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AHA! Living in Wildfire Country. |
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Blackbird Lane |
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Facts
El Dorado County, including our neighborhood, has never been as overgrown as it is today. Neighbors need to not take comfort in the fact that there hasn’t been a fire, and instead prepare for when there IS a fire.
¨ Audubon Hills is NOT safe from wildfires. Þ Many feel comforted that we are surrounded by apple orchards and the irrigation they provide to help squelch a wildfire. Þ What we must understand, is that a wildfire is more likely to come from within Audubon Hills boundary, than from outside it. ¨ Much of Audubon Hills is terribly overgrown, and we must each become responsible for the dangerous level of fuel that is down and drying. ¨ DON’T give up before you start. Some residents have said, “I’ve been told if a fire starts in here, we might as well kiss our homes goodbye.” Þ That’s a defeatist attitude, that serves no one. Þ We’ve been told by many officials that KNOW, that if we could all work at cleaning up our properties to make them fire safer, we DO have a fighting chance at saving our homes. Þ Firefighters have told us repeatedly, that they will pass homes that are not cleared and haven’t tried to help themselves, to try to save homes that are. Þ THAT should be enough incentive for anyone! ¨ Below you will find checklists, and links, that will help you figure out what you need to do, to save your home and community, it the event of a wildfire. |
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Audubon Hills Association (AHA!) Est. 1968 |
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ALWAYS call before you burn. Burn piles ONLY allowed on approved burn days. |
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Burn Day information 621-6897 |
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Avoid this, be wildfire wise. |
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A great website resource, for many wildfire facts and free programs. |
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Free! This is a program that brings a large chipper to chip up your pile of branches, instead of leaving them on the ground. Chipped branches actually have a lower burn threshold, and are safer that dried slash. When spread, they help keep weeds and saplings from starting. |
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El Dorado County Fire Safe Council-Chipper Program |
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When funds are available, the fire safe council offers the following... |
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Free! This program offers green waste vouchers to residents to take a truck load of green waste to the dump for recycle for free. We also get a green waste dumpster for the community when they are available. |
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El Dorado County Fire Safe Council-Green Waste Disposal |
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Free! This is a referral program for those residents who cannot physically do their Defensible Space clearing and are not able to pay to have it done." Please call or e-mail the board to provide a referral. |
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El Dorado County Fire Safe Council-Senior & Disabled Assistance |
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This links provides all the plants that are fire wise to plant around your home to help retard the progression of a fire towards your home. |
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El Dorado County Fire Safe Council-Fire Resistant Landscaping |
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These signs are recommended by ALL emergency personal, so they can find your house, day, night, in inclement weather, or in smoke. This is the style chosen by the community, to stay consistent throughout the community, and so emergency personal knows what to look for. When ordering remember to get…Brown and vertical positioning. Currently they are $22 |
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What the REAL Natural gets you vs. societies philosophy of “natural” . |
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Plant it fire safe, water regularly, and make a defensible space. |
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Keep it “natural”, and this is all you’ll have left. |
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Then your home can be saved. |
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Make a defensible space, clear dry fuel, trim up trees, and your home will have a fighting chance. |
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“REAL natural” was cleaned landscape from wildfires that burned uncontained annually, removing hazardous fuel from the ground. “Societies philosophy of natural” is the overgrown wilderness that has seen the modern day catastrophic fires, as experienced in Montana and Yellowstone in 2000. We’re not in the city, overgrown brush is NOT a fence, it’s a fire danger. Besides, what type of privacy are you going to enjoy, with nothing left to look at or from? See below... |
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You can call the local fire information line at: 647-5218 (only open during a fire) or 644-5769 our local fire department anytime Or click here for links to several wildfire information sites. |
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Smell Smoke? |
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EMERGENCY PREPARED **Very important** (Print this and tape inside a cabinet you will remember. It’s very helpful during an emergency evacuation...from items, pets, and family to remember, to preparing your home before you leave. A must have for everyone. |
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HOMEOWNER CHECKLIST-a form that gives you items to look over on your home. MAKE YOUR HOME FIRE SAFE - A quick checklist to make defensible space |
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What is a wildfire?
¨ It can start from anything, and become wild within moments. Þ Jumping from tree to tree to brush and needles on the ground. Þ It can start from… · A house fire · A burn pile that got out of hand · A car spark |
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· Mowing or weed eating spark · Or, a wilderness fire who’s embers can float down and ignite anything.
Please take the time to become “Fire Wise”, and do your part to reduce the chance of fire. There are many programs available for free or reduced costs, to help you. Utilize them. See what’s offered to you, below. |