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Is
Your Home Safe from Wildfires?
BY
PEARLETTE CID
Rain
has finally brought some much-needed relief to South Georgia. However,
conditions continue to be ripe for new wildfires. Fire is living
plasma and needs fuel to live. As quick as the wind changes, the
situation could also change, so you need to be fire wise.
Here
are some safety tips to help protect your home from wildfires.
Define
your defensible space.
Defensible space is a buffer zone—a minimum 30 feet non-combustible
area around your house that reduces the intensity and risk of a
wildfire from starting or spreading to your home. Defensible space
depends on clearing flammable materials away from your home. Although
30 feet is standard, additional clearance up to 100 feet may be
necessary as the slope of your property increases. Defensible space
not only helps protect your home in the critical minutes it takes
a fire to pass, it also gives firefighters a work area. During a
large-scale fire, when several homes are at risk, firefighters must
focus on homes they can safely defend.
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Remove
flammable landscaping from around your home.
Replace flammable landscaping with their fire-resistant counterparts.
Choose plants with loose branching habits, non-resinous woody material,
high moisture content in leaves, and little seasonal accumulation
of dead vegetation. Ask local garden and nursery center experts
about which varieties possess these and other fire-resistant traits.
Cut
grass and weeds regularly.
Fire spreads in dry grass and weeds. Mow grass and other low
vegetation, and keep them well-watered, especially during periods
of high-fire danger.
Relocate
wood piles and leftover building materials.
Stack all wood, building debris, and other burnable materials
at least 30 feet away from your home and other structures. Then
clear away flammable vegetation within 10 feet of wood/debris piles
as an additional safeguard against the spread of wildfire.
Keep
your yard and roof clean.
Clear leaves and debris from your roof, gutters and yard to
eliminate an ignition source for tinder-dry vegetation. Remove dead
limbs and branches within 10 feet of your chimney and decks. Tidying-up
is especially important during the hot, arid months of fire season
when a single spark can lead to an inferno. Your roof is the most
vulnerable part of your house in a wildfire. If you have a wood
shake shingle roof, consider treatment or replacement to make it
more fire-resistant. If you have a fireplace or woodstove, install
an approved spark arrestor on your chimney to prevent sparks from
reaching your roof or flammable vegetation.
Signs,
addresses, and access.
Easy-to-read road signs and address numbers that are contrasting
and visible from the road allow firefighters to find your home quickly
during a wildfire or other emergency. Safe, easy access to your
property includes two-way roads that can accommodate emergency vehicles
and give them space to turn around. Bridges and dikes should support
the weight of emergency vehicles. Driveways should also be trimmed
of peripheral vegetation to allow emergency equipment to reach your
house.
Sources:
Firewise communities and SAFECO corp.
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