| • |
Install hose spigots on at least two sides of the house and near remote
buildings like garages. Install additional outlets at least 50 feet from
the home.
|
| • |
A garden hose long enough to reach anything that’s burning.
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| • |
Secure an outside water source, in case fire fighting elsewhere in your
neighborhood sucks the hydrants dry. Do you have a small pond, cistern,
well or swimming pool? Then you’ve got ammunition.
|
Gather your fighting tools:
| • |
A ladder as tall as your roof.
|
| • |
A long garden hose.
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| • |
Rake, axe, handsaw or chainsaw, shovel, buckets.
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Fire proofing:
Wild fire destroys hundreds of homes and buildings every year. If you clear
flammable vegetation from the vicinity of your structure, you can reduce the
risk of destruction by wild fire as much as 70 percent. Follow these
tips.
Property:
| • |
Build a defensible area around your house of at least 30 feet. If you are
on a hillside extend the down hill defensible area: Fire travels quickly
uphill.
|
| • |
Plant fire-resistant shrubs and trees. Hardwood trees like walnut and cherry
are less flammable than pine, evergreen, or eucalyptus trees.
|
| • |
Rake up leaves and dead limbs, clear away brush.
|
| • |
Thin a 15-foot space between tree crowns, and remove
limbs within 15 feet of the ground.
|
| • |
Ask the Power Company to clear branches from power lines.
|
| • |
Remove vines from the walls of the home.
|
| • |
Mow grass regularly.
|
| • |
Clear a 10-foot area around propane tanks and the barbecue. Place a screen over the
grill — use non-flammable material with mesh no coarser than one-quarter
inch.
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