Wildfire Pro Shop & CitroTech: What They Mean for Incline Village Homeowners

As the #1 Incline Village real estate agent by sales volume in 2025, I sit across the table from buyers and sellers just about every week — and lately, one subject comes up in nearly every conversation: wildfire. It drives insurance, it drives value, and increasingly it decides whether a deal comes together at all. So when Tahoe's first Wildfire Pro Shop opened right here in Incline Village, I paid close attention. Here's what it is, what CitroTech is, and why I think both matter for anyone who owns — or is thinking about buying — a home on the Nevada north shore.

A first-of-its-kind resource opens on Tahoe Boulevard

The Wildfire Pro Shop opened in June 2026 at 811 Tahoe Boulevard — the first of several planned locations across the basin, with South Lake Tahoe and Truckee slated to follow. It's the work of Steve Conboy, a 45-year building and lumber veteran, founder of Mighty Fire Breaker, and the inventor of CitroTech. He's partnered with RJ Dailey Construction and NorCal Lumber to bring custom-building know-how and Class A lumber expertise under one roof.

What I like is that it isn't just a retailer. It's a hands-on education center: sprayers, tanks, rigs, ember-defense mulch, and real coaching on how to reduce risk on your specific property. A portion of every sale even goes toward planting trees. For a community that lives inside the forest, that's the right posture.

What makes CitroTech different

Most fire retardants you've heard of are trade-secret chemistries you'd never want near your garden, your dog, or the lake. CitroTech is the opposite. It's built around tri-potassium citrate — a food-safe compound you've probably consumed today, since it turns up in everything from sports drinks to ice cream — and it's the only fire-retardant product recognized by the EPA's Safer Choice program. Full SDS disclosure, non-toxic, and safe to use around the streams and shoreline that make this place what it is.

The performance is the headline. Sprayed onto the fuels that surround most Tahoe homes — pine needles, dry grass, manzanita, wood siding, fencing — the treated material resists ignition. In the company's own demonstrations, Conboy shows fuels that won't light even under a 3,500°F torch. Applied to your defensible space, decking, and structure, it's a layer of protection you put in place before a red-flag warning, not during one. The shop is also rolling out AI-assisted camera monitoring paired with remote-activated sprinkler systems for higher-value properties — a serious option for owners who spend part of the year away.

Why this matters for your home's value — and its insurability

Here's where my job and Steve's work overlap.

On the California side of the basin, the wildfire insurance crisis is well documented — a single affluent Tahoe ZIP code now represents roughly $9 billion in FAIR Plan exposure. On our Nevada side, we don't have a FAIR Plan backstop at all, so a declined policy in Incline Village goes straight to the surplus-lines market. Either way, premiums that used to be a rounding error now run anywhere from a few thousand dollars a year to well past $40,000 on high-value estates.

The good news: insurers are increasingly required to reward mitigation. Documented defensible space, hardened materials, and monitored systems can materially lower what you pay — California's hardening framework alone offers meaningful discounts on the wildfire portion of a premium when qualifying measures are documented, and Nevada carriers are moving the same direction. That's the shift every homeowner should understand: fire hardening is no longer just peace of mind, it's a line item that can pay you back.

And it shows up at resale. When I list Incline Village homes for sale, the properties that move fastest and hold value best are the ones with a clear risk-reduction story — defensible space, durable materials, and documentation a buyer's insurance agent can actually use. A CitroTech application and a relationship with the Wildfire Pro Shop is exactly the kind of thing I can put in front of a buyer to shorten the "will I even be able to insure this?" conversation that stalls so many mountain deals.

My take as your Incline Village realtor

I don't recommend things I wouldn't do myself. I'm building my own home here in Incline Village, and wildfire resilience is baked into every decision I'm making on it. My honest advice: stop by the shop on Tahoe Boulevard, talk to their team about your specific lot, and treat fire hardening as part of owning here — the same way you budget for snow removal. It protects your family, it eases the insurance math, and it protects one of the largest investments you'll ever make.

(A quick, responsible caveat: insurance outcomes are property-specific and depend on your address, carrier, and construction. Always confirm any premium or discount details with your own insurance professional.)

Let's talk

Whether you're protecting a home you already love or you're looking at Incline Village homes for sale, I'm glad to connect you with the right people — the Wildfire Pro Shop, insurance specialists who quote both states, and the contractors who do this work well. As your Incline Village real estate agent, that network is a big part of what you get.

Cole Mizak — Compass · MTN Luxury Living 📞 Call or text: 775-225-2549 ✉️ Email: [email protected] #1 Incline Village real estate agent by individual sales volume, 2025