Last week was Wildfire Awareness Week, and we’re fairly sure you had no idea. And, while not knowing about the Awareness Week is fine if you’re prepared, many people are not.
In fact, on Friday, the Barona Fire Protection District, along with numerous emergency service agencies across California, conducted an annual wildfire firefighter field training. This three-day, hands-on training exercise was sponsored by the Barona Band of Mission Indians and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
“In preparation for the upcoming fire season and to deliver the best defense against wildfires, we want to make sure that our crews are properly trained and equipped to handle any scenario,” said Ken Kremensky, division chief of Barona Fire Protection District, in a press release last Saturday. “This annual inter-agency training improves both safety and responsiveness.”
Unlike these firefighters, residents don’t have to practice drills while wearing full safety gear and carrying firefighting tools to prepare for wildfire season. There’s some easy tips that Kremensky provides to residents that doesn’t involve deploying a fire shelter within 30 seconds. Kremensky’s tips are:
- Create defensible space around your home by removing flammable vegetation within a 100 feet radius of your home
- Develop a safety and evacuation plan for family members and pets
- Safeguard valuables by keeping important paperwork, photos and keepsakes that can be moved quickly in the event of an evacuation
So, you know all that debris in your yard you’ve not cleared away from those windstorms this winter? Or the spring pruning you did for your garden and trees? Get rid of that debris now—it’s a tinderbox waiting to be set on fire. And with that fire in Tustin this morning between Tustin Ranch and Portola Parkway that took three hours to put out—guess what? They don’t think that was an accident at all. If the arsonists are out already, we are in for a really bad fire year, worse than the lack of rain is going to make it.
As for an evacuation plan—we know that you feel like Homer Simpson’s goody-two-shoes neighbor making your kids do a fire drill at home, but wouldn’t you rather look silly now and be safe later? You’ll thank yourself if there ever is a fire that your family escapes from safely because of a fire drill every six months. And what about Fido and Fluffy? Use a sticker (here’s one off Amazon) to let firefighters know that your four-legged or winged loved ones are inside. What happens if there’s a fire when you’re out? There will be no one to tell firefighters that the dog is in the garage.
Also, nowadays there are many ways for you to save documents and photos in the “cloud”—offsite, remote backup so you can rest easy knowing that even if your computer is stolen or burned, your information is secure and accessible. Carbonite is an example of a reliable and affordable back up system for personal use. (It also gives you a free trial!)