By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Mountain residents have heard it before from fire officials: Create defensible space around your home so we can protect and save your home.
Members of the Lake Arrowhead Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club heard it again from four fire officials who spoke at their July 22 meeting.
It was Battalion Chief Eric Hofstetter of Cal Fire who urged the community to create defensible space. “Give us that fighting chance,” he said, adding that “it’s not a matter of if, it’s when” the next fire will take place.
Cal Fire, in conjunction with County Fire, is creating fuel breaks. But, Chief Hofstetter said, “the community has to help us.” He added that major fires seem to follow a 20-year cycle. “We’re coming up on 23 years,” he warned. “We’ve been lucky but I don’t think that luck will last.”
Jason Serrano, the assistant chief for County Fire’s Mountain Division, noted that “Cal Fire is one our best partners, not only in response but in prevention and mitigation.” However, he said, “the extremity of fires occurring is exceeding our capacity. In the U.S. this year, 41,000 fires have scorched 41 million acres. That shows us we need to build up a culture of resilience and fire-adaptive communities.”
With that, he turned the presentation over to Jarrod Dowden, a wildland fuel specialist with County Fire. He said that “we need to do anything we can do in advance to prepare, to get educated. Ultimately that’s what it means to be prepared.”
Dowden referred to their multi-faceted approach: Prevent wildfires before they happen. Prepare residents and improve their awareness. Mitigate the impact of wildfires once they happen.
He identified three zones of defensible space to protect your home:
- Zone 0 (0 to 5 feet) Use hardscape like gravel or concrete instead of wood mulch. Clear away all dead plants, grass, pine needles and leaves from roofs, gutters and under decks. Move firewood outside this zone. Keep tree branches 10 feet away from chimneys.
- Zone 1 (5 to 30 feet) Reduce the fuel load by removing all dead grass, plants and shrubs. Trim tree branches so they are 10 feet away from other trees. Prune low tree branches up to six feet from the ground.
- Zone 2 (30 to 100 feet) Space trees and remove dead vegetation.
“There are two schools of thought on fuels reduction,” Dowden said. “All or nothing and anything is better than nothing.” He urged homeowners to follow these recommendations to reduce the flame height and length should a fire occur; that, he said, weill reduce the fire’s spread.
“You want to keep a fire low to the ground, out of the canopy,” he said, adding the idea is to avoid a crown fire whenever possible.
In addition to creating defensible space, homeowners should look at achieving home hardening measures, which are required for new builds. Things like fire-resistant siding, mesh with a quarter-inch opening to enclose eaves and vents, double-pane tempered glass windows.
For homeowners who aren’t sure if their homes are fire safe and defensible, County Fire offers the Residential Assessment Program. This, Dowden noted, “is not enforcement but education – what you can do to get your home ready.” Homeowners interested in having this assessment done should call (909) 386-8400 or visit Dowden also reminded homeowners that the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District is now on the list as a Fire Risk Reduction Community. Homeowner should check with their insurance carriers on the discount that is state-mandated.
Assistant Chief Peter Brierty, who manages County Fire’s Forestry Fuels Management unit, told the Rotarians that “the #1 disaster facing this state today that is entirely predictable is wildfire. It is the most preventable disaster.
“We can prevent fire if we do the right work. Shaded fuel breaks work – they can stop a fire without firefighters there. They allow firefighters to do structure protection in a safer environment because fuel has been reduced.”
These fuel breaks and defensible space created by homeowners, Dowden said, “give us more tools to work with.”
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