Kay says some people push it to the back of their mind when fires aren't burning.

"Sometimes the further away you get from those wildfire events, it's like out of sight, out of mind," Kay says. "But the threat doesn't really go away."

You can register for Learning with Fire's webinar or learn more about the organization on its website.