Are You Firesafe?
Would you be prepared if a wildfire threatened your home and family?
Each year, wildfires destroy hundreds of homes and acreage. When a wildfire does strike, it can occur with little warning and spread quickly. Fire crews and equipment can be overwhelmed by the task of fighting a rapidly advancing wildfire. There simply may not be enough personnel and equipment to defend every home.
Falling embers and brands, sometimes from miles away, presents one of the greatest dangers in a wildfire situation. A single hot ember could make your home or property a secondary incident, with fire department resources already devoted to fighting the main fire miles away. Our systems can help you to Defend Your Defensible Space® before your local fire protection agency arrives, but only if you are prepared.
Being prepared can give you the edge in making your home a "winner" instead of a "loser" with both lives and property being saved if you take a few simple precautions...
• Plan Ahead Early
• Create Defensible Space
• Spark Proof Your Home
• Set Up A Water Supply & Delivery System
• Add Foam or Gel to your Delivery System
• Know when to get out
1. PLAN AHEAD EARLY
Don't wait until the fire season has started. Precautions should be taken before summer to help save your home, even if fire comes while you are away. A well prepared home has a better chance of being saved than an unprepared one.
Even by doing some simple cleanup and adding a foaming kit to each of your garden hoses, you will have the beginnings of a basic plan of defense.
2. CREATE DEFENSIBLE SPACE
Fires are spread and fuelled by flammable grasses, weeds, trees and bushes.
• Cut down grass, clear leaves, and dead undergrowth within 30-50 feet of buildings
• Clear all dry grass and bark well back from the walls
• Space trees so that there is NOT a continuous canopy from brushland to the house
• Remove tree limbs which overhang the roof or decks
• All nearby trees should have lower branches pruned away to provide a vertical firebreak, which will prevent the ground fire from spreading into them
• Keep gutters clear of leaves and twigs and screen with metal gutter guards
3. SPARK PROOF YOUR HOME
Many houses lost in wildfires have caught fire ON THE INSIDE, caused by burning debris or sparks blown through uncovered openings - windows, doors, eaves, the roof space or under the house. This is a very important point. Your home - and your family - have a much better chance of surviving a bushfire if the house is spark proof.
• Treat all exterior wood surfaces with intumescent paint or other fire-rated coating
• Install metal mesh or solid screens to seal windows, doors, ventilators, and skylights
• Box in or screen over eaves and under-floor areas
• Pay particular attention to gaps in the roof area, along the ridge cap, and fascia
4. SET UP A WATER SUPPLY AND DELIVERY SYSTEM
It is essential to make provision for an adequate water supply for firefighting. You cannot rely on public water mains or electricity during a wildfire. Your water supply and delivery system should be totally independent of utilities which, in the event of an emergency, may be inadequate or non-existent. (Remember the Oakland Hills fire in the SF Bay Area?)
Tanks, dams, and swimming pools can provide necessary reserves provided you have the proper pump and enough hose to reach all areas to be protected. Ideally, the system should provide coverage to the entire house as well as the defensible space around it.
The delivery system should provide a MINIMUM 100 PSI nozzle pressure AT THE RATED FLOW OF THE NOZZLE YOU WILL BE USING. This provides compatibility with and proper operation of standard firefighting nozzles and foam equipment. Remember to take into account friction losses through long hose runs too!
IMPORTANT NOTE ON PUMPS: Do not be misled by some pump dealers who claim high flow rates and pressures but don't provide a pump curve. Ask to see a pump curve before you buy and insist on 100+ psi at your desired operating flow!
In addition, your delivery system should be easy to use. Reading a manual is the last thing you want to be doing in the middle of a fire event!
Your water supply and delivery system should also be clearly labeled and designed to provide easy access for your local fire agency. Check with your local fire department for recommendations on making your equipment readily accessible.
NOTE: The NFPA has a formula for calculating the amount of water required to protect a specific structure. (Ref: NFPA 1142, Standard on Water Supplies for Suburban and Rural Fire Fighting, 1999 Edition)
5. ADD FOAM OR GEL TO YOUR DELIVERY SYSTEM
Foam concentrates can increase the coverage of a limited water supply up to 5 times! Foam breaks down the water's surface tension, thereby improving water penetration into porous surfaces and slowing its evaporation. In addition, the bubbles created act as an insulating barrier and help reflect infrared heat away from protected surfaces. When applied to the defensible space around your home, foam can increase water's effectiveness 5x or more!
We offer a variety of foaming kits allowing the addition of foam to everything from a standard garden hose to portable pumps or whole house hydrant systems.
6. KNOW WHEN TO GET OUT
Your property can be replaced but not your life or the life of a loved one.
The equipment we sell can provide an extra level of protection against the threat of a wildfire. However, no matter what steps you take, there is no guarantee that you can protect your property. Although this equipment can be used to directly attack a fire, unless you have no other choice, that is best left to professional firefighters.
Always have an evacuation plan in mind, and when in doubt, get out!
