what you can do to save yourself from fire

What you can do to save yourself from fire danger

After 3 years of drought, fire danger is even higher

We are in a high fire danger area

There are many things you can do to protect your property

Within 30’ of your property, thin all shrubbery. Trees should have 10’ clearance to your house. They should be limbed up 10’ above

the ground.

Here the tree clearance is good but plants right next to the house represent a fire danger especially if you allow

any plants to have dead material in it.

You may think this tree is just unattractive.

But the dead wood is very problematic in a fire.

Our community is full of conifers which are highly flammable.

. The danger is worse now because many trees are infected with pine bark beetle or “browning”

from lack of water in the drought

When your pine tree starts to brown, seek the advice of an arborist to see if it is diseased.

When your palm tree looks like this it needs to be cleaned up. Again, this could be a sign of disease and

it is highly flammable.

In a recent fire these palms were torches that worked to spread the fire to houses and landscape

miles away.

Throughout our neighborhood Oleanders are dying like flies. Besides being unsightly, they are ripe for

fire danger.

The natural ecology of California chaparral is to burn every 15-20 years.

Our neighborhood is way overdue for a fire incident.

• Please take steps to make your home a defensible fire space.• Remove dead and dying trees and shrubs.• Note whether your pines or other conifers are diseased

and take steps to either nurse them back to health or remove them.• Clean up all your palms and remove dead fronds.• Educate yourself about all the plants that are flammable

and remove them from your property.