Wildfire Preparedness

It’s a beautiful day in Colorado. The sun is bright and warm, the wind is light, and the sky is clear.  Just looking outside, you’d never know there’s a wildfire burning less than three miles from where I’m typing- a wildfire that burned more than 4,000 acres, destroyed nearly 30 homes, and killed at least 2 people- all in the space of a few hours.  This is a poignant reminder that wildfire preparedness must occur before an emergency situation develops, because there is not time to prepare once a fire begins.

Unfortunately, these reminders occur several times each year.  On average, there are 78,500 wildfires a year in the United States.  To a large extent, these fires are inevitable, caused primarily through a combination of weather factors that cannot be avoided.   The loss of structures, however, can be greatly mitigated if residents take simple preparedness actions ahead of time.  Residents should evaluate the landscaping around their homes and create clear defensible space around their structures and contribute towards making their communities fire safe.   As a general rule, this includes creating three clear zones around each home in the community.  The first is the home ignition zone, or the landscaping within 30 feet surrounding each structure  and the home itself, which should be cleared of any combustible items and construction materials should be fire-resistant.  The next zone creates defensible space around the property, and extends for at least 100 feet from the home.  This area should have less-dense vegetation, no dead vegetation, and large, clear, accessible driveways for fire crews.  The final zone focuses on reducing the availability of the fuels that feed wildfires, such as dense undergrowth, excessive groundcover, or low-hanging branches.  Homes and communities that embrace the fire wise landscaping preparedness are scientifically proven to have a better chance of surviving wildfire incidents than homes and communities that don’t.  Wildfire landscaping and firewise communities do not sacrifice the beauty of their surroundings, but rather work with nature to create an advantageous situation.

A firewise family also acknowledges that evacuations are a necessary component of good wildfire preparedness.  Families living in wildland fire-prone communities should plan for evacuations and embrace the “when, not if” philosophy.  Evacuation planning can be broken into three simple steps: Ready, Set and Go! 

Get Ready means getting communities , neighbors, friends and families ready for a potential evacuation.  Create communication plans to keep in touch with support networks and pack evacuation kits with food, water, extra clothes, cell phone chargers, medications, and copies of essential paperwork.  Plan for evacuating pets, including identifying shelters or hotels that accept animals.  Get Set means to maintain situational awareness during wildfire events.  Watch for evacuation alerts, pay attention  to weather, and listen to local emergency management, emergency alert, and emergency notification procedures to stay as informed as possible.  Get Set focuses on individuals being accountable for their won safety- if a situation feels unsafe, residents should not wait for notification to evacuate.  Residents may also wish to park cars in driveways facing the roads The final set is to Go!  When an evacuation is ordered, residents may not have time to do more than leave immediately- a delay of even a few minutes may be the difference between escaping safely, or facing serious injury or death.

 Skeptical? Check out this home video taken on Monday, as a family documents their narrow escape from a fire. http://tinyurl.com/6pfpwnc  You'll notice that it appears to be night-time during the opening moments of the video, when in fact this evacuation took place during the middle of a brighty, sunny day.

We live in a beautiful country, and the desire to preserve the natural beauty of our surroundings is understandable and laudible, but homeowners have a responsibility to themselves, their neighbors, and the emergency responders who serve their communities to take responsible fire mitigation and evacuation planning seriously. Today is beautiful, so take advantage of it - and get ready for days when it might not be so serene.

Safety Messages in New Formats

We are constantly bombarded with messages, from the moment our radio alarm clock goes off until we finally power down the smartphone or tablet and go to bed.  With all the advertising and communications out there, it can be difficult to focus on really important information, and sometimes the competition between messages can be overwhelming.  Emergency managers must consider how best to engage with their communities and make sure life-saving information makes it through the clutter. Sometimes the best way to share that important information is to change the frame of reference for the audience and present it in a new or innovative way.  When a message is particularly well managed, it may also spur the community to take action on the message.  A great example of this is the #airplanesforallstate campaign.

Everyone knows that texting while driving is dangerous, and most of us know that thousands of teens each year are killed while doing just that, but do you ever really listen to that message?

What if we told you that every year, the equivalent of 12 jumbo jets of teens are killed because they are distracted by text messages while driving?

That's a pretty sobering statistic, and one that, because it was presented in a new and relevant format, it gathered some pretty significant attention- in fact, it brought an entire community together to raise awareness in Spokane, Washington. As public safety and emergency management professionals, it is important for us to constantly evaluate our messages and keep them fresh, so that they make it through the millions of other messages bombarding our communities every day. We must also consider how to make our messaging relevant to our audience, and craft and deliver them in a way that encourages our communities to take ownership of the message.

I have included the #airplanesforallstate public safety message, and the fantastic community outreach program it inspired, below.  If you'd like more information about this program, please visit The Hodgson Agency at www.thehodgsonagency.com