Be Prepared

Wildfire

Make an evacuation plan Prepare your home Plan for your animals When a wildfire approaches Get some free advice

Structural triage:
Hard choices

If a big wildfire starts in Black Forest, firefighters will choose to defend some homes, and pass others by.

We don't like to do this, but we must. Here's why:

Not enough resources

This region doesn't have enough fire trucks and crews to assign one to every threatened home. No area does – and it would take days to bring them in from other parts of the country.

So we must pick our battles carefully. We assign our limited resources only to homes that we have a chance to save.

Firefighter safety

Firefighters have died trying to defend homes that they couldn't have saved in the first place. We really want to save your property and your memories. But no amount of property is worth a single human life.

Is your home a survivor?

The preparations you make now are more important than anything firefighters can do in the path of a fire. To find out where you stand, and what you should be doing, simply ask for a free, no-obligation Wildfire Risk Assessment.

Prepare your home for wildfire

If a big wildfire breaks out, there’s no guarantee that a fire engine will park in your driveway to protect your home. So your house must be ready to survive a fire on its own, at least for a while.

To be a survivor, a house needs two things:
survivable space and simple neatness.

This report on the Wallow Fire shows that both of these really work to protect homes.

Survivable space

“Survivable space” (also known as defensible space) is an area around a building that contains no vegetation that can carry fire to the structure. This zone should be at least 30 feet wide, though larger is better.

Remove flammable plants from your defensible space, and replace them with fire-resistive plants. For example, replace evergreens with flowerbeds or aspens.

Survivable space does two important jobs:

Survivable space keeps flames from touching your home. Even small flames can quickly spread to wooden structures – especially decks. When you create survivable space, you remove the trees, bushes, and grass that can spread fire to your house.

If your home is surrounded by a wildfire, the burning trees will create a huge amount of radiant heat. But if flames don’t touch any part of your house, there’s a better chance that your house will survive.

Survivable space gives firefighters room to work. If a fire engine is assigned to protect your home, firefighters may need to park on one side of your house, and drag hoses around to the other side. Firefighters also need some open space to use their equipment, and to take shelter if necessary.

Making a good survivable space can be a big job that needs a chainsaw. You might need to hire out some of the work. You might need to spread the job out over several seasons.

But, whatever you do, don’t just give up on the idea. Doing a little at a time is better than doing nothing. And even some survivable space is better than none.

Simple neatness

Here are some easy fire-preparation jobs you can do without a chainsaw. Some of these are easy enough for kids.

Rake leaves and pine needles away from buildings, out from under decks, off the roof, and out of your gutters. A fire often throws glowing embers and flaming twigs a long distance away. If these fall into dry fuel close to your house, they will start fires that will spread to the building.

Stack firewood at least 30 feet away from the house. Falling embers can also start fires in the gaps between pieces of firewood. A burning woodpile creates a very hot fire that can destroy your home if it’s too close.

Get rid of flammable junk, such as lumber scraps or trash piles. Do not store this stuff under or near your deck. Patio cushions burn like crazy, so consider storing them indoors where embers can’t fall on them.

Cut the tall grass around buildings and propane tanks. As you mow, be careful that a spark, or a hot engine, does not start a grass fire. Have a hose or fire extinguisher handy, just in case.

Remove low branches and small saplings. These “ladder fuels” allow fire to jump from the grass into the main branches of the pine trees, where it’s a lot harder to fight. When you remove clumps of spindly, overcrowded saplings, the remaining trees will be healthier and more fire-resistant. Work at this gradually, until the pine trees near your house have no branches within 6 to 10 feet of the ground.

Improve your address numbering, so a fire crew can find you. Your numbers should be at least 4 inches tall, with good contrast, and visible from both directions on your road. Good house numbering will also make it easier for our ambulance crew to find you if you have a medical emergency.