Page 8 • Living With Fire
Submitted by Dale Knutsen and Chuck Bowman
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Firewise F irewise C Communities/USA ommunities/USA
What is Firewise F C itizen involvement involvement is is the the cornerstone cornerstone Citizen off Firewise o Firewise Communities/USA Communities/USA Recognition R ecognition Program. Program. As As a resident resident whose w hose home home iiss llocated ocated iin n a rregion egion ssusceptible usceptible to to wildfires, wildffires, this this program program can can help h elp your your community community become become Firewise Fir re ewise. T he n ational F irewise C ommunities The national Firewise Communities p program rogram iiss a multi-agency multi-agency effort effort de designed signed tto o rreach each b beyond eyond tthe he ffire ire sservice ervice b nvolving homeowners, homeowners, community community byy iinvolving lleaders, eaders, planners, planners, developers, developers, and and others others iin n tthe he eeffort ffort tto op protect rotect p people, eople, p property, roperty, aand nd natural natural rresources esources ffrom rom tthe he iimpacts mpacts o off wildland wildland fire fire - before a fire starts starrts. Why Fire Firewise ewise T The he F Firewise irewise P Program rogram ddepends epends on on ccommunity ommunity iinvolvement. nvolvement. N eighbors Neighbors w working orkkiing together together to to m make ake ttheir heir iindividual ndividual ssurroundings urroundings and and their their ccommunity ommunity safer safer from from wildfires. wildffires. For For eexample xample ffollowing ollowing de fensible sspace pace defensible gguidelines uidelines b learing yyour our H ome byy cclearing Home Six IIgnition gnition Zone. Zone. (Refer (Refer to to Si ix Steps Stteps ttoo C reating Defensible Defensible Space Space o utlined on on P age 12.) 12.) Creating outlined Page R Reasons easons for for Firewise Firewise Communities Communities R Recognition ecognition are: are:
•• IIncreased ncreased p property roperty owner owner uunderstanding nderstanding of of fire fire issues issues and and iinvolvement nvolvement iin n tthe he ssolutions olutions •• IImproved mproved ccommunity ommunity ccooperation ooperation o n wildfire wildfire ssafety afety m atters on matters •• IImpartial mpartial aassessment ssessment o off ccommunity ommunity h hazards azards aand nd risks risks wildfire •• A ggeneral eneral reduction reduction iin n tthe he w ildffire h hazard azard level level in in the the community community •• A cclear lear iindication ndi d cation tto o iinsurers nsurers that that tthe he community community uunderstands nderstands aand nd iiss aacting cting to to reduce reduce hazards hazards and and risks risks •• C ommunity qqualification ualification ffor or ggrant rant Community ffunding unding Becoming A Firewise Community T The he Firewise Firewise Communities Communities Program Program iincludes ncludes aassisting ssisting residential residential ccommunities ommunities tto o become become recognized recognized F Firewise irewise C Communities/USA. ommunities/USA. T To o become b ecome recognized, recognized, communities communities must must uundertake ndertake ffive ive aactions: ctions: 11. . C Complete omplete a ccommunity ommunity aassessment, ssessment, aassisted ssisted b rofessionals from from your your byy p professionals llocal ocal ffire ire de ddepartment, partment, C CAL AL F FIRE, IRE, aand nd yyour our C County ounty F FSC, SC, aand nd ccreate reate aan n aassessment ssessment and and action action plan. plan. 22. . F Form orm a Firewise Firewise Board Board o orr C Committee. ommittee.
33. .
H Hold old aan n aannual nnual Firewise Firewise D Day ay eevent vent tto o raise raise awareness awareness and and carry carry out out p ortions o he aaction ction p lan. portions off tthe plan. 44. . A Annually nnually invest invest a minimum minimum of of $2 $2 p er ccapita apita iin nm itigation p rojects. per mitigation projects. 55. . SSubmit ubmit aan n application application to to the the Firewise F irewise Communities Communities Program Program tthrough hrough CAL CAL FIRE FIRE
Firewise Comm munities/USA Communities/USA Activity in Plum mas County Plumas C Currently urrently tthree hree ccommunities ommunities iin nP Plumas lumas County C ounty aare re aapplying pplying for for Firewise Firewise Communities/USA Lake C ommunities/USA rrecognition; ecognition; L ake A Almanor lmanor West, West, Gold Gold Mountain, Mountain, and and The The G Graeagle raeagle Fire Fire Protection Protection District. District. For For aadditional dditional iinformation nformation o on nh how ow yyour our ccommunity ommunity can can become become one, one, contact contact yyour our C County ounty F Fire ire SSafe afe C Council, ouncil, C CAL AL F IRE or or Firewise Firewise Communities/USA. Communities/USA. FIRE G o tto ow ww.firewise.org , o orr Go www.firewise.org www.plumasfiresafe.org w ww.plumasfiresafe.org for for aadditional dditional iinformation. nformation.
providing firefighters a more secure area in which to work while protecting structures. During a wildfire, firefighters will often not attempt to protect structures with inadequate defensible space, for both safety reasons and the likelihood that their efforts will
Living With Fire • Page 13 is typically abundant. Grasses should not exceed four inches in height unless special circumstances exist.
Separation:
2x x Shrub spacing should be twice the height.
Sagebrush, other Shrubs, Pinyon and Juniper: On flat to gently sloping terrain, individual shrubs or small clumps of shrubs within the Defensible Space Zone should be separated from one another by at least twice the height of the average shrub. For homes located on steeper slopes, the separation distance should be greater. For example, if the typical shrub height is 2 feet, then there should be a separation between shrub branches of at least 4 feet. Remove shrubs or prune to reduce their height and/or diameter. In most instances, removing big sagebrush is the preferred approach. It is a very flammable plant, is easily removed, does not resprout, and
of at least toto gently sloping land. of at least10 10feet feeton onflat flat gently sloping land For onon steeper slopes, the separaFor homes homeslocated located steeper slopes, the tion distancedistance should be greater, see table. When separation should be greater, see table. When selecting selecting trees for removal, consider cutting untrees fordamaged, removal, cutting unhealthy healthy, orconsider weak trees.
damaged, or weak trees.
Recommended Min Horizontal Distance
10 feett
Pine and White Fir: On flat to gently sloping terrain, pine and white fir should be thinned to provide an average separation between canopies
Step Four
Step Fourbetween Create a separation
tree branches and lower Create a separation between growing plants: tree branches and lower growing If trees are present within the Defensible Spa plants: Zone, there should be a separation If trees are thevegetation Defensible Space between thepresent lower within growing and the lowest tree Zone, there should be branches. a separation between the Vegetation that can carry firelowest tree lower growing vegetation anda the burning in low growing plants toa fire burnbranches. Vegetation that can carry taller plants is called “ladder fuel.” The ing in low growing plants to taller plants is called recommended separation for ladder “ladder fuel.” The recommended separation for fuels is three times the height of the ladder fuels is three times the height of the lower lower vegetation layer. Prune the lower vegetation layer.shorten Prune the lower treeof branches, tree branches, the height shorten the height of shrubs, or remove lower shrubs, or remove lower plants. Do not, plants. Do not, however, remove more than however, remove more than one-third onethird the total branches. When there is no of theoftotal tree tree branches. When there is no understory vegetation understory vegetation present, present, remove lower tree remove lower tree branches a height branches to a height of at least to 2 feet above of at least 2 feeta above ground. During ground. During fire, this will help prevent a fire, this will help prevent burning burning needles and twigs that are lying on the needles and twigs that are lying on the ground from igniting the tree.
ground from igniting the tree.
Reducing Fuels in the Defensible Space & Community Zones Saves Homes. According to the Report, Structural survival on the 1990 Santa Barbara “Paint” fire: A retrospective study of urbanwildland interface fire hazard mitigation factors, 1996. The Painted Cave fire, in Santa Barbara County, threatened 800 and destroyed 479 homes. Those homes with nonflammable roofs and a clearance of 30 feet or more, had an 86% survival rate, and increased to 99% if someone was present to put out spot fires.
Defensible space increases the safety of fire suppression personnel. In 2006, 24 firefighters were killed while fighting wildfires. This includes five firefighters of a U.S. Forest Service engine crew who were killed in Southern California while trying to protect structures. Defensible space around homes is proven to save lives by
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
be unsuccessful. Fuels reduction projects along roadsides also contribute to public safety by keeping evacuation routes open and allowing fire suppression equipment to enter into the community.
According to the USFS Report, An Assessment of Fuel Treatment Effects on Fire Behavior, Suppression Effectiveness, and Structure Ignition on the Angora Fire, 2007. Where fuel treatments were implemented before the fire: Many firefighters reported increased ability to take “close-in” suppression actions because of the adjacent treatments which provided “black” safety zones after the fire had passed. Many houses were protected from fire or had spot fires extinguished in areas that would have been unsafe. Many firefighters reported that the treated urban lots significantly increased suppression effectiveness because of the relatively low intensity surface fire that enabled direct attack of spot fires, preventing adjacent houses from burning.
Homeowners have the most control and often decided, consciously or unconsciously and long before the wildfire comes, whether or not their home will survive.