Now that it’s June and we’re past Memorial Day and local schools are closed for summer vacations, we can all break out our BBQ grills, outdoor RV equipment, camping gear and backyard mowing tools.
Are you ready? Stop. That’s a real question, so read it again and prepare an answer. No one needs to be told we live in California wildfire country, after last year’s historical series of disasters that destroyed almost 6,000 homes and structures and killed 43 people, 22 in Sonoma County alone.
While the lawyers, fire investigators, PG&E lobbyists, government officials and first responders continue to look back and fight over the causes, blame and lessons from last year’s fires, the rest of us need to look ahead at the 2018 fire season, which already has burned 100,000 acres across California, including some here.
In the last two weeks, Sonoma County has experienced at least a half dozen spot or wildfires that required mutual aid and airborne firefighting responses, a shelter in place order and a series of blockades and detours.
The fires were all started by human activity. One was sparked by a dragging tow truck chain, another by a backfiring car engine and two from landscaper equipment sparks.
If anyone should know the life-or-death consequences of being “fire safe” it should be us. The Tubbs, Pocket and Nuns fires of last October were not unusual or unexpected. Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties have experienced wildfire disasters in increasing numbers with the Rocky and Valley fires of 2015 and the 2017 North Bay wildfires burning hundreds of thousands of forest acreage, semi-rural landscapes and one-fifth of Santa Rosa’s housing stock.
One of those fires was possibly caused by faulty hot tub wiring and another was traced to an unattended outdoor patio tiki torch.
So, Mr. Backyard Barbecue King, where’s your fire extinguisher and has it been recharged for the season? Planning to hook up the family boat for a trip to Lake Sonoma? Then you’d better double-check for dragging tow chains or leaky gas lines.
Sorry, but don’t even think of off-roading with that ATV until next year’s pig season. Look at our Sonoma County hillsides, they’re already tinder dry yellow and brown.
Going camping instead? Don’t pretend you know all about campfire safety. Get out your Smokey Bear handbook and read the instructions again. One of California’s largest fires, the Ring Fire near Yosemite, may have been caused by someone shooting target practice, igniting underbrush or tinder. Until further notice, maybe there’s a better bull’s eye to hit at an indoor practice range.
Are you planning to stay close to home this summer? Then you must be aware of the concept of “defensible space,” right? Do you know about the 3 Rs of removal, reduction and replacement?
One-third of Sonoma County’s 500,000 residents live in what is called the Wildland/Urban Interface zone (WUI.) Picture the charred footprint of the Tubbs Fire that spread from Calistoga westward along Porter Creek into Fountaingrove and Coffey Park and that’s what a WUI looks like.
Before you answer the “are you ready?” question at the top of this page, go to Fire Safe Sonoma’s website and download the “Living With Fire” handbook. Better yet, give a few copies to your neighbors.
Ready or not, we can predict with much confidence that Sonoma County will have wildfires this summer. That’s because all of us will ignite our barbecues, head outdoors on gas-powered boats, bikes and ATVs and insist on making campfires for our hot dogs and marshmallows.
Whether foolhardy or lazy, we won’t clean our gutters or roofs and we won’t plow, rake and remove debris from our property lines.
So, if we’re not going to be as “fire smart” as we should be, maybe we should actually put that emergency evacuation plan together we talked about eight months ago. Ready now?
