By Rebecca Samulski
Although the smoke in the air this summer has mostly been from distant fires, residents of southwest Colorado are urged to prepare their properties for wildfires that will inevitably strike closer to home.
Even small fires that flare up days after lightning, strikes such as the Kern Canyon fire last week, cause anxiety and concern for nearby residents. Residents who have prepared themselves and their home have less anxiety when a fire puts up smoke nearby and they know what to do.
Here are a few simple steps that you can take to make your homes more fire-resistant and yourself better prepared.
Register for emergency text alerts by texting your zip code to 888-777 or register for email and text alerts from dispatch online at nixle.com.
Mow grasses and weeds around your house. Montezuma County has a weed cost-share program to help you combat noxious weeds.
Stack freshly cut firewood at least 30 feet away from your home or in an enclosed woodshed. Make sure your chimney is clean and has its spark arrester back on.
Start your 3-to-5-foot noncombustible buffer all the way around your home and deck. Southwest Colorado has no shortage of rocks. Focus first on the most combustible parts of your home – the wood deck.
Remove branches and trees that will drop leaves in your gutters this fall. This also will reduce your gutter maintenance.
Continue to thin trees and brush around your home and driveway. FireWise’s chipper rental rebate will help you deal with the slash.
Wildfires in the Southwest are inevitable. They can flare up to thousands of acres in less than an hour, and wind-driven embers often travel over a mile to kindle a new fire. Our grass and weeds are very thick this year, and the dead fuels can dry out in just a few hours.
Training for new FireWise volunteers will be offered in September. Call 970-564-7860 or email montezumafirewise@gmail.com for wildfire questions or to find out how we can help.
Rebecca Samulski is the Montezuma County coordinator of FireWise of Southwest Colorado.
