Wildfire Preparedness

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Copyright 2010-2011 Ken Young (http://www.DinoDudes.com). All rights reserved.
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Fire is heading for your house. What do you do?

If it is a simple grass fire you can try to defend your house with sprinklers, garden hoses and rakes until the fire department shows up.

If it is a wildfire that the fire department is battling to control, you won't be able to help. Watering your yard and roof is a waste of time, and you will need every minute.

If you only have a few hours, load what you can into your vehicle and get out before fire blocks the road. You don't have enough time to do anything that will save your house, and you need that time to save your stuff and escape before it is too late. If you wait too long you will lose everything.

If you have a few days you can make your property more fire resistant. But the best time to do this is before the fire starts.

How can you make your property fire resistant?

The idea is to make it possible for the fire department to save your house. They can tell which house can be saved and which can't just by looking. Keep your property defensible at all times.

Maintain 100 feet of defensible space for the fire department. This means no buildup of combustible plant material.

Keep combustibles away from the house (ie fire wood, bushes, etc.)

Use fire resistive plants

Know how to shut off the propane/gas

Have a family evacuation plan

Use a tile or composite roof

Have a stucco sided house

Prevent embers from entering the attic space. Embers float around and circulate up under the eaves. If they get in you have an attic fire.

Disaster Readiness	Preparing for others
Disaster readiness for kids	Zip kits
Home emergency kits	72-hour kits
Evacuating	Aftermath

Fire's Comin'

Fire is heading for your house. What do you do?

How can you make your property fire resistant?

What resources are out there?