Fire tips, just in case...

Going back into the archives, found this from last year. It's still as true this year as it was last...


Hi, neighbors:

Just wanted to share a few reminders from the good folks at Hondo 2 who put on a great fire safety meeting last week. It was a packed firehouse with a lot of residents from La Barberia, Camp Stony, etc although only a handful of Apache Ridge folks showed up. Many of us have already been traumatized by the Sim Table demonstration at past meetings, but hopefully no one believes we are not ALL at risk for wildfire up here, whether it is caused by a lightning bolt, downed power line, metal spark or stray cigarette.

BRUSH: If have a lot of broken branches and dead wood strewn around your property, it is MORE likely to ignite in a wildfire or grass fire situation if it is piled up like a haystack than if you scatter it low to the ground. Optimal choice is to REMOVE anything resembling fuel, but if you can't remove it, please DON'T pile it up like a bonfire waiting for a stray cigarette to land in it. If you need to create boundaries on your property, consider one large log, a rock, a stump or a railroad tie, not a big pile of bone-dry branches.

REMOVAL: You can take "green waste" (truckloads of brush) to the Eldorado Transfer Station; it will cost you a punch on your dump card each time. Or you can take it up to the BURRT Transfer Station, the main dump, for a small fee instead; a more cost-effective option especially if you have a lot of brush, but a long drive as well.

You can get together with a few neighbors and rent a heavy-duty chipper for a day or two; you can put the resulting wood chips onto your driveway for stability or use them in your garden for mulch or make a walking path out of them. You can hire someone to remove the brush for you--some laborers will do it in trade for the useable firewood they can scavenge among the brush (look at our roadside bulletin board for contacts). There's no way around the fact that maintaining a safe, healthy forest is hard work and can be expensive.

FIREWISE: Residents periodically ask if they can get financial assistance for the massive job of brush clearing on their private property. Krys Nystrom  can give you information about Firewise.org, a website that details ways that neighborhoods can apply for grants ($$$) to help with firescaping and fuel mitigation. You can create a mini-community of a handful of contiguous property owners, apply to become Firewise and thus eligible for grants that way. This is an especially good option for small groups of neighbors on our side roads or clumped together in one area of the larger neighborhood.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GUY? If you are concerned about excessive deadwood, trash, or other fuel piling up on private property, you can contact the Land Use Office and ask them to pay an official visit to the property owner.

FIRESCAPING/MITIGATION: The Fire Dept is a treasure trove of information regarding how to firescape your property to protect your home and also keep it safe for firefighters who might need to access your property--how close (or far) trees should be from your house, how wide your driveway should be, how to make emergency access easier, etc.

The New Mexican published a supplement in Saturday's paper which you should be able to still get a copy of, and you can also contact the Santa Fe County wildland specialist Krys Nystrom directly if you want her to come to your property and tell you whether or not you have more work to do. She knows the neighborhood and the individual properties very well and can direct you to all kinds of resources. You can also stop down at Hondo 2 (or Hondo 1 further down the highway) and pick up a number of useful handouts for emergency planning.

SELF-RELIANCE: The Hondo 2 crew was *very* clear that individual responsibility of property owners, good communication between neighbors, and self-awareness about risks, threats, and personal emergency planning are the most important ways to stay safe during a wildfire event. If you have created/ignored/not attended to a dangerous situation on your property, expect them to chew you out once they've rescued you. Also note: they will tend to their own safety first, and then yours. They are well-trained, well-equipped and have a strong desire to do their job under terrible conditions. But if they can't safely get down your driveway, you're on your own.

EVACUATION PLANS: The city and the county are offering a couple of clunky and unreliable reverse-911 options that you can sign up for, which would mean you would get a robocall if someone in emergency planning determines an evacuation is necessary. Chief Chilton said they have a 40% accuracy rate, so relying on that is probably not your best strategy.

What is? Get to know your closest neighbors and create a plan amongst yourselves: keep phone numbers handy, call each other, check on pets, decide who's staying, who's going, etc. If there is a serious evacuation order, while they can't force you to leave, the fire dept may send someone up the road to each property and tell you to go. Maybe. You are ultimately the person who is going to have to make that decision for yourself.

Look on-line for emergency planning checklists so you have the things you need and your pets and elderly are taken care of. was recommended by the Hondo crew.

The ARPOA email address and my personal phone numbers have been added to a "neighborhood association" list at Hondo 2 and you can expect that if official communications are sent to me from Hondo 2, they will be forwarded on to everyone on the email list and later posted on our blog .

Some residents are not on this email list; some do not use a computer. While some people have sent me their phone numbers, I do not have the resources to create and implement a neighborhood-wide phone tree on my own. (Volunteer for this duty and I'll be happy to work with you to make it happen.)

KNOX BOX: If you have a locked gate, please go to
http://www.knoxbox.com/store/Knox-Box-1650-Residential-Series.cfm
to learn how to allow access for emergency personnel.

If you need further information about being safe and responsible during wildfire season, please contact the Fire Dept. via the Santa Fe County website. They have plenty of links. You can also contact Krys Nystrom (email address above); she is very responsive and helpful.


Candelora

Candelora Versace, Apache Ridge Property Owners Association
ARPOAboard@gmail.com ~www.arpoa.blogspot.com
2013 Board: Candelora Versace, Kristin Ryan, Gustav Kocsis, Michael Jerry, Jennifer Como & Chris Mosconi
ARPOA, 44 Apache Ridge Rd, SF NM 87505