Wildfire is a constant topic these days in the news and in our regional landscape. The Coconino National Forest has implemented Stage 2 fire restrictions, and just a few weeks ago the lightning strike-initiated Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon caused enormous devastation. That fire, rather than initially being managed as a wildfire, was managed as a controlled burn. Indeed a controversial topic, many questions come up about letting certain fires burn and about doing prescribed fires.
While it may seem counterintuitive, a planned fire can be the most effective tool to manage the intensity and spread of future wildfires, and can even prevent them from happening. We call these prescribed fires or controlled burns. Other benefits of using fire on the landscape include increasing plant diversity, controlling invasive species, reducing tree competition, and improving wildlife habitat.
Much like a doctor prescribes medicine to keep you healthy, prescribed fires improve the overall health and safety of our public lands. Indigenous people across North America have been utilizing fire to support sustainable, healthy forests for millennia. Today, fire is a vital tool for land managers like the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service.
While there are many benefits that prescribed fires facilitate, a prescribed fire is still a fire. A risk always exists when fire is put on the ground. Fires are heavily influenced by their environment. On rare occasions, a controlled burn may experience an unexpected shift in wind and can become uncontrolled. It will then be declared a wildfire. Unfortunately, this puts people, property, animals, and other parts of the forest at risk. This is what happened with the Dragon Bravo Fire.
With the occurrence of wildfire an inevitable part of where we live, being “firewise” is a key way to reduce the risks from wildfire at the local and household levels. Though you can’t stop a lightning strike, there are steps you can take to protect, or harden, your property from wildfires. Fire hardening is a proactive approach to wildfire preparedness that aims to make homes more resistant to the devastating effects of wildfires. It helps prevent flying embers from igniting your home and property. The more that we each take responsibility for fire hardening, the safer our neighborhoods become.
The National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise USA program has developed practical steps to help individuals and their communities reduce the destruction from wildland fires. The area within 100-feet of your home can be broken into three zones, with different strategies and tactics to mitigate fire danger and increase the chance of home survival.
The area within five feet of your home is the most critical and vulnerable to embers and is called the Immediate Zone. This includes the structure, deck/patio/balcony or other outside entertaining space, attached fencing, and the immediate landscaping. Suggested actions within this zone are:
- Remove all combustible materials like wood, mulch, dead or dry vegetation, leaves, and pine needles from next to all buildings, roofs, and gutters
- Trim tree branches that hang over the roof, eaves, and chimney
- Remove anything stored under decks
The Intermediate Zone is between 5-30 feet from the home and all outbuildings. In this area:
- Keep the area lean, clean, and green by pruning and removing dead and dying branches from well-spaced bushes and trees
- Landscaping should be well-maintained and watered during a hot, dry summer
- Trees and shrubs in this zone should be limited to small clusters of a few each to break up the continuity of the vegetation across the landscape
- Prune trees up to six to ten feet from the ground; for shorter trees do not exceed 1/3 of the overall tree height
- Stack wood piles on bare or gravel areas or in an enclosed shed at least 30 feet from the home
The final, or Extended Zone, is the area farthest from the home, extending to 100 feet. The goal in this zone is to reduce fuels, create fire breaks, and maintain flames close to the ground. Suggested remediations include:
- Remove heavy accumulations of ground litter/debris, dead plant and tree materials
- Remove small conifers growing between mature trees
- Remove vegetation adjacent to storage sheds or other outbuildings within this area
Author, Melissa Pontikes
Regardless of how a fire may begin, it is important that everyone takes appropriate actions to safeguard their home and property from a wildland fire. Additional information on Firewise can be found at nfpa.org.
Visit www.friendsoftheforestsedona.org to learn more about Friends of the Forest and how you can volunteer
Serving Sedona, written his week by Melissa Pontikes, volunteer with Friends of the Forest and mother of a wildland firefighter, appears Wednesday in the Sedona Red Rock News. Sedona Red Rock News.