SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Through Bread & Broth’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment program, Liberty has helped serve free, restaurant-quality meals to community members each quarter for over eight years. Liberty’s most recent Adopt A Day was Monday, June 8th, with team members Jennifer Guenther, Government Affairs; John Nader, Emergency Manager; Kevin Newmark, Facilities/Fleet; and Scott Witt, Fire Specialist, representing Liberty.
Liberty is committed to giving back to the people and communities it serves. Its commitment to corporate citizenship reflects management’s efforts to encourage team members to support local organizations through volunteerism. Bread & Broth is extremely fortunate to have Liberty’s support and the many Liberty team members who have volunteered at Monday Meals since 2017.
As the cost of food, utilities, and everyday necessities continues to rise, Bread & Broth has seen more people attending both its Monday Meal at St. Theresa Grace Hall and its Second Serving meal on Fridays from 4 to 5 p.m. at Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church. A year ago, the Monday Meal served about 95 to 100 diners on average; today, that number has grown to 135 to 150.
Left to right: Jennifer Guenther, John Nalder, Scott Witt, Kevin NewmarkProvided / Bread & Broth
At the June 8th Monday Meal, Liberty’s Adopt A Day crew served 145 dinner guests who enjoyed seasoned fish and vegetables cooked in foil, along with an orzo, feta, tomato, and olive salad. In addition to Liberty’s $350 Adopt A Day sponsorship, meal costs were offset by a generous donation of 75 pounds of fish from Overland Meat & Seafood Company and contributions to Bread & Broth’s General Fund made by generous donors.
Bread & Broth always looks forward to Liberty hosting a Monday Meal. Liberty team members are consistently positive and exceptionally helpful. Jennifer, Liberty’s liaison with Bread & Broth, is a seasoned Adopt A Day volunteer who participates in many of Liberty’s sponsorship meals. For newer volunteers Kevin, Scott, and John, the Monday Meal was both enjoyable and eye-opening. Kevin shared, “I don’t get to do volunteer projects like this very often. I really enjoyed it!” John added, “Awesome to be a part of the community serving our community.”
Bread & Broth looks forward to Liberty’s continued partnership in providing free, hot, full-course meals to vulnerable members of the community, including Liberty’s next Adopt A Day sponsorship meal on August 31.
To learn more about Bread & Broth, or to donate or sponsor an Adopt A Day of Nourishment, visit the organization’s website, www.breadandbroth.org, or follow Bread & Broth on Instagram or Facebook.
THE GREATER TAHOE-TRUCKEE AREA, Calif./Nev – While touring French castles, it dawned on Heather Dawson, “Defensible space has been around for thousands of years,” the Truckee Firewise leader and KNOW-WILDFIRE founder concluded, “But what we’re defending against has changed.”
For the French castles, it was against archers and knights, but for our modern-day castles, it’s wildfire. At times, the intruder can be as small as a one-eighth-inch ember, carried for miles by the wind.
Defensible space is a term well known to homeowners in the wildland-urban interfaces and beyond, but a relatively new player at the table is home hardening, the principle that certain changes to a home can significantly increase its chances of surviving a wildfire.
“If you couple defensible space and pretty simple home hardening,” Eric Horntvedt says, Wildfire Prevention Manager for Truckee Fire Protection District, “you can double, triple, quadruple your home’s chance of surviving a wildfire.”
Yet, as home hardening principles gain traction, one obstacle in the Tahoe-Truckee Basin is finding contractors knowledgeable or available who offer home hardening services.
Horntvedt sees the gap as an opportunity.
“I think we’re right in that happy space where there’s a big push to get more work done and there’s a lot of opportunity to attract contractors,” or even handymen, he says, “into the space.”
Horntvedt explains that the California Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) codes went into effect in 2008, which standardized new construction requirements in high-fire-hazard zones in response to devastating wildfires. That means every home built prior has major retrofitting opportunities for home hardening.
“The scale of this opportunity is huge,” he says.
Even homes built since 2008 have minor retrofit opportunities as the standards evolve.
Conor Farrell, owner of Home Hardening Solutions Inc., a contractor that serves the Truckee-Tahoe Basins, says, “There’s no shortage of work in that field right now, especially with insurance.”
Farrell has been an engineering general contractor since 2001 and, around four or five years ago, started receiving more calls for insurance-related fire augmentations.
That’s when Farrell, along with his son, Patrick, decided to shift the company’s brand towards a focus on fire-safety solutions. The concept blends his son’s education in environmental science and fire protection engineering, and Farrell’s decades of construction experience.
Why the shortage of home hardening contractors?
“I think there’s a shortage of contractors overall in some ways,” Farrell, C., said.
And specifically, when it comes to offering home hardening, the Farrells suspect that the knowledge required to become familiar with those standards can be daunting for contractors entering the niche.
Additionally, it takes knowledge on a wide array of construction applications. For example, home hardening can include roofing, siding, decks, gutters, vents, and hardscaping.
“Unless you’ve had a background in a lot of these things, to be able to put that all together into one piece is tough,” Farrell, C. said.
Having been a contractor on a variety of construction focuses through the 2008 transition to the WUI codes and subsequent updates, Farrell, C. gained the diverse knowledge needed to provide his comprehensive home hardening service.
“That’s where we really excel, is one contractor to do all home hardening services,” Farrell, P. says.
However, companies are popping up promoting one aspect of home hardening, whether it’s roofing or siding, which can provide a more introductory way for contractors to venture into the home hardening landscape.
Filling the gap
Horntvedt has a few ideas to help build momentum for home hardening generally and in the contracting realm.
That includes attracting contractors to the opportunity and training them.
California lawmakers are currently working on a bill that could lead to a home hardening certification program through the Office of the State Fire Marshal, providing a statewide standardized resource.
Currently in the area, Tahoe Living with Fire offers defensible space and home-hardening training for professionals.
If professionals would like to do their own homework, the California State Fire Marshal has a building materials listing program and a WUI products handbook. Contractors can review these along with the California WUI codes to familiarize themselves with home-hardening standards.
Although the codes apply to new construction, they can be applied to retrofit older homes.
An assortment of fire experts in or near the Tahoe region and beyond developed the Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide, which can serve as another resource.
There is also room for public education on the significance of home hardening in protecting homes, as well as on qualifying for or reducing insurance.
Horntvedt also sees an opportunity for building departments to clarify which home-hardening work requires a permit, streamline permit processes and reduce costs to make it more appealing.
In speaking with multiple county planning departments, the Sun found that many home improvements associated with home hardening, such as roofs, siding and windows, are eligible for streamlined permits that are typically issued within one day.
Where to start as a homeowner
Homeowners unsure where to begin can start with a defensible space inspection from their local fire district, which provides property-specific home hardening opportunities in addition to a defensible space evaluation.
CAL FIRE also has a self-assessment on its home hardening webpage.
Next, experts recommend starting with the low-cost tasks that homeowners can often do themselves. Examples include replacing the five- to eight-foot section of wood fence attached to a home with metal, placing mesh over vents and decks, and keeping decks clear.
When ready to move on to larger projects that require a contractor, the Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe maintains a list of home-hardening contractors for review. Living with Fire Tahoe also keeps a list of professionals who have taken their training.
Reaching out to the local fire district is beneficial, as they will have resources specific to the area, like Truckee’s Rebate Program.
Farrell, P. recommends paying attention to the slope you live on, as you will want to start on the downhill side first, addressing the oldest and most dried out features.
“When it comes down to it, a house is just another fuel type,” Farrell, P. says. “It’s just another thing that can burn when the wildfire comes through.”
Not only does home hardening increase the chances of a home withstanding a fire, but it also attracts firefighters to your property during a fire.
“If we do our work ahead of time, proactively,” Farrell, C. says, “then it’s a lot easier for them to do their work once they come in and there’s actually a fire.”
And the benefit of home hardening grows greater as more neighbors do it.
“The whole community doing it is where really home hardening shines,” Farrell, P. says.
Home hardening often doesn’t happen all at once.
Home Hardening Solutions Inc. sees many homeowners piecing it together over the years, returning year after year as their budgets allow.
“Maybe this year they can afford to do a roof,” Farrell, C. says, “but next year they’ll call us back to do a deck.”
Becoming part of or starting a Firewise USA neighborhood can provide home-hardening resources and benefits for a neighborhood as a whole.
Living with Fire Tahoe and the Fire Adapted Communities program also focus on preparing communities for wildfire and have extensive publications and resources to support communities, including on home hardening.
Charles John Sandlin, age 76, passed away on June 8, 2026.
Charles was born on February 8, 1950, in Huntington Park, California. While he was born in Southern California, South Lake Tahoe became his true home.
Charles proudly served in the United States Army from 1969 to 1971.
Of all the things Charles accomplished in his life, his greatest pride was his family. He is survived by his daughters Jessica Sandlin of Troy, Texas, and Jamie Pietrowski of South Lake Tahoe, California. He is also survived by his sister, Marion Markard of Evans, Colorado, his brother, Frank Sandlin of Gardnerville, Nevada and his grandchildren, David and Angelica Austin of Troy, Texas.
He will be deeply missed, lovingly remembered, and forever carried in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.
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