Memories of the thorne Creek Fire - Fire Safety

We are still a little unnerved from the 2021 Thorne Creek fire that burned in our back yard. The typical fall lightning strikes have become routine. Keep the skidgines and the tender tank full. Keep the lightning strike apps on with notifications and check the alerts to see where the strikes hit. Be prepared. Stay vigilant.

Have you assessed your place for fire safety? Start now so that when the fire heads your way, you can hopefully get a step ahead of it. 

Remove any brush, grass, leaves, firewood, lawn furniture, etc (anything flammable or capable of catching and igniting  embers) from 5 feet around your structures.

Clear debris from your roof, gutters, eaves, and decks.

Keep branches at least 10 feet away from hanging over or touching your buildings.

Limb up (cut all the lower branches) 10 feet high on any trees within 25 feet of a structure.

Maintain 18-20 feet between tree crowns within 25 feet of structures.

Cover exterior vents with 1/8 inch metal screens to keep embers out.

Those pretty juniper bushes that smell so good? Sorry but they gotta go. Way too flammable.

You don’t have to do this for all the structures, just the ones you want to keep.

Do you have kids, pets, livestock? What’s your evacuation plan? Do you have locked gates? How do you address that in emergency situations?

Who can help you when the fire starts?

Have you thought about volunteering for your local fire department? If that’s not a good fit, bake them some cookies. Take them a case of granola bars, water, or Gatorade for their trucks. Introduce yourself and say thank you. Most rural fire departments are staffed by volunteers. They take a lot of risk and spend a lot of time training and responding to emergencies to keep our communities safe.