Wildfire Preparedness Week 2024
Utopia Gardens, Mirror Park, September 2023
Wildfire is coming, are you ready? The most common question asked in San Andreas. May 1st signalled the beginning of a week of awareness with Wildfire Preparedness Week - In some places a month-long campaign. A week of asking questions like, how prepared are YOU? for Wildfire season. Wildfire conditions are an emergency and such fires can have catastrophic consequences. So, you and your loved ones must be armed and prepared with knowledge of what to have and what to do should you be involved in a Wildfire situation.
READY
Ready? we'll cover numerous topics involved in San Fire's READY, SET, GO! initiative. Each covering different steps citizens of San Andreas can take to ensure they are ready and prepared for when Wildfire strikes.
Get Ready; Create and Maintain your home with defensible space and adapt your home to cope with fire conditions. Taking into account drought conditions when maintaining and landscaping your home as well as Firesmart landscaping that can not only help you assist you in keeping your garden tidy. But, also safe - Helping you keep your home safe from the risk of wildfire.
Defensible Space & Drought Defensible Space
Creating Defensible space and adapting your home is essential in improving the chance of your homes survival under wildfire conditions. Defensible space is a buffer zone you create between your home and any wildland around your home such as grass, trees, shrubs and brushland. This space helps slow of stop the spread of wildfire and helps protect your home from catching fire from embers, flame contact or radiant heat. But, proper defensible space also helps provide firefighters with a safe zone to work in, to help defend your home in wildfire conditions.
If facing drought conditions, removing dead or dry vegetation is always a must and if possible incoporating things such as hardscape such as gravel, pavers, concrete and other noncombustible mulch into the first five feet of your home. If you cannot water a plant? It's not worth the risk.
Firesmart Landscaping
A fire smart landscape necessarily isn't the same as a well-maintained yard. Fire smart landscaping is using fire-resistant plants and strategic planting to help resist the spread of fire to your home. In San Andreas, fire-resistant plants are an amazing choice as they are drought resistant too for periods even outside of Wildfire season - The best part is, you don't need a lot of money to fire smart your landscape and in most cases can increase property value and help water conservation while making your home look beautiful.
Keep in mind though, there is no such thing as "fire-safe" plants. All plants whether fire-resistant will burn under the right conditions, regardless of how they are classified. Environmental factors as well as how well a plant is maintained also factor into this. In some situations, the same species of plants may be fire-resistant in one environment and flammable in another depending on drought conditions, growth, and dead material. You should think about whether you will be able to take care of a plant to the point it doesn't pose a risk to your home.
When Fire smart landscaping, you should always aim to follow the minimum vertical clearance and the minimum horizontal clearance.
SET
Get Set; Before Wildfires strike it's important to make sure you and your loved ones get set. Prepare yourself and your family for the possibility of having to evacuate; Create a wildfire action plan, assemble an emergency supply kit and establish a family communication plan. These should be all familiarised with all members of your household.
Wildfire Action Plan
Wildfire action plans should be prepared in advance of wildfire season, to give members of your family and yourself time to familiarise themselves with it. Below is a checklist of all that should be thought of to be included. But, always keep in mind, everyone's action plan will be different;
Designated emergency meeting places outside the fire or hazard area - these can be critical in helping establish who is accounted for.
Several different escape routes from your home and local community - routes should be practiced often so they can be familiarised. A family communication plan - designating an emergency contact such as an out-of-area friend or family to act as a main point of communication for all family members in case of separation.
Prepare your Family
Evacuation plans should be easy to understand, especially for those families with younger children, and should help them understand how to respond quickly in case of a fire and how adults can escape with younger infants. Plan in advance of wildfire season and practice your family's evacuation plan and actions you can do to remain safe when a wildfire is nearby.
It's important to talk to younger members of your family, especially children at a level they understand and won't potentially frighten them. The U.S. government has many resources online that can help guide and offer tips for families with young children such as the U.S. Fire Administration, Sesame Workshop campaign, FEMA, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Families should plan diligently and with special consideration for older members of the family and those with disabilities; The U.S. Fire Administration and American Red cross can help in these cases with resources online.
Emergency Supply Kits
Emergency Supply Kits should be put together long before a wildfire or other natural disaster occurs and should be kept accessible in case of emergency where the need to evacuate is necessary. Families should plan to be away from home for an extended period and each member of the family should have a kit personal to them. Backpacks for work are great for quick-to-grab storage. But, items such as food and water should be carried in a tub for easier transport.
You should aim to have things such as a three-day supply of non-perishable food and three gallons of water per person, a map with evacuation routes marked, any required medications, spare change of clothing, money or credit/debit cards, a first aid kit, sanitation supplies and copies of important documents (Birth certificates, passports, insurance, etc).
GO!
Give you and your family the best chance of survival by evacuating early. Knowing you're ready to go also means knowing when to evacuate and what to do if you become trapped. Before any evacuation, it's essential to have prepared in advance with action plans, pre-evacuation preparation steps, and monitoring the wildfire in your area.
San Fire will always liaise with local government entities to ensure evacuation orders and announcements are carried out in a timely fashion - So make sure when a wildfire is on-going in your area to ensure you listen for announcements and if a Fire Marshal or government official visits your home with an evacuation order, you help them, help you. San Fire works with government entities such as the Los Santos Fire Department, Governer's Office of Emergency Services and the San Andreas Government to ensure that an emergency meets the criteria for an evacuation order.
Paleto Lumberyard Fire, June 2023
While Wildfire Preparedness Week may be coming to a close, the education SANFIRE does to ensure all citizens of San Andreas are prepared incase of an emergency will continue. Expect in the coming weeks to see an increase of educational posts, possible events and more as we look to engage with the community on this important topic.
So, the only question remains...Are you Ready to Ready, Set, GO?
