Wildland Division

Wildland Fire Safety Tips

If you live where flammable vegetation is abundant, your house and property could be a target for a wildland fire.  Be prepared for these damaging fires, triggered by lightning or accidents, that sweep through the woods.  The following safety tips will create a fire safe environment for your property.

10 Steps to Wildfire Defense

1. Define your defensible space. Create a 30-foot, non-combustible zone around your house. It is the most effective safeguard against wildfire.

2. Reduce flammable vegetation, trees and brush around your home. Choose fire-resistant plants with loose branching habits, high moisture content and little seasonal accumulation of dead vegetation.

3. Remove or prune trees. Remove or thin overcrowded or weakened trees. Prune low-hanging branches to keep ground fires from climbing into trees.

4. Cut grass and weeds regularly. Fire loves dry grass and weeds. Mow or trim low vegetation and keep it well-watered, especially during dry seasons.

5. Relocate wood piles and leftover building materials. Stack all burnable materials at least 30 feet away from your home and other buildings.

6. Keep your roof and yard clean. Pine needle build-up on composition shingle roofs can burn off the "gravel" surface layer and spread fire into the home. The Forest Service’s Cohen also found that — in several cases — exterior wood walls caught fire from concentrations of pine needles that lined their base.

7. Keep signs and addresses visible, and keep the home accessible. Highly visible signs and address numbers allow firefighters to find your home quickly during an emergency. Safe, easy access to your property includes driveways with well-trimmed peripheral vegetation. Contact your local fire agency for recommendations.

8. Rate your roof. In a wildfire, it’s the most vulnerable part of your house. Consider treatment or replacement of a wood shake roof. If you have a fireplace or wood stove, install an approved spark arrestor.

9. Regularly recycle yard debris and branches. Check into alternative disposal methods such as composting or recycling. If you burn yard debris, first contact your local fire agency for current regulations.

10. Know what to do when wildfire strikes. Monitor local radio and TV for fire reports and evacuation procedures. Arrange garden hoses so they can reach any part of your house. Keep an emergency checklist handy and make sure it includes closing all windows and doors and packing your car for quick departure.

During A Wildland Fire

1. When there is time to warn the public, local radio and television stations will broadcast emergency instructions and advisory information.  Keep a battery-powered radio with you so you can listen for emergency updates.

2. Use water or a fire extinguisher to put out small fires.  Do not try to put out a fire that is out of control.  If you are not sure if you can control it, get everyone out of the house and call the fire department from a neighbor's house.  Don't stay with your home in an attempt to save it.

3. Take identification, medicines, glasses, credit cards, insurance policies and financial records with you.  wear protective clothing.

4. If your clothes catch on fire, Stop, Drop, Cover Your Face and Roll until the fire is extinguished.  Running only makes the fire burn faster.

5. Sleep with your door closed.  If you wake up to the sound of a smoke detector, feel the bottom of the door with the palm of your hand before you open it.  Alert other people to the fire danger.  If the door is COOL, leave immediately.  Be prepared to crawl.  Smoke and heat rise, and the air is cleaner and cooler near the floor.  If the door is HOT, escape through a window.  If you cannot escape, hang a sheet outside the window, alerting fire fighters to your presence.

6. Be prepared to shut off electricity, gas and water at main switches and valves.  Lock your home.
   

After A Wildland Fire

1. Do not enter a fire-damaged building unless authorities say it is ok.

2. Beware of structural damage.  Roofs and floors may be weakened and need repair.

3. Contact your local disaster relief service, such as the American Red Cross or Salvation Army, if you need housing, food, or personal items that were destroyed in the fire.  

4. Call your insurance agent.  Keep records of all clean-up and repair costs.  Receipts are important for both insurance and income tax claims. Do not throw away and damaged goods until an official inventory has been taken.  Damages are considered by your insurance company.

5. I you're a tenant, contact the landlord.  It's the property owner's responsibility to prevent further loss or damage to the structure.  

6. Secure remaining personal belongings or move them to another location.  Ask law enforcement officials to watch the property.

7. Discard food, beverages and medicines that have been exposed to heat, smoke or soot.  Do not attempt to refreeze food that has thawed.

8. Notify friends, family, law enforcement, fire department, insurance agent, mortgage company, utility companies, employers, and the post office of your whereabouts.

Red Flag Alert
Wildfire Prevention in the Urban Interface.

A Red Flag Alert is called when the fire danger ranges form high to extreme and the wind exceeds 25 miles per hour.  When a fire starts under these conditions we expect extreme fire behavior and difficulty in stopping it spread and putting it out.  When a Red Flag Alert is declared, members of the Ponderosa Fire Advisory Council and cooperating businesses, local schools and fire stations will display Red Flag Alert posters and or Red Flags.