Peak wildfire season is right around the corner, are you prepared? What does “prepared” really mean? I’ll take the briefest swipe at the basics, and it may surprise you that I won’t only be talking about vegetation. We live in an area that is prone to wildfire, so being ready for a wildfire to enter your neighborhood should be a high priority.
How would you know that a wildfire is even occurring? Local entities including the City of Prescott, Prescott National Forest and Yavapai County Office of Emergency Management will be doing their best to release timely information on social media and over the radio, and it’s helpful if you follow those sites. Refer to them rather than rely on opinions and conjecture posted in social media. Go to the source.
If there is a need to evacuate, do you expect an officer to knock on your door? That’s a common misconception. We have too few officers available to conduct door-to-door notifications. They will be needed to manage traffic at pinch points as people flee their neighborhoods.
Signing up on Yavapai County’s AlertYavapai registry will associate your address with your preferred mode of notification, be that text, phone or email. You also should load the Smart911 app onto your phone, which will also let you to select how you’ll receive emergency notifications, with the bonus of selecting which local agencies can send you alerts. Last, there is the Genasys Protect app for evacuations. The entire county, including its local municipalities, has been broken into zones so authorities can isolate areas to evacuate, place affected areas on ‘set’ status awaiting possible evacuation, and give ‘go’ notifications.
So when things go sideways, have you given thought to what you should pack into the car? We call these ‘go kits’ or ‘bug-out bags’ and they should include enough food and water to last you and yours 72 hours. You’ll also want to consider the Ps of evacuation: People, Pets, Prescriptions, Papers, and Priceless items. Have a couple of boxes or totes available, dedicated for this purpose. Preload what you can, and tape a list of the things you need to grab before you leave to the box lid. Just this little bit of pre-planning can help calm the chaos of a hectic event.
Should a wildfire threaten your neighborhood, there is much that you can do to protect your home and property and prepare for quick evacuation should it become necessary.
Here are some actions we can take to prevent wildfire from getting close enough to burn our homes.
1. Immediate zone: up to five feet from home
• Clear any vegetation from gutters and roof.
• Repair any roof damage.
• Install metal screening in vents.
• Repair broken windows and screens.
• Protection under decks (mesh screening or fencing).
2. Intermediate zone: 5-30 feet out
• Clear vegetation from under any grounded propane tanks.
• Mow grass to 4” height.
• Create “fuel breaks” (altered vegetation, as in spacing or hardscaping, to control fire).
• Clear “ladder fuels” (vegetation below trees) to a level that can’t reach crowns (cut to 1/3 of overall tree height).
• Space trees 18 feet apart at minimum, more on steeper slopes.
• Create breaks in shrubbery as well, and only keep in small clusters.
3. Extended zone: 30-100 feet out
• Clear surrounding areas of all collected debris/litter.
• Remove dead plant material.
• Remove any conifers between trees.
• Remove vegetation surrounding secondary buildings.
• Ensure twelve feet of spacing between treetops at 30-60 feet, six feet of spacing at 60-100 feet.
* Spacing information based on NFPA 1144. Get additional information from local fire marshal to protect homes to highest degree.
