Wildfire
You may have to leave your home quickly to stay safe. Know where you will go, how you will get there, and where you will stay. Have different escape routes from your home and community. Practice these routes so everyone in your household is familiar with them. Be sure to understand how your community will respond to a wildfire.
Wildfire
The Red Cross has created digital resources and videos on wildfires and other common hazards, including this video from our Prepare with Pedro series. These tools are an age-appropriate way for families and educators to help children be better prepared in an emergency. Please visit redcross.org/youthprep.
We provide education on how to mitigate your home against the threat of wildfires. Upon acceptance to our program, a mitigation specialist will visit your property to do an assessment. We will send you a comprehensive report recommending actions to take. Upon completion of these required items, you will receive certification that can be used as proof of mitigation for insurance purposes.
Wildland fire is a natural phenomenon and is necessary for the health of some ecosystems. However, when these fires get out of control and threaten communities, they become a serious hazard. Defending against wildfire involves understanding that despite best efforts to reduce the risk, it will continue to be a threat.
Research shows there are proven methods for preparing properties for withstanding the devastating impacts of a wildfire. This Prep Day, you have the power to protect the part of the community that means the most to you and your family by eliminating vulnerabilities in the HIZ, particularly the immediate 5-foot zone around your residence. Whether it's replacing wood chips with gravel or reimagining your entire landscape design, what you do on Saturday, May 6, really matters. Be ready to make a difference in helping to avoid loss and tragedy with information and resources from NFPA.
Wildfire Community Preparedness Day encourages people to come together to take action to reduce wildfire risks. This year, Preparedness Day is focused on what residents can do on and around their home to help protect against the threat of wildfires. The Prep Day toolkit provides a list of project ideas, safety tips, and more, to help guide you towards event day.
Thanks to the generous support from State Farm, 150 communities received project funding awards to support activities aimed at reducing potential loss of life, property and natural resources to wildfire. See this year's winners.
Share these images on Facebook to remind residents about the risks, and the steps they can take to stay safer from wildfire. Use the hashtag #wildfireprepday2023 to help spread the word. Each social card has a link to related resources and information. To download a card, right click on the image and select "save image as."
Contrary to popular belief, most homes do not burn down from direct contact with wildfire flames or radiant heat. In this video, misconceptions about wildfires are too often perpetuated in media as massive walls of flame that scorch everything in their path.
Wildfire mitigation actions are on-the-ground treatments of properties implemented to reduce the chance of a wildfire causing damage. The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) is the lead state agency for fuels mitigation expertise in Colorado and an excellent resource for residents who want to gain more information and take steps to decrease the threat of wildfire where it matters most to them.
Remember that protecting a home, property and a community from wildfire is not a one-time effort. It is a process and requires ongoing participation, maintenance and shared responsibility. The following programs and resources are tools that can help residents and communities begin the process of reducing their wildfire risk.
Wildfire smoke and cleanup presents hazards that employers and workers in affected regions must understand. Smoke from wildfires contains chemicals, gases and fine particles that can harm health. Hazards continue even after fires have been extinguished and cleanup work begins. Proper protective equipment and training is required for worker safety in wildfire regions.
The Wildfire Aware app is intended to provide information about the current status and potential impact of wildfire incidents in the United States. This app opens with the list of fires sorted by the number of personnel assigned from greatest to least as reported by incident staff. The data included in this application can all be found in ArcGIS Living Atlas and are from authoritative entities.
Select a fire from the list, change the sort option to date, name or size, or use shift and your mouse to draw a box and zoom in. Once you have selected a fire or clicked on the map, details will be displayed in the information panel on the right giving you more information about a wildfire along with impacts to human and ecosystem populations. You can also sort by wildfire name, date or size, by selecting the relevant filter in the information pane. Read more about Wildfire Aware and ways to use it here.
Catastrophic wildfires significantly impact our landscapes, economy, and infrastructure and are considered the most preventable natural disaster facing Utah. Reducing large fires in Utah will protect life, property, communities, economies, and our environment.
*/This document, originally developed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), is designed to help local public health officials prepare for smoke events, to take measures to protect the public when smoke is present, and communicate with the public about wildfire smoke and health.
The Firewise USA Program educates homeowners and community professionals about creating defensible space around their homes, helping to protect them from the dangers of wildfire. We also have developed several interactive programs to help teach everyone from fourth-graders to adults the benefits of fire prevention.
Prescribed fire is a cost-effective tool to reduce fuel buildups, which can cause dangerous wildfire conditions. The use of prescribed fire provides increased protection to people, their homes and the forest.
L&I received a petition and is considering adding new wildfire smoke in the workplace rules to Chapter 296-62, WAC, General Occupational Health Standards. See all the rulemaking activity for wildfire smoke on our L&I Rulemaking page.
L&I recognizes the hazard of wildfire smoke exposure is increasing every year and is now potentially presenting important health risks to all outdoor workers including those in construction and agriculture. One other state has adopted temporary and permanent workplace safety and health rules regarding wildfire smoke.
L&I has received a petition for rulemaking on this topic as well. As suggested by a petitioner, in the midst of widespread wildfires and a global pandemic, workers continue to perform essential duties. It is imperative that significant steps be taken to ensure the protection of these workers, especially given the increasing intensity of wildfire outbreaks over the years and the likelihood that they will continue in years to come.
Wildfire smoke presents hazards that employers and workers in affected regions must understand. Smoke from wildfires contains chemicals, gases and fine particles that can harm health. Proper protective equipment, exposure controls, and training are needed for employees working in wildfire regions.
We spent years studying how flames and embers ignite homes during a wildfire and have identified mitigation actions that reduce the chance a home will be ignited. These actions comprise the requirements of Wildfire Prepared Home and when taken together give your home better protection against wildfire.
The Animal Science program will train students about prescribed grazing to reduce fire risk, as well as maintain post-burn areas and fuel breaks. Students in the Natural Resources program will gain fuel reduction training in Shone Farm's 120-acre forest focusing on thinning, burn piles, fuel breaks, restoration, and long-term monitoring of treatment areas. The Environmental Horticulture program will focus on defensible space, covering firesafe practices for landscape design, construction, and maintenance within the first 100 feet of residential properties. Finally, the Adult Education Program will offer professional development in wildfire resilience and home hardening practices for individuals seeking to advance existing careers in landscape maintenance and construction.
The Bastrop County Complex fire ignited on September 4, 2011 and was the most destructive wildfire in state history. The 32,000-acre inferno destroyed over 1,600 homes and killed two people.
It will take a generation or more for the Lost Pines to recover from this catastrophic wildfire. Despite this, the park is already showing new green and growth. Tiny loblolly pines dot the forest floor. Shrubs like yaupon and American beautyberry are once again providing berries for wildlife to eat. Animals large and small are once again making homes throughout the park. Although nature is regenerating some on its own, we still have work to do to help it along. Cleanup of the park is complete - now our eyes are turning toward the future of the pines.
The Houston toad, an endangered species whose last stronghold was Bastrop State Park, suffered in the wake of the wildfire and drought. Only a handful of toads were documented in the park in 2012. These amphibians require a habitat with lots of tree canopy so only time can restore their home.
Prior to the wildfire, we utilized prescribed fire to manage the park's landscape. In the fall of 2014, we began conducting prescribed fire again. All of the drought- and fire-killed trees will eventually fall and provide fuel on the ground, which increases wildfire danger again. Low-intensity prescribed fire will clear out the dead fuel, keep the growth of oak trees in check and allow a new pine forest to flourish. 041b061a72