[prep] urban/suburban fire control

[l0kster]

THis is less of a problem for rural folks and more for city slickers to think about.

I live in the southwest where last summer saw multiple large fires burn large chunks of the left coast and only the heroic efforts of our firefighters prevented further hundreds of homes from destruction.

And this during conditions of good electricity and good communications for command and control. ANd of course, fire hydrants require positive water pressure from mostly electrically powered pumps.

During disaster/terrorist attacks, there may be a combination of:
no electricity (no running water), limited communications, streets jammed with people trying to bugout, and people using propane or charcoal to cook. Add to this drought conditions and dry hillsides, and cities start to look like tinderboxes/kindling.

City slickers can prep for a lot of things, but you can't fight fires headed your way with only handheld Kidde extinguishers and no water pressure for your garden hoses.

For this reason and others, I have my bugout bags packed and ready.

If TSHTF this summer, I'm afraid we will see some disastrous fires hit some cities.

Those of you city folk who haven't prepped for bugging out might want to think about that.

PS - thank you to all the CDF, County, and local firefighters who did and continue to do an outstanding job keeping us safe.

 

[Ought Six]

When I saw this title, I was thinking.....

"Gimme a ranging shot."

"Round away!"

"That was way out by the pool. Down 200."

"Down 200, roger. Round away!"

"Okay, you got the tool shed and the riding mower. Left 50, down 100."

"Left 50, down 100, roger. Round away!"

"Right down the chimney! Fire for effect!"

----------

But seriously, when I finally build a house, it will be an earth-shelter concrete house so I do not have to much worry about fires and weather. Where I am now renting, this is a potentially serious issue.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Fire deterrence is a problem for folks in the country as well.

It amazes the me the number of people who move out into the country here in Florida and let thick brush and trees grow up close to their houses and outbuildings. Brush fires are an every year phenomena here and have been for as long as I can remember. A fair part of our native ecology evolved around fire so in a manner of speaking the woods are supposed to burn from time to time.

I think the best thing that anyone can do to lessen their fire danger is to keep brush and thick trees cleared as far from their houses and outbuildings as they can. If you bought a house on a suburban lot where the property line is only fifty feet away from the house and it's thick brush on the other side I'd either sell the house or clear the brush and let the ecofreaks scream.

.....Alan.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

It's a good idea to pay attention to house construction as well. Metal roofs, non-flammable siding.......... I have aluminum siding and am hoping to put on a steel roof soon.

 

[Gingergirl]

Wild fires are not a great danger in this area. However being in the county, there are no hydrants, so once the fire truck is empty, fires are fought from the homeowners well. Of course this depends on whether the power has been cut because of the fire.

So I guess we would quickly be toasted.

 

[Para36]

wood chip/cedar bark mulch-a fire hazard

Until 2 years ago I never realized the fire hazard posed by these wood mulches which are popular in my area. We dont have the extended dry conditions prevalent in many other areas so I , and I'm guessing many others have underestimated this threat. A fire in our outdoor fireplace which spread to an adjacent landscaped cedar bark mulched area brought the danger home to me.
Just recently my son encountered a dangerous situation at a home for elderly when he happened to spot flames licking up the side of the building from a bark mulched landscaped planting. It turned out to have originated with a carelessly tossed cigarette.
We have since replaced all of the wood mulches adjacent to our house with crushed sandstone which we had trucked in.
Alan Hagan , whom I have gotten many good ideas from, makes an excellent point on the hazard posed by brush and thick trees ( ie.evergreens ) near one's house. We had some 15 large white cedars at the corners of our house which we have now taken down and replaced with very small plantings and the crushed sandstone on the surface. The rock over plastic sheet eliminates all weeds and the need to mow, thus no brush.

 

[Gingergirl]

Sorry to say, the rock over plastic much is not weed free. This was put down by the previous owner and quickly turned into a thistle and cottonwood garden. In dry weather, it turns to cement making weed pulling impossible.

I cannot tell you how much heavy work it has been to pull this out, clean up the beds and replace it with a wood chip mulch.

May not be any more fireproof than the house, but at least it can be mantained.

There is also the benefit of being able to more easily water and feed plants in these beds.

 

[HoofTrimmer]

I have put in the trees here at my house. There has to be some protection from the sun in summer. Heck, I would plant kudzu on the place if I could.

The animals keep all the brush from growing, the biggest worry for me is the amount of pine needles in my perimeter line. Ugh. If I had a notion I could sell it for flower beds, that is very popular here.

HoofTrimmer

 

[Para36]

Hi Ginger. Thanks for the warning and I'll be anxious to see how long our plastic lasts. We have only a few small small shrubs within our rock mulched areas and never water them, they just get rainwater. It's more like a rock landscaping. I used 6 mil black plastic and several inches of rock. This will be our 3 rd summer. Perhaps I didn't even need the plastic

 

[marsh]

Fire prone communities in California are encouraged to form "Fire Safe Councils" http://www.firesafecouncil.org/index.html

We have almost a dozen in our county. Some in my district work with the Forest Service on coordinated projects. The Forest Service attempts to get fuel reduction projects or shaded fuel breaks on the ground in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI.) The Fires Safe Council works on clearing areas around schools and important public structures, along ignition spots like roads and on private landowners properties if they are unable to do the clearance themselves.

Each is working on its community fire safe plan, which will be folded under the County Plan incorporating USFS, CDF/ County, municipal and district areas.

There is some planning and project money but Boxer and Feinstein are seeing to it that it goes to Tahow and southern CA and that we are left to cook in the north state. (Remember we were on the edge of the big Bicuit fire so the notion that we don't have serious fires is absurd.)

Here is a link to materials on fire-safe landscaping http://www.firesafecouncil.org/education/landscaping/index.html
Here is a homeowner's checklist:
http://www.firesafecouncil.org/view_article.cfm?article=83
Here is a list with links to a whole variety of materials http://www.firesafecouncil.org/education/educationmaterials.html