Most state and federal land management agencies have fuel reduction programs. Treating huge swaths is usually not an option, but there are very successful programs that concentrate on what we call the Wildand-Urban Interface (WUI)—the very susceptible lands where large houses/housing tracts merge with wildliands. WUIs are not only susceptible to fires but also threaten water quality, wildlife habitat and populations, and cause light pollution and more.
One program working in the WUI is FireWise
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Thanks Mark for doc’ing our evacuation. We live in SoBo and hike the trails often where the fire probably started. (Likely human caused). I have to admit, it was an adrenalin filled hour from the time I received the evac notice on my phone and when we drove up to my sis-in-law’s place in NoBo. I’m humbled that I didn’t have a better “get-outta-here” plan in place. I found myself running from room to room with my latest idea of what to pack to evac… From now on, I’ll have soft duffels in every room with pre-thought out lists of what to grab in that room. Our location is probably 1/4 mile from the open space……and the fire was a further 1/2 mile upwind……so, I didn’t really think we were in danger like when the Marshall fire was whipped by 80-100 mph winds. But we were in the official evac zone and the cops were in the street in front of my house……so, gotta split. We relaxed with sis-in-law in NoBo Sat night, ….got provisions and beers. The evac was lifted after we had gone to sleep Sat….and Sun AM we zipped home to find a much reduced fire and successful mitigation. Yay.
The great fire fighters are still corralling the fire……still about 190 acres….
Yeh, I was thinking about my home/garage and stereo kit. Just had time to shut down the P5 Power Plant. My PSA gear is ultimately replaceable……but maybe not my Dunlavy SC IV-As. And my new REL……and my lifelong vinyl and CD/SACD collectiion…….dyamn!.
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Good to hear you’re ecvac went safely. Personal safety is paramount.
Here in Australia we have similar issues in our summers. We have evac boxes in a spare bedroom which contain what we consider “essential documents”, and another couple with safety boots/change of clothes/natural fibre clothing/work gloves/Dolphin torches/Battery powered radio etc. The car has Wool blankets/water in the trunk during summer.
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