Wildfire

Anonymous Poster · Jan 15, 2001

Just wondering if any members (Harv?) have had experience with / are threatened by the fires that have plagued Ca./other places in recent years.

Taking special precautions? /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Larry

Harv · Jan 15, 2001

Larry -

A few years ago I was, ironically, up at the property when I saw on TV that a giant firestorm was raging in the San Francisco east bay area. I about freaked when I saw arial footage of helicopters hauling huge buckets of water over the hills near my house! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

That was the now famous Oakland Hills firestorm that wiped out a substantial number of luxury homes, apartment buildings and many, many acres of grass and timber. My sister-in-law had just moved out of a fancy 100+ units apartment complex just two weeks before it was reduced to a pile of ash. The fire never got to my side of the hill, but that didn't stop me from being a tad traumatized anyway. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

It seems like southern Cal has a firestorm just about every year. They get hellacious winds across their dry hills late in the summer, which is a good recipe for disaster.

I'm also told that about 10 years before my parents bought what is now my "tractor property" up in the foothills (that would make it about 1964), the whole area was wiped out by a forest fire. Although the signs remained for quite a while, it's amazing how much recovery ol' mother nature can cough up in 10 years.

Last year my own acreage was set afire by a well-meaning neighbor who mowed the tall grass around the mailbox cluster nearby. His mower threw a spark which went unnoticed until a passerby saw the flames. I posted that story a while back.

Taking special precautions?

I've made it my mission to keep the tall grasses under control, maintain firebreaks all around the structures and then some, and to re-open the fire roads. I spent many a weekend last couple of years busting my hump with a backpack sprayer, a DR Trimmer/Mower and an assortment of hand tools. It was a losing battle, but I now think I have solved the problem --

I bought a tractor!!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

LarryT · Jan 15, 2001

We've been threatned by them a few times here in San Diego County. Had the big one last week in the South East part of the county. I'm in the North West part. I have to keep the brush mowed down on my property because the threat is real. So far only a threat though, I'll keep my fingers crossed! They've been within a few miles of me!

Larry...

TWINKLE_TOES · Jan 15, 2001

Larry,

When I was 18-19 and lived in Idaho, I fought fires in the St. Joe National Forest for $1.88 an hour. That was good money back then. Not a lot of fun, those mean Forest Service guy's made ya work. Sometimes, so did the fire./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
Who knows what a palaski (spelling?) is?

RobertN · Jan 15, 2001

I've seen fires like the one in Oakland, and the Cleveland fire near Tahoe a couple years back. That was before I got into Firefighting; since then it has been quiet around here.

A couple good hints:
-Keep your firewood and other combustibles away from your house
-30' is a total bare minimum for clearance of brush and combustibles. 60' is much better.
-Maintain the defense zone religiously. If there are two houses, one with brush ect, and the other with a defensive zone, most fire departments will protect the one with the defense zone; the chances of saving the structure are better, the fire crew and apparatus are in less danger. The chances of success are much higher.
-Remember to clear your driveway for big trucks. A lot of people maintain clearance on thier drive for a car, or pickup. This is important for fire response AND medical response. Fire Engines and Medic units are big; for us to help we have to be able to get to you.

We have a "checklist" at the station; I'll see about getting a copy and typing it in...

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

RobertN · Jan 15, 2001

A Pulaski and a McCleod; good tools to have. You know, they are just plain handy to have when working around property.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

Anonymous Poster · Jan 31, 2001

We don't use them arround here (Alabama). Just a fire rake and a swatter (until the tractor plow arrives). Actually, although it is more tiring, and will wear out, I'm convinced a small (8-12') pine tree beats a swatter in open areas. I've seen a bigger pine tree tied to a farm tractor put out a brushfire in a pasture at 3 mph or so.

Pat

gordon · Jan 31, 2001

I've got a couple of Pulaski's and they come in handy for cutting off roots, briers to clear the way. The only problem is the operator runs out of gas pretty quick---thats me./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Used one awhile back to free up my chainsaw. Used it as a pry bar. I only had one wedge with me and it got eaten up somewhere in the woods that day. What was worse is I only had one saw with me that day. So I had no choice.
Gordon

GBear · Feb 1, 2001

I live in the Angeles National Forest 20 miles north of Glendale. An old 160-acre homestead has been sub’d and I have a 20 acre piece and a new home that I put together over the last three years. This is high chaparral north of the San Gabriels at 3400 ft elevation, below the pine line. Two sides of the property border on the national forest and my backyard is about 6000 acres of otherwise inaccessible wilderness. We are classified Fire Zone 4, the most dangerous. Fire insurance is hard to get and expensive. I am 50 minutes from downtown LA, but so rural that there is no newspaper, no polling place (absentee ballot only), and it is 8 miles to my postbox. County Fire will respond, but they are not required to come to this location. The Department of Forestry is responsible for it.

Construction codes require many things, boxed eaves, a tile roof, a 10,000 gallon water tank, and a fire hydrant down hill from the tank to mention a few. Every room and even some of the closets have sprinklers. The house has a hardwired alarm to the sprinkler flow valve and an auto-dialer. Some of my neighbors have swimming pools and have built helipads adjacent to them. One neighbor has a spring, a two-acre pond and helipad. We are also required by forestry to maintain landscaping, keep firebreaks around the houses and driveways, and mow the weeds on all privately owned property. I keep a hundred feet cleared around the house and about thirty around the drives.

I bought a tractor recently. The number one reason for owning it is maintaining the firebreak and mowing the weeds. I have been maintaining the property with a shovel, pick, and wheelbarrow until now.

Two years ago, one of the laborers working in one neighbor’s vineyard started a brush fire. In the first 20 minutes, 60 men and 20 pieces equipment were on the scene, including two helicopters. They made short work of a potentially dangerous fire. The winds are strong here at times. That day, the men were available. Once a fire turns into a big one, resources spread out fast.

Thankfully, we don’t have any tornadoes, though. Just an occasional earthquake or mudslide for variety. However nothing is worse than when the satellite dish quits working. That is scarier than any brushfire.

Edited by GBear on 02/01/01 08:50 PM (server time).