Love's Real Stories

When the Camp Fire burned through Butte Creek Canyon last November, we lucked out and still have our house. I say we lucked out, because it wasn’t our fire prevention methods that kept our structures intact, it was our on-the-ball neighbors and dedicated firefighters that saved us. 

After the fire, we swore we would dedicate ourselves to home fire prevention by creating the defensible space we need to have a better chance of making it through the next fire without relying on neighbors and firefighters. Many of our neighbors who made it through the fire for the same reasons we did, swore the same dedication.

Here we are a year later, and I can’t brag about our fire prevention efforts. I can’t brag about many of my neighbors, either. We do have professional tree trimmers lined up to come out to our place to remove the dangerous branches, trees, and shrubs hanging around our structures, but a lot more needs to be done.

The Butte Fire Safe Council has good advice for me and my neighbors. Please take note of the directions below, and take their advice, or pass it on to those who need it:

Your “defensible space” is the area that is a minimum of 100 feet from your home (as required under State Public Resources Code 4291 and other local ordinances). 

This is the area where you need to modify the landscape to allow your house to survive on its own –greatly improving the odds for firefighters defending your home. 

If your home is on a slope or subject to high winds, extend the distance of this zone based upon the “X-Factor.”  for instance, this zone may increase to 150 feet .

The three R’s of defensible space.

Remove – dead and dying grass, shrubs and trees.

Reduce – the density of vegetation (fuel) and ladder fuels, those fuels extending from the ground to the tree canopies.

Replace – hazardous vegetation with less flammable, irrigated landscape vegetation, including lawn or other low-growing groundcovers and flowering plants.

The Home Ignition Zone (the home plus 10 ft distance)

It’s the ‘little things’ that will endanger your home. Just one little ember landing on one pile of flammable material will start the fire that burns a house down.  Spend a morning searching out and getting rid of those flammable little things outside. Your home will be much safer!

1. Keep your rain gutters and roof clean of all flammable material. 

2. Get rid of dry grass, brush, and other flammable materials around your home –and don’t forget leaves, pine needles and bark walkways.  Replace with well-maintained or watered landscape vegetation, green lawn and landscape rocks.

3. Clear all flammable materials from your deck.  This includes brooms, stacked wood, and easily ignitable patio furniture. Also enclose or board up the area under your deck to keep it from becoming a fuel bed for hot embers. 

4. Move woodpiles and garbage cans away from your home.  Keep woodpiles away from the home, a distance of two times the height of the pile –more if your lot size allows.

5. Use fine mesh metal screen to cover eaves, roof and foundation vents to prevent windblown embers from entering. 

6. Inspect and clean your chimney every year.  Trim away branches within 10 feet.  Install a spark arrester with 1/2″ or smaller mesh screen.

The Butte County Fire Safe Council website has all this advice and much more. Check it out and pass it on!