Natural Resources RANCHING
This illustration from Texas Forest Service provides a guideline for establishing safe zones around a home or ranch structure.
N
Prepare Your Home and Ranch to Be Firewise By Gary DiGiuseppe
ICK HARRISON WANTS EVERYONE TO BE FIRE WISE. Or, if you will, Firewise — that’s the name
of the program Harrison coordinates for Texas
A&M Forest Service. “It’s a national program sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association, and com- munities follow a set of guidelines to be recognized at a national level,” Harrison says. He also leads the “Ready, Set, Go!” program, which is sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and involves working with fi re departments to help homeowners prepare for fi re. Becoming Firewise requires a plan. Harrison in-
structs people to assess their preparedness by starting at the home and working their way outward. Look around your building for defensible space — the space between a structure and the wildland area that, under normal conditions, creates a suffi cient buffer to slow or halt the spread of wildfi re to that structure. “Are there areas where leaves or needles (depend- ing upon what part of the state you’re in) or grasses
64 The Cattleman August 2016
accumulate up around the house?” Harrison asks. “Wind eddies and tight corners can create a pile of leaves and an ember can land in those leaves and set your house on fi re.” Harrison suggests fi rst looking around the house
5 feet out and then going out at least 30 feet. Look for trees overhanging the house or chimney. “We talk about fuels in trees that have limbs all
over the ground — like juniper trees,” says Harrison. “Can we trim those lower limbs up in case we have a ground fi re moving through the grass that can catch those limbs on fi re and carry the fi re to the crown of the tree?” According to Harrison, it’s not the fi re that is the initial threat, but the embers out in front of it.
It’s not the fi re that is the
initial threat, but the embers out in front of it.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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