Opinion: Plan now in case wildfire strikes
By Teri Mizuhara
A new and improved “Ready-Set-Go” fire and life safety program has been developed by CalFire.
Everyone living in the Sierra has a responsibility that many urban/suburban dwellers do not face. Fire is a natural part of our ecosystem which helps clear out the weeds and brush (understory) and create a healthier forest dynamic.
Since naturally occurring fire has not been allowed to do what it should because fire agencies must suppress fires that threaten lives and property, it is vital that people do their part and create a space around their homes.
Defensible space works.
Creating a buffer zone between your home and the wildland greatly reduces the risk of your home catching on fire from radiant heat or flying embers. These embers can destroy homes and even entire neighborhoods that are far from the actual flame front of a wildfire.
Keys to creating defensible space are:
Zone One extends up to 30 feet (or your property line whichever is closer) from every structure on your property.
— Remove all dead and dying vegetation
— Remove leaf litter from your roof and rain gutters
— Relocate woodpiles well away from your home
— Trim trees so that they are a minimum of ten feet away from your chimney and roof line
— Remove ladder fuels (low-level vegetation that could allow fire to spread from the ground to shrubs and bushes to the tree canopies).
Zone Two extends from 30 feet to 100 feet (or to your property line whichever is closer).
— The key is to keep plant material separated from each other both horizontally and vertically, this prevents the vegetation from acting like a ladder and allowing the fire to move from the ground to the tree canopies
— Cut annual grasses down to a maximum of 4 inches in height.
Preparing and practicing your family’s disaster plan is also key to being ready for fire season. This plan can make evacuating ahead of a wildfire or other disaster far less stressful.
It is important that every member of your family understands what to do in the event of a wildfire in your area. Practice this plan on a regular basis so each member of your family knows their role and what they need to do; keep a copy of this written plan in an accessible place so that you can refer to it quickly and easily.
Things to include in the plan are: meeting locations away from your home, communication plans and evacuation plans for your family and your pets. Identify where your gas, water and electrical shut-offs are and how to use them. Plan several evacuation routes in your neighborhood and drive them so you are familiar with them day or night. Assemble emergency supply kits and have them ready for yourself, family and animals. Don’t forget to include a portable radio and/or scanner so you can stay updated on critical fire information.
Finally, take steps to make your home more fire resistant; if you are building a new home or renovating your home, consider these fire resistive measures (hardening your home):
Roofs are the most vulnerable surface on your house. Make sure your roof is made out of “class A” materials, such as composition, metal or tiles.
Rain gutters should be screened or enclosed to prevent accumulation of plant debris which can catch on fire from a flying ember during a wildfire.
Exterior walls of your home should be made of ignition resistant materials such as cement siding, stucco or fire retardant treated wood.
Windows should be double paned with one of the panes made of tempered glass which will reduce the potential of the heat from a wildfire breaking the window and catching the interior of the house on fire.
If your home is dependent on a well for water, install a backup generator so that you have water in case the electricity goes out.
The following areas of your home should be checked annually and maintained as needed:
Check that your chimney has an approved spark arrestor (screen) in good condition covering the opening. The screen should have openings no smaller than three-eighths inch and no larger than half inch.
Keep the area under your deck or balcony free of combustible material. Never store your firewood under your deck.
Consider having multiple garden hoses that are long enough to reach any area of your home and any structure on your property.
Wind driven embers can fly up to one mile during a wildland fire so “hardening” your home with fire resistive material, creating a solid buffer zone of defensible space and preparing and practicing your family disaster Plan are critical.
Being ready for wildfire season is your best defense. Preplanning for a disaster can save your life and the lives of the ones you love.
For more detailed information on what you have read, go online or call (530) 644.2345 to receive a free brochure.
Teri Mizuhara works for CalFire.
Firefly
CalFire’s new and improved fire and life safety plan is comprehensive, straightforward and fairly easy to implement. Yet, many of our responsibilities to safeguard life and property prior to a wildfire emergency are regularly ignored.
There are some agencies such as the Forest Service and the Tahoe Conservancy who do not regularly or ever thin out densely wooded and brush packed areas and these parcels are in the midst of our neighborhoods. Agencies need to be role models and not exempt because they are the most powerful among us.
There are some vacation home owners who clean up their property every twenty five years or so; annual grasses are never cut. Pine trees grow up through cut holes in decks and their branches hang over shake shingle roofs covered with years of accumulated pine needles. Tipsy renters barbecue on these same decks and leave their fires unattended. Most home owners get it and do what’s required, but it takes just one fire with flying wood shingles and other debris to wipe out an entire neighborhood’s best efforts.
Not until the City takes a proactive role in implementing CalFire’s recommendations will this change. We cannot depend on multiple complaints of neighbors to effect change either. All but the most persistent of them shake their heads and just hope that it won’t happen.
Finally, it is important for us to know what the City’s evacuation plans are once residents get to Highway 50. There are just two or three ways out of town and I would like to know how those in charge of evacuation will move residents and visitors on a very busy weekend. Their plan should be presented to the City Council and public every spring during Wild Fire Prevention Month. We should all be active partners by commenting on and offering possible improvements to their plans.
The city council discussed very seriously what color decorative lights businesses along Highway 50 should be allowed to display. Perspective is needed here. Public health and safety is the City’s most fundamental responsibility and life threatening wildfire is sure to strike us again. Then the only light we’ll care about is big bright one coming toward us.
Gloria, where are you getting your info that the Forest Service and CTC are not thinning forests? Just last month the Forest Srvice got permits for another 15,000 acres on top of the 40-50,000 they have completed. The CTC has probably completed projects on 2/3rds of their land. Are you just making stuff up?