Fire risks decreasing
Because of recent Utah wildfires, experts and researchers, including those at USU, are looking at fire precautions to prevent the loss of homes and land.
“You can never be completely safe, but you can be safe,” said Mike Kuhns, professor in the Department of Wildland Resources and Extension Forestry Specialist.
Kuhns has worked with Darren McAvoy, a USU Forestry Extension Associate, on several projects about correctly landscaping a property so it can be prepared in the event of a wildfire. McAvoy said this is a feature he was very curious to look at in the Herriman homes. Kuhns said one thing which helped prevent more damage in the Herriman fire was the position of the houses. Since they were on the bottom of a slope, Kuhns said, that helped to dampen some degree of damage.
Twelve hundred homes were evacuated in Herriman and Rose Canyon Sunday, Sept. 19, due to a fire which originated in nearby Camp Williams. The fire was reportedly started when the Utah National Guard, stationed in Camp Williams, conducted a routine machine gun training exercise. An accidental spark landed on the surrounding brush, setting the camp ablaze.
The National Guard responded immediately, but was unable to contain the fire and contacted the Herriman precinct once the flames crested the top of the mountains near Herriman and Rose Canyon. Lieutenant Dwayne Anjewierden said the precinct responded within minutes of hearing about the fire. The Herriman precinct was “instrumental,” Anjewierden said, in aiding and evacuating residents and ran a 24-hour operation to subdue the fire.
At least three houses burned because of the blaze, as well as an estimated 3,500 acres. Because the now scorched landscape is more bare, the threats of mudslides and floods have increased. Taking into account the property damage and long term ramifications of the fire, a question comes to mind: could the events of that day have been prevented?
“Fires tend to burn predictably, “Anjewierden said. When burning uphill, the flame will move more quickly, since it is preheating vegetation as it goes. Another factor is the direction of the wind. Fire tends to move rapidly when going with the direction of the wind, Kuhns said.
Another factor that could have hindered the fire would be the use of “firewise” practices. Firewise, a term explaining how prepared a structure is to withstand a fire, ties in more than just the adages of Smokey the Bear. According to firewise.org, the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Firewise Communities program “encourages local solutions for wildfire safety by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, firefighters, and others in the effort to protect people and property from the risk of wildfire.”
McAvoy and Kuhns both said they advocate firewise practices and have studied their effect on homes that have been in wildfires. Some tips they suggested were to reduce vegetation near homes, keep lawns groomed and irrigated, and keep the surrounding area clear of debris.
“We’re still developing our systems of home construction, that are more able to withstand a wildfire and not all communities have adopted the firewise principles,” Kuhns said.
A pamphlet, titled “Firewise Landscaping for Utah,” produced by the USU Forestry Extension and co-written by Kuhns, with contributions from McAvoy, reads: “the key to protecting yourself and your home in a fire-prone area is creating and maintaining a firewise landscape in the ‘home ignition zone.'”
The “home ignition zone,” a term coined by Jack Cohen, a prominent researcher in fire research, includes the home and surrounding area within 100 feet. According to “Firewise Landscaping for Utah,” how firewise the home ignition zone is can be the “make-or-break factor” in the event of a wildfire.
Even with firewise precautions, wildfires are sometimes unavoidable. In these cases, teams of specialty fire fighters, called Hot-Shot teams, are called to the scene. Jed McFarlane, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, has worked with the Lone Peak Hot-Shot team for the last four seasons. McFarlane said the work usually consists of building fuel breaks, or strips of bare land where the fire has no vegetation to feed on.
A fire, he explained, relies on three key components to continue growing: fuel, heat and oxygen. These three parts make up what fire researchers call the “fire triangle.” By eliminating one of these parts, the fire will be controlled and subdued. McFarlane said the Hot-Shot teams rely on this method to work with the fire, rather than completely suppressing it, a relatively new practice in fire fighting.
“We let the fire do its thing,” he said, “and keep it out of areas we know it’ll get huge, or where we don’t want it to go.”
When asked what the team would do if confronted with a situation like Herriman, where thousands of houses were at risk, McFarlane explained the “structure triage.” The team will separate the houses into three risk categories: stand-alones, or houses that won’t need much additional preparation (cutting trees, gas lines, etc.); minimal prep houses, those that require normal preparation; and walk-aways, those that aren’t touched and wouldn’t be safe to defend if the situation got “bad.”
Going into autumn and winter, fire danger levels will drop, but students should still be aware of their effect on the environment, McFarlane said. He said students can do their part by always putting out their fires completely, using either water or dirt, and can get involved by volunteering at local fire houses.
–k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu