By Mike Conrad, Division Chief Operations, Aptos La Selva Fire Protection District
While we have had couple of small April showers locally and statewide, we are far below average in rainfall as well as the snowpack in the Sierra’s. Across the state except for the far north west rainfall is anywhere from 20% to 50% below normal. As a result, we have already seen fires in both northern and southern California, which is much earlier than usual.
At our local briefing this week we were told that as the growing season commences, conditions in Santa Cruz County potentially could be similar to conditions in 2008 when we experienced the Summit, Martin and Trabing fires. 2008 was one of the worst fire seasons to occur in Santa Cruz County in recent history.
While there is nothing we can do about the weather there is a lot we can do to modify fuels and prepare our property to be as fire safe as possible. I know you have heard it before but I must review it again. Now, while the weather is pleasant, is the time to get out and prepare your property for fire season.
Remember it’s all about the defensible space you create around your home. We like to see if possible a minimum of 100 feet of defensible space around your home, which provides us with the best chance of protecting your home. It’s all about teamwork. By you doing some work now while it’s safe it will help us do our work when the fire approaches.
So the first 30 feet around your home should be lean, clean and green which means reduce the amount of flammable materials and vegetation, keep the leaves, litter and dead vegetation cleaned up and make sure the remaining vegetation is kept well watered. The next 75 feet should focus on fuel reduction. Provide spacing between bushes, shrubs and trees. Tree branches should be limbed to reduce the chance of a ground fire from spreading into the trees. Look around for ladder fuels; typically a fire will spread from grasses to bushes to shrubs and into the trees. By interrupting this normal progression of fire, you can greatly reduce the chances of a small fire from becoming large.
Make sure to keep your roof and rain gutters clean of debris, don’t keep woodpiles next to the house and have a garden hose nearby.
Please start making your defensible space early, often in this growing season we see people who start mowing or weed whipping or sawing late when it’s hot and dry and a fire is accidentally started by a spark, hot muffler or friction. Also make sure once it is done that you check it now and then and keep it maintained throughout the fire season.
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For more information please visit the Cal Fire website at www.fire.ca.gov or our web site at www.aptosfire.com and click on the safety preparedness tab and go into the urban/interface for more information. You can also call your local fire department for more information.