Let’s Lend Firefighters a Hand, Huh?

As a member of a community located in the wildland-urban interface where a beautiful hike is moments from my door, there’s always wildlife to study, and the stars seem to burn a little brighter at night, I take pride in my community. I also take comfort in the multiple fire stations close by, for as beautiful and enjoyable as the hills around my house are, they could quite easily burn, and if the old charred sagebrush carcasses I’ve seen on my hikes are any indication, they have before.

I appreciate my community fire service men and women. I think they’re heroic and brave, and cannot begin to count the number of neighbor kids I used to babysit who wanted to be firefighters when they grew up. So with the faith society puts on our fire services, it’s absolutely reasonable for me to expect a fire engine in my driveway, protecting my house from a wildfire, right? Well, maybe not.

A recent internet search turned up a production by The Denver Post called “The Fire Line: Wildfire in Colorado.” The video features compelling stories of the people who lost their homes to Colorado wildfires and the firefighters who were tasked with defending them. The message is well delivered and simple: in a society where more and more homes are built in the wildland, it’s unfair to expect firefighters to put themselves in certain danger to defend them, when the homeowner has not taken any steps to reduce their fire threat. I highly recommend it. Watch it here, and keep a tissue handy!

It appears as though Nevada’s got a similar idea. The Living With Fire homepage features the poster for the Nevada Wildfire Awareness Month campaign. The message: Prepare Your Home For Wildfire. See the poster and a list of events people around the state are participating in, at http://www.livingwithfire.info/wildfire-awareness-month.

Living With Fire’s message behind the poster is also simple: “This year we hope to change the traditional reactionary thinking of protecting our homes from wildfire to a proactive approach – prepare your home for wildfire!”

I think I’ll take this call to action to task. By preparing my home for the wildfire I know is bound to strike the hills by my house again, then I’ll have done my community fire services a favor. It’ll be easier to defend a house that’s ready, or if the area’s not safe for them to be in, I’ll know my house still has a chance of surviving without a fire engine in my driveway. Now that’s something to take comfort in.

To learn how to make your home safer from a wildfire, and a place that fire services can better defend, visit livingwithfire.info.

Cheers!

Natalie Newcomer