High temperatures and red-flag warnings issued for recent low humidity and gusty winds serve as a reminder of Alaska's susceptibility to wildfires.
The Anchorage Fire Department's Firewise Home Assessment Program works with homeowners to reduce fire dangers by providing free home inspections. Through their cost-share tree removal program, homeowners can receive up to $2,000 per acre to treat problems found during the inspection.
"Alaska is in a fire-dependent ecosystem, fires have burned here for a lot of years and in many areas now we're overdue," said John See, forester for AFD. "That's why this mitigation work is so important, that we go in and actually do some of this fuel removal under favorable terms before there is a fire."
Preparing for a wildfire is a personal responsibility for homeowners in Alaska since many live in what See calls a "wildland urban interface." Maintaining properties also enables firefighters to do their jobs safely in case of fire.
See suggested various fire-safety tips for homeowners:
- Roof: Consider replacing wood shake roofing with composition roofing materials, which are safer and less flammable.
- Gutters: Clean gutters of dead leaves and debris.
- Vents: Make sure vents to the outside of the home have metal screens to keep embers from blowing into the home.
- Trees: Keep flammable evergreens, like spruce, at least 15 feet from a house. Consider thinning dense stands of trees and trimming the lower branches of evergreens.
- Barbeque: Move barbeques and grills away from the home when in use.
- Firewood: Move firewood piles at least 30 feet from the home during the summer months. Storing firewood under decks or next to a home is fine during winter.
- Debris: Clear debris such as scrap wood, cardboard, dead plants and leaves from around the house.
- Perimeter: Surround a house with a three-foot perimeter of non-combustible materials. Non-combustible materials include cut grass, gravel, or succulent green plants.
- Chimneys: Clean chimneys for wood-burning stoves at least once a year to get rid of the creosote deposits from burning wood.
- Lawns: Keep lawns mowed to 3 inches or less and water them.