It seems there are pros and cons to everything, doesn’t it? My husband and I left the hustle and bustle of Southern California for the beauty and peacefulness of our mountain home, but living with so many magnificent trees has meant that the threat of fire is always in the backs of our minds. With being members of the Bon Carbo Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary, and with what I’ve learned since taking on the responsibilities of the Administrative Assistant for the Fire Department, we've become even more aware of the danger fires pose. Those facts have helped motivate me to do some research on the subject.
I found a great website (www.firewise.org) containing valuable information, so I thought I’d include some of it here to help you understand what you need to do to help protect yourselves and your property:
First you’ll want to make sure your roof covering is non-flammable, so you’ll need to use Class-A asphalt shingles, metal, or concrete products.
In order to prevent flying embers from igniting your home, it’s a good idea to sweep your roof and gutters once or twice a year to avoid a build-up of leaves and pine needles. You’ll also want to get rid of vegetation, dead leaves and other flammable debris from around and under your house.
You’ll want to make of point of both picking up branches, leaves, and pine needles regularly and remembering to keep your trees pruned so that the lowest branches are six to ten feet from the ground. Those trees and shrubs you love to see around your house ought to be well-spaced, watered, and properly pruned, too.
Since you don’t want fire making a bee line to your home or that nice workshop you convinced your wife you couldn’t live without, you’ll want to store your firewood away from the house and outbuildings (unless, of course, its in a woodshed!).
If you want to burn leaves, etc., make sure to call the Bon Carbo Volunteer Fire Department (Weds. or Thurs. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 846-2399) to see if a burning ban is in effect before you ignite anything outside. It gets mighty windy here in the Bon Carbo area, and it wouldn’t take much for sparks to wreak havoc. If no ban is in effect, Chief MaryAnn will contact you about issuing a burn permit.
Once you get the permit, you’ll want to use a common-sense approach to help stop the fire from getting out of control by first clearing combustible materials away from your burn site. It’s a good idea to stay by the fire with a hose or a nice big bucket of water ready in case of an emergency … no one wants to be responsible for property damage and possible loss of life!
If the unthinkable should happen, you’ll want emergency vehicles to get as close to your home as possible, so make sure you have enough clearance (at least thirty feet) around your house for the volunteer firefighters to gain access.
It’s vital that you and your loved ones know all emergency exits from your area and that you make a point of talking about how and when to use those exits if a wildfire is close.
And remember that if you’re away from home when a wildfire breaks out, do not return until the danger of fire has passed so you don’t obstruct emergency vehicles and firefighters.
The men and women of both the Bon Carbo and Spanish Peaks Volunteer Fire Departments and Auxiliaries want to wish you and yours a safe and happy 2010!
Posted by Colleen C.
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