CLEARLAKE – Quick response by Lake County Fire Protection District (LCFPD) Tuesday evening just past 8:30 p.m. averted great destruction. Fire crews responded to a report of a possible structure fire on Uhl Avenue to find a blaze burning in dry vegetation no more than 10 feet away from the structure.
Firefighters extinguished the fire within a few minutes preventing it from spreading to the structure and neighboring residences.
“Quick response and quick initial attack knocking the fire out before it got to the structure prevented the fire from escalating.” LCFPD Battalion Chief Willie Sapeta said. “There was vegetation on both sides of the neighboring houses that it could have easily spread to. It could have been a nightmare.”
Exact cause of the fire is under investigation; however, according to Sapeta, it is believed to have been ignited intentionally.
The situation could have been far worse Sapeta said, especially if it had occurred just a day earlier. “We were experiencing 18 mile per hour winds on Monday. If the fire had started on Monday it would have spotted across the road. We would have had a mess on our hands.”
There are measures that homeowners can take to protect themselves and their property from fire destruction.
“Ideally is to have a 100-foot defensible space,” Sapeta said. “If that is not achievable they should have a defensible space that encompasses their entire property up to the property line.”
A defensible space of 100 feet around a residence is required by law. The goal is to protect property while providing a safe area for firefighters.
Clearing an area 30 feet immediately surrounding a structure is critical as this area requires the greatest reduction in flammable vegetation. The fuel reduction zone in the remaining 70 feet, or to the property line, will depend on the steepness of the property and the vegetation.
“Another thing that people should be doing is making sure that all flammable materials are away from their home, like firewood from the winter and any other flammable debris that may be near their house that would cause a fire to spread to the home,” Sapeta said.
Large trees do not have to be cut and removed as long as all of the plants beneath them are removed. This eliminates a vertical “fire ladder.”
“Once it ladder fuels from the ground to the trees then we have spotting problems and the fire intensifies,” Sapeta said.
To achieve defensible space while maintaining a large stand of trees with a continuous tree canopy prune lower branches of the trees to a height of six to 15 feet from the top of the vegetation below. Remove all ground fuels such as fallen leaves, needles, twigs, bark, cones, pods, small branches, etc. so that surface litter does not exceed a depth of three inches. Ideally, grass should not exceed four inches in height.
For more information or for further fire prevention tips visit www.fire.ca.gov.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
