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Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:50 pm Post subject: Prepare for a Wildfire |
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Prepare for a Wildfire
* Find Out What Your Fire Risk Is
* Create Safety Zones Around Your Home
* Protect Your Home
Listed here are several suggestions that you can implement immediately. Others need to be considered at the time of construction or remodeling. You should also contact your local fire department, forestry office, emergency management office or building department for information about local fire laws, building codes and protection measures. Obtain local building codes and weed abatement ordinances for structures built near wooded areas.
Find Out What Your Fire Risk Is
Learn about the history of wildfire in your area. Be aware of recent weather. A long period without rain increases the risk of wildfire. Consider having a professional inspect your property and offer recommendations for reducing the wildfire risk. Determine your community's ability to respond to wildfire. Are roads leading to your property clearly marked? Are the roads wide enough to allow firefighting equipment to get through? Is your house number visible from the roadside?
Learn and teach safe fire practices.
* Build fires away from nearby trees or bushes.
* Always have a way to extinguish the fire quickly and completely.
* Install smoke detectors on every level of your home and near sleeping areas.
* Never leave a fire--even a cigarette--burning unattended.
* Avoid open burning completely, and especially during dry season.
Always be ready for an emergency evacuation.
Evacuation may be the only way to protect your family in a wildfire. Know where to go and what to bring with you. You should plan several escape routes in case roads are blocked by a wildfire.
Create Safety Zones Around Your Home
All vegetation is fuel for a wildfire, though some trees and shrubs are more flammable than others. To reduce the risk, you will need to modify or eliminate brush, trees and other vegetation near your home. The greater the distance is between your home and the vegetation, the greater the protection.
Create a 30-foot safety zone around the house.
Keep the volume of vegetation in this zone to a minimum. If you live on a hill, extend the zone on the downhill side. Fire spreads rapidly uphill. The steeper the slope, the more open space you will need to protect your home. Swimming pools and patios can be a safety zone and stone walls can act as heat shields and deflect flames. In this zone, you should also do the following:
* Remove vines from the walls of the house.
* Move shrubs and other landscaping away from the sides of the house.
* Prune branches and shrubs within 15 feet of chimneys and stove pipes.
* Remove tree limbs within 15 feet of the ground.
* Thin a 15-foot space between tree crowns.
* Replace highly flammable vegetation such as pine, eucalyptus, junipers and fir trees with lower growing, less flammable species. Check with your local fire department or garden store for suggestions.
* Replace vegetation that has living or dead branches from the ground-level up (these act as ladder fuels for the approaching fire).
* Cut the lawn often keeping the grass at a maximum of 2 inches. Watch grass and other vegetation near the driveway, a source of ignition from automobile exhaust systems.
* Clear the area of leaves, brush, evergreen cones, dead limbs and fallen trees.
Create a second zone at least 100 feet around the house.
This zone should begin about 30 feet from the house and extend to at least 100 feet. In this zone, reduce or replace as much of the most flammable vegetation as possible. If you live on a hill, you may need to extend the zone for several hundred feet to provide the desired level of safety.
Clear all combustibles within 30 feet of any structure.
* Install electrical lines underground, if possible
* Ask the power company to clear branches from power lines.
* Avoid using bark and wood chip mulch
* Stack firewood 100 feet away and uphill from any structure.
* Store combustible or flammable materials in approved safety containers and keep them away from the house.
* Keep the gas grill and propane tank at least 15 feet from any structure. Clear an area 15 feet around the grill. Place a 1/4 inch mesh screen over the grill. Always use the grill cautiously but refrain from using it all during high risk times.
Protect Your Home
Remove debris from under sun decks and porches.
Any porch, balcony or overhang with exposed space underneath is fuel for an approaching fire. Overhangs ignite easily by flying embers and by the heat and fire that get trapped underneath. If vegetation is allowed to grow underneath or if the space is used for storage, the hazard is increased significantly. Clear leaves, trash and other combustible materials away from underneath sun decks and porches. Extend 1/2-inch mesh screen from all overhangs down to the ground. Enclose wooden stilts with non-combustible material such as concrete, brick, rock, stucco or metal. Use non-combustible patio furniture and covers. If you're planning a porch or sun deck, use non-combustible or fire-resistant materials. If possible, build the structure to the ground so that there is no space underneath.
Enclose eaves and overhangs.
Like porches and balconies, eaves trap the heat rising along the exterior siding. Enclose all eaves to reduce the hazard.
Cover house vents with wire mesh.
Any attic vent, soffit vent, louver or other opening can allow embers and flaming debris to enter a home and ignite it. Cover all openings with 1/4 inch or smaller corrosion-resistant wire mesh. If you're designing louvers, place them in the vertical wall rather than the soffit of the overhang.
Install spark arrestors in chimneys and stovepipes.
Chimneys create a hazard when embers escape through the top. To prevent this, install spark arrestors on all chimneys, stovepipes and vents for fuel-burning heaters. Use spark arrestors made of 12-gauge welded or woven wire mesh screen with openings 1/2 inch across. Ask your fire department for exact specifications. If you're building a chimney, use non-combustible materials and make sure the top of the chimney is at least two feet higher than any obstruction within 10 feet of the chimney. Keep the chimney clean.
Use fire resistant siding.
Use fire resistant materials in the siding of your home, such as stucco, metal, brick, cement shingles, concrete and rock. You can treat wood siding with UL-approved fire retardant chemicals, but the treatment and protection are not permanent.
Choose safety glass for windows and sliding glass doors.
Windows allow radiated heat to pass through and ignite combustible materials inside. The larger the pane of glass, the more vulnerable it is to fire. Dual- or triple-pane thermal glass, and fire resistant shutters or drapes, help reduce the wildfire risk. You can also install non-combustible awnings to shield windows and use shatter-resistant glazing such as tempered or wireglass.
Prepare for water storage; develop an external water supply such as a small pond, well or pool.
Other safety measures to consider at the time of construction or remodeling.
* Choose locations wisely; canyon and slope locations increase the risk of exposure to wildland fires.
* Use fire-resistant materials when building, renovating, or retrofitting structures.
* Avoid designs that include wooden decks and patios.
* Use non-combustible materials for the roof.
* The roof is especially vulnerable in a wildfire. Embers and flaming debris can travel great distances, land on your roof and start a new fire. Avoid flammable roofing materials such as wood, shake and shingle. Materials that are more fire resistant include single ply membranes, fiberglass shingles, slate, metal, clay and concrete tile. Clear gutters of leaves and debris.
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:01 am Post subject: "Ember Aware!" List of 22 EMBER CATCHERS |
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"Ember Aware!" List of 22 EMBER CATCHERS
This might interest you (mentioned at the October 22 FAST meeting). University of Nevada, “Be Ember Aware! Will YOUR home survive when the embers arrive?” 6-page brochure posted at http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/nr/2009/fs0905.pdf .
"During a wildfire, thousands of embers can rain down on your roof and pelt the side of your home like hail during a storm. If these embers become lodged in something easily ignited on or near your house, the home will be in jeopardy of burning. Embers coming into contact with flammable material is the major reason why homes are destroyed during wildfire.
"Common materials that become embers during wildfire include pine cones, branches, tree bark, and wooden shingles. Depending on fire intensity, wind speed, and the size of materials that are burning, embers can be carried more than a mile ahead of the fire. Consequently, even homes located blocks away from the actual flame front are vulnerable to ignition and complete destruction.
"By being ember aware and taking action ahead of time, a homeowner can substantially reduce the ember threat. Your home CAN survive when the embers arrive."
Ember Aware Checklist:
1. Wood Roof Replace wood shake and shingle roofs with fire-resistant types such as composition, metal and tile.
2. Roof Openings Plug openings in roof coverings, such as the open ends of barrel tiles, with non-combustible materials.
3. Roof Debris Routinely remove plant debris, such as pine needles, leaves, branches and bark, from the roof.
4. Skylights Replace plastic skylights with types constructed of double-pane glass. One of the panes should be tempered glass. Close skylights if wildfire is threatening.
5. Spark Arrester Install an approved spark arrester on chimneys.
6. Windows Replace single-pane, non-tempered glass windows with multiple-pane, tempered-glass types. Close all windows if wildfire is threatening.
7. Vents Cover attic, eave and foundation vents with 1/8-inch wire mesh or install new vent types designed to prevent ember entry. If wildfire is threatening, consider covering vent openings with pre-cut plywood or aluminum foil folded several layers thick and stapled.
8. Rain Gutters Keep rain gutters free of plant debris during fire season. Consider using rain gutter covers to reduce maintenance.
9. Siding Fill gaps in siding and trim materials with a good quality caulk and replace poor condition building materials.
10. Woodpiles Move firewood stacks and scrap lumber piles at least 30 feet from the house or other buildings.
11. Patio Furniture Place combustible patio furniture, such as lounges, tables and hammocks, inside the house or garage if wildfire is threatening.
12. Deck Boards Replace deck boards that are less than one inch thick or that are in poor condition with thicker, good condition boards. Use metal flashing between the deck and the house.
13. Deck Debris Remove plant debris from the gaps between deck boards, the gap between the deck and house, and lying on top of the deck.
14. Porch and Deck Accessories If wildfire is threatening, remove combustible materials from the porch and deck including newspapers, wicker baskets, door mats, pine cones and dried flower arrangements, and place BBQ propane tanks indoors.
15. Under the Deck Remove plant debris, wood piles and other easily ignited materials from under decks. Consider enclosing the open sides of the deck with siding materials that are properly vented or 1/8-inch wire mesh to reduce maintenance and deter ember entry. Do not use wooden lattice to enclose decks.
16. Flowerboxes Remove wooden flowerboxes from beneath windows if wildfire is threatening.
17. Eaves Cover open eaves with sheathing, such as plywood or fiber-cement board. Use tongue and groove joints or other intricate joint types and don’t use butt joints.
18. Flowerbeds Replace wood mulches with noncombustible types and remove plant debris, including dried grass and flowers, dead leaves and dead branches from flowerbeds next to the house, other buildings and next to wooden fences. Replace ornamental junipers with low-growing deciduous shrubs or flowers under irrigation.
19. Vehicles Close vehicle windows. Back into the garage and close the garage door or park away from the house.
20. Garage Door Adjust garage doors to achieve as tight a fit as possible with the door frame. Consider using trim around the garage door opening to reduce the size of gap openings. Close the garage door if wildfire is threatening.
21. Garbage Cans and Recycling Bins Use garbage cans covered with tight fitting lids near the house or other buildings. Move newspaper recycling bins indoors.
22. Wooden Fences Maintain wooden fences in good condition and create a noncombustible fence section or gate next to the house for at least five feet.
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