Fire Season is Coming! Water it, Weed it, or Watch it Burn

Our Hillside- There is very little to burn. 

 

Defensible Space. Space that can be defended.

My Husband’s Annual Mission: to decimate the weeds and any dead trees or limbs on our property so when (not if) a wildfire comes through the hillsides surrounding our property, our houses and out-buildings will not burn. Dead plants, weeds, and dry brush are like a bridge for fire. If there is no bridge, there is no way for fire to travel.

You may be thinking, “What about flying embers?” You are correct! Flying embers are a problem. However, it’s much easier to defend a building against flying embers when there is a large amount of cleared, virtually un-burnable defensible space surrounding the house. We also have multiple hoses with special hose nozzles, and no fewer than three water tanks with hook-ups for fire trucks. My husband's plan in case of a fire nearby is to stay with the house, ready to fight any flying embers with a hose or a shovel. My plan is to pack the children in the car and flee with them if at all possible. It's my job to make sure the children survive- it's his job to make sure the house survives. 

One of Three Water Tanks 

Occasionally after the huge fires that have swept California for the past 5 years or so, I will see a news article about a “miracle house,” that survived even when the rest of the neighborhood burned down around it. Though I do believe in both Providence and Miracles, these situations are not miracles. "Miracle Houses" are usually the result of good planning, good weed abatement, and hundreds and hundreds of feet of Defensible Space.

Our fire-fighters do an amazing job at keeping the forest fires at bay, but they will not try and save a house that has no defensible space, or no place for their fire-trucks to drive in or turn around. Their lives are too valuable to risk for a house they can’t reach, defend or flee from.  

My Husband, Barely Home from Work, Attacking the Weeds with Extreme Prejudice

My husband is consumed every year by his mission to create enough defensible space before wildfire season comes through. Having seen far too many properties in our valley go up in flames, I do not resent his time spent in this endeavor. He is a one-man weed abatement machine. Mowing, weed-whacking, raking, pruning with extreme prejudice.

Another hillside. My husband cuts the trees and shrubs high off the ground.
This is helpful for both fire prevention AND snake-bite prevention. 

Sometimes city-dwellers will say, “What a lovely new house you've built. When are you planning to landscape it?”

Ha Ha, city-dwellers! We are not planning to landscape it. We are not planning to put in lawns or shrubs. It may offend some people’s aesthetic sensibilities, but we have intentionally surrounded our house with dirt and highly-pruned native trees and shrubs because dirt doesn’t require water, and dirt doesn’t burn.

If you live in a high-risk wildfire zone, I hope that you have already begun the defensible space process. It’s California, it’s hot, we’re in a drought, and fire season is coming….