This week’s fire in Morongo Valley, sparked by an illegal marijuana grow, burned within a few feet of a home. Aggressive action by firefighters prevented the home from burning in the blaze, but the threat could have been avoided if the resident had created a defensible space around the house. Managing editor Tami Roleff offers these tips from CalFire for creating a defensible space around your home…
A defensible space around your property is your home’s best defense against wildfire. Creating and maintaining a defensible space around your home can also help protect firefighters who are defending your property. To better protect your home from wildfires, remove all dead plants, grass, leaves, and pine needles from your yard for at least 30 feet from your home and make sure all vegetation between 30 and 100 feet from your home is cut or mowed to a maximum height of four inches. Trim tree branches so they are at least 10 feet from each other, and from your chimney and roof, and make sure branches are at least six feet off the ground. Remove or prune plants that are near windows. Woodpiles should be stacked at least 30 feet away from buildings. For more fire safety tips, see the links below.
https://calfire.ca.gov/communications/communications_firesafety_100feet
