Towns in imminent fire danger

[Larry Caldwell]

As a former Forest Service firefighter, I say that any residence that
does not have a defensible space will not get fire protection. If it
doesn't meet "specs", it should be blacklisted. Maybe we should have
some new zoning laws to include fire hazard zones. Maybe we should
require all new subdivisions in the wildland urban interface to develop
and maintain fire breaks.

As a former Oregon farm kid, I spent every summer putting out fires. In
the 1950s, farm equipment threw sparks all the time, and the combination
of bone dry grain fields and sparks meant field fires almost every
summer. We prepared for fire season every year. The habits stuck with
me.

The thing is, once a fire break is built, it is easy to maintain it. I
just take a tractor and bush hog through, and once in a while make use
of my chainsaw-on-a-stick or sprayer. It's not a big project. All the
real work was done years ago by a logging crew. The work only takes a
couple days a year. Visually, the result is a nice hiking or riding
trail. Practically, it is an accessible fire break that would let crews
ride up the hill in comfort, rather than humping 100 lbs of equipment
through blackberry patches. The old logging landing makes a nice
equipment turnaround and staging area. Let's hope nobody ever wants to
use it, but it's there.

This time of year, I also remind people to clean their gutters. Regular
3-tab shingles are Class A fire resistant, and will survive flaming
embers floating down on them. Dry leaf litter in rain gutters is
tinder. Typically, the contents of the gutter catch on fire and set the
eaves of the house on fire. It's just like checking the cooling system
of a car. They shouldn't call it antifreeze, they should call it
antiboil. The sensible time to service the cooling system is at the
beginning of summer, when you need a cooling system.

A house just burned to the ground this week on the other side of my
north ridge. According to the newspaper article, they could only get
one small truck up the driveway, and had to hand lay 1400 feet of hose
to water. All the fire department could do was keep the woods from
catching on fire. The house was totally consumed. The owners were an
MD and a college professor. You would think they would have better
sense than to build and maintain a fire trap like that.

[Dean Hoffman]

On 6/26/05 12:24 PM, in article

Post by Larry Caldwell
A house just burned to the ground this week on the other side of my
north ridge. According to the newspaper article, they could only get
one small truck up the driveway, and had to hand lay 1400 feet of hose
to water. All the fire department could do was keep the woods from
catching on fire. The house was totally consumed. The owners were an
MD and a college professor. You would think they would have better
sense than to build and maintain a fire trap like that.

An MD and a professor. Older folks in my area call that book smarts.
"Not a lick of common sense" they'd say.
I work for a pivot irrigation dealer. We've hired farm kids and town
kids. The farm kids generally have basic sense and know how tools and such
work. Town kids usually don't have much of an idea. Town kids in their 20s
have the skills of lower teen farm kids, it seems.

Dean




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[firechief]

Post by Larry Caldwell
A house just burned to the ground this week on the other side
of my north ridge.....The house was totally consumed. The
owners were an MD and a college professor. You would think
they would have better sense than to build and maintain a fire
trap like that.

A local MD lost his $1.5+ home by using candles in a Christmas
tree.

With that level of intelligence, I'm quite happy he isn't my doctor.

[jJohn Klausner]

Post by firechief

Post by Larry Caldwell
A house just burned to the ground this week on the other side
of my north ridge.....The house was totally consumed. The
owners were an MD and a college professor. You would think
they would have better sense than to build and maintain a fire
trap like that.

A local MD lost his $1.5+ home by using candles in a Christmas
tree.
With that level of intelligence, I'm quite happy he isn't my doctor.

When we lived in Germany the first time, we were fascinated by this use
of candles in their Christmas trees - I still have some holders, in
fact. A major difference is that they use the tannen tree, which has
five branches on the same level, then a space of about 6-8 inches before
another set of five branches which are located above the spaces in the
set below them, and so on up the tree. As a result, you can put a
candle on a branch, and there are no branches above it for at least 12
inches. The fir trees we use in the states don't have the same
configuation, and the branches tend to arc up instead of laying flat as
do the tannens. The candles were not left burning unless someone was
present in the room. Obviously, they can't be treated like trees with
electrical lights. Actually, the tannen doesn't look to terrific with
electric lights, since it's so open that the wires are a detraction to
the decorated trees appearance.
The trees were freshly cut shortly before Christmas, and the tradition
of having them up only between Christmas Day and Epiphany was frequently
observed, so that they were not dry, and were less likely to be as
flammable as those that are commonly sold here.
Not that it doesn't carry a level of danger in any case, but just shows
that carrying traditions from one place to another can involve aspects
that one may not have considered.
SueK