DEFENSIBLE SPACE IS SENSIBLE SPACE!

June? Springtime? Are you kidding me? With the ‘official’ start of summer less than three weeks away, I sit here looking out my window at rain falling on my property that looks like a war zone. This was the winter of incredible surprises. With several heavy snowfalls starting with one as early as Thanksgiving and culminating with a late one in April that caught many trees and bushes in full leaf, which resulted in even more broken and downed trees, tree limbs and bushes than had already been damaged from the earlier snows. The other ‘gift’ all of this rain and snow gave us beside all the debris on the ground is lush weed growth. Not only do we have a monumental clean up ahead of us, but we also have to get ready for the fire season that is just around the corner.

I’m sure that you’ve seen the signs along side the road put up by various Fire Departments and agencies that say: “defensible space is sensible space”. Many of us that live here in the foothills and the Sierra’s are at least somewhat familiar with the term ‘defensible space’, as we go through a yearly ritual to obtain defensible space around our homes. In fact, CAL FIRE, which is responsible for much of the fire protection services in this area, sends fire personnel out to inspect our homes/yards to make sure that we do have defensible space around the structures because it is the law, and it is the only way that they will be able to keep our homes from catching fire if a wild fire occurs. For those of you that are not familiar with defensible space, it is basically a 100’ of area around your home that consists of two areas of reduced or no flammable vegetation or debris. The first 30’ out and around your home is to be clear of all flammable ground vegetation and debris. Single, isolated trees or shrubs may be allowed if they are well maintained. The remaining 70’ of the 100’ feet out and around your home is considered the “reduced fuel zone” where more trees and shrubs are allowed, but they need to be thinned and maintained so that they won’t allow a wildfire to spread though them. That is the simple explanation of defensible space, but there is actually much more to it, and really, it is mostly just common sense.

Defensible space actually is a total fire safe mindset that encompasses your entire home and property. Making sure that the accumulated debris has been removed from your roof and rain gutters, making sure that the electric service wires are not rubbing on tree limbs and that the fuse boxes and circuit breaker panels are all installed and maintained per code are just a few of the fire safe considerations. If you have tall trees on your property it is wise to limb them up several feet and remove any vegetation below and out around them, which is referred to as “removing ladder fuels” that allow flames to spread up into the crowns of the trees. This is particularly important if your home is on a hillside. There are many other things that you can do to fire safe your home and property that I don’t have room to list here. For much more information contact your local CAL FIRE office, fire department or Fire Safe Council. You can also get information and tips by visiting www.fire.ca.gov . Get started now…it may be raining today, but those hot summer days are right around the corner with what could be a very active fire season due to all the downed foliage and tall grass/weeds thanks to this very wet winter.