Summer Survival Guide Part III: How to protect your home from wildfire

CBS Local 2 Stands for You and your safety. We continue our Summer Survival Guide series as the men and women who fight wildfires in California said this year could turn out to be the worst ever for fires in the state.

So if you live in a fire-prone area, it’s critical you take steps to protect your property. As CBS Local 2’s Meteorologist Jeff Forgeron reports, money is available to help with fire-proofing efforts.

“People are very nervous right now with the long drought,” said Pat Boss, project manager for the Mountain Community Fire Safe Council. “We haven’t had any fires this summer, knock on wood, and we see more and more trees dying.”

Lucas Spelman, Captain for the Riverside County Fire Department, said fire officials are very concerned with what’s going on in the environment right now.

Fire danger is a real threat to homeowners in Southern California, especially over the past couple of years.

According to Alex Tardy, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego, “These are the warmest temperatures we have ever seen when you add up all of those months together, anywhere in California when you combine that with the five-year going drought, and the one to two seasons of lost rainfall that we didn’t get, it’s the worst drought we have seen in modern times.”

The drought forced state officials to do more — meaning more firefighters ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“The governor has signed a bill to bring more firefighters on this season,” said Captain Spelman. “So we have additional firefighters and additional fire engines throughout the state to help us with the 66 million trees that are dead at this point.”

In response to the increased fire threat, mountain communities created a Fire Safe Council to educate property owners on how to protect their homes.

“Well the major thing is the brush clearance; making sure we have a 100-foot clearance around our properties,” said Pat Boss. “Also one of the biggest factors is hardening the homes — Dual-pane windows, shake roofs, dead plants off of the porch decks — basically clean up around the property, not only the brush, but the house itself.”

Boss said reinforced windows and closed eaves are essential to fire protection. If your eaves are open, the embers can penetrate the inside.

Trimming trees six-feet up from the base is also crucial, as spacing between plants and trees can prevent a fire from advancing, according to Best.

Captain Spelman said while clearing brush around your home, “If it bends it’s okay, but if it breaks, it needs to go.”

The Mountain Community Fire Safe Council offers a cost share program which can help some homeowners cover up to 65% of the costs to fireproof their home.

Boss said you should, “Stay in touch with your local fire departments and maintain what they are after. And talk to them about defensible space. [Contact] the Fire Safe Council, we would be happy to come out free of cost and walk your property with you and give you some ideas on how you can maintain your property on a year-round basis. Because fire season is year-round, it is not just in summertime.”

For additional information on wildfire prevention, visit the Mountain Community Fire Safe Council’s website, or call (909) 382-2921.