Firefighters need your help!
As urban populations continue to extend into previously undeveloped adjacent natural areas known to fire and forestry professionals as the “Wildland-Urban Interface” or “WUI” for short, catastrophic wildfires continue to destroy homes constructed among volatile vegetation. There are a number of preventative steps that you can take as a homeowner to prepare your home and protect your family:
- Water and maintain your lawn regularly
- Mow dry grass and weeds
- Landscape with less flammable plants
- Carefully space the trees you plant
- Take out the “ladder fuels” by pruning all tree limbs, especially on pine, cedar, or juniper trees, to a minimum height of six (6) to ten (10) feet from the ground
- Use construction materials that are fire-resistant whenever possible
- Prevent sparks from entering your home by covering all exterior vents with small diameter wire mesh
- Keep your gutters and roofs free from vegetative debris such as leaves and pine needles
- Clear dead wood (especially stacks of fire wood) and dense vegetation within thirty (30) feet of your home
- Replace wooden fences with fences constructed of non-flammable materials
- Prevent combustible materials and debris from accumulating under patios, decks, and porches such as leaves, grass, and pine needles
- Post your local firefighting and/or forestry agency’s telephone number(s) in a visible location in your home
- Decide where you will go and how you will get there in the event a wildfire threatens your home and communicate this plan to all family members in advance of an actual wildfire emergency event occurring
- Have basic firefighting tools available such as rakes, hoes, axes, shovels as well as a working outdoor water faucet with a minimum of 100 feet of garden hose
- Practice your wildfire emergency evacuation plan routinely with your family
- Ensure that your house number and street number are clearly visible from the street in large, reflective numbers for responding firefighters
- Where feasible, construct and maintain driveways with good egress and egress for fire apparatus by having adequate turnaround space and trimming low-hanging and encroaching tree branches
Grants are likely available from your local forestry agency to conduct wildfire prevention inspections and/or create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Please contact CFI today for information on available grants or to have a home inspection by an experienced wildland fire professional! 1.877.CHLOETA or info@chloetafire.com
