Along with the dry summer weather, brings an increased danger from wildfires. That is something we are very aware of and hope we never have to deal with.
Several
years ago we had a few wildfires that were very visible from our house. During the day we could watch as water and fire
retardant were being dropped from airplanes and helicopters. During the night we could see the glow of the
raging fire, which was on the next ridge line across from us.
A few
weeks ago Tony had a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Fire Forester guy
come out to look at our place and let us know how we would fare if a wildfire
came through. The outcome of that visit
was the knowledge that we would be on our own.
We were told that ground fire crews would not be sent out due to the steepness
and inaccessibility of the mountain ridge we live on. They may send out an aircraft to drop some
fire retardant on our house but that’s about it. On the positive side, the DNR guy did say
that we have a great start on the defensible space around our home and had the
right to stay and protect it. Before he
left he gave us a bunch of information on how to make the defensible space
around our home even better.
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If you
are not sure what ‘defensible space’ means...it is an area around a structure
where fuels and vegetation are treated, cleared or reduced to slow the spread
of wildfire towards the structure. It
also reduces the chance of a structure fire moving from the building to the
surrounding forest.
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| Defensible space survivor (Source: napafirewise.org) |
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| (Source: napafirewise.org) |
In
addition to making sure we have a good defensible space, we also need to create
our own Wildfire Action Plan. This is so
our whole family will know escape routes, communication plans, emergency
meeting location, emergency contacts, etc.
Here are a few good examples of Wildfire Action Plans...
Get Set! {click here}
As The Fire Approaches {click here}
Outside Checklist {click here}
Inside Checklist & If Trapped Checklist {click here}
After
the visit from the DNR Fire Forester guy, going thru all the paperwork he gave
us, a little extra research online, and talking about what we still need to do
around here to improve our defensible space...I’m learning very quickly that
fire is a very capricious thing. It can
find the weak link in your home’s fire protection scheme and gain the upper
hand because of a small overlooked or seemingly inconsequential factor. While we may not be able to accomplish all
fire safe measures, each will increase our home’s, and possibly our family’s,
safety and survival during a wildfire.
Yes,
of course I know a wildfire or any home fire for that matter is bad. But I think most people have the attitude of “it
will never happen to me”, I know I do.
Which is why we are trying to change and have a FIRESAFE attitude. We have started off with the easiest and
least expensive actions. Beginning our
work closest to our house and we’re moving outward. We are continuing to work on the more
difficult items until we have completed them and can mark them off of the
to-do-list. To see a Wildland Fire Suppression Kit (this is on our to-do-list) that our friend made {click here}.
While fire insurance might replace property destroyed in a fire, there is no insurance available to replace human life.
While fire insurance might replace property destroyed in a fire, there is no insurance available to replace human life.
