Fire Prep tasks done so far today: 1. Blew all the loose leaves away from the house on one side, and into the areas with mulch. Watered that mulch well so that it's nice and damp. 2. Removed pile of free wood (eventually will go towards garden beds, etc.) from the side of the house. 3. Trimmed some bushes with many dry lower leaves. More to do! #FireWx#wildfires#SantaAnaWinds#CAwx
Essentially doing these steps a wildland fire crew would do if a vegetation fire threatened the house---although there are a few trees I suspect a crew would chainsaw if the house was really threatened (Fruit trees: I like those trees, so they remain a threat).
Remove combustibles immediately next to the structure and scatter fire wood
Remove vegetation from the immediate area of the structure
Have garden hose(s) charged and place strategically around structure for immediate use
@ai6yr About that bit that says "scatter fire wood". Years ago, before I was thinking about wildfire here in the PNW, I built a woodshed along one side of our detached garage. It currently holds about 11 cords - which would require a fair bit of scattering.
In bad fire weather or if snow is forecast, I hang a fire 'resistant' tarp across the open side.
@mappingsupport@ai6yr my parents have a wood shed a distance away from the house with a barn door. It can hold probably six cords. It isn't fully up to wildfire standards but it's far enough from any other structure that if it burned, it wouldn't impact anything else worse than a fire burning through the area.
@douglasvb@mappingsupport@ai6yr I’m guessing a woodshed could be a source of embers which would pose a threat to a house for many hours, so location with regards to most likely wind direction during a fire would be a factor? (The fire season has started early Australia.)
@Susan60@mappingsupport@ai6yr it wouldn't be any worse than trees in the forest torching and burning for hours. They're surrounded by 150-200 foot tall pine trees.
@douglasvb@mappingsupport@ai6yr I’m used to thinking about homes in more open rural areas, so often under threat in Australia. We also have forest dwellers tho, so still relevant. Am thinking that more & more cities will be under threat, or urban fringes.
@ai6yr I had never thought of scattering firewood, though I can see how that would make sense, if you have enough property to do it.
But if you don’t or have too much firewood, then I guess hosing it down would help.
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