Ukiah: Wildfire Preparedness Expo May 16 at fairgrounds

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Ukiah: Wildfire Preparedness Expo May 16 at fairgrounds

With fire season nearly upon us, the second annual Mendocino County Fire Safe Council Wildfire Preparedness Expo is an important way to learn how to protect your home and loved ones.

This year the Expo, at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds in Ukiah, will cover important topics like defensible space clearing around your home, water supplies for fire protection, protecting your home from burning embers, and how to decide whether to evacuate or stay and defend your home.

Starting at 10 a.m. Saturday May 16, this free event will feature vendors who sell firefighting and water supply equipment. Live fire demonstrations start after lunch, which will be provided for a $7 donation.

The first speaker at 10:15 a.m. will be a Cal Fire chief on "Are You Prepared? Clearing around your home," about the "defensible space" inspections Cal Fire performs to determine whether or not firefighters will be able to defend your home from a wildfire.

The 10:45 a.m. topic will be "Lessons We Learned about Protecting Our Homes," led by Stephen Smith, District Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, with input from Mendocino County residents who experienced the 2008 lightning fires "up close and personal."

Chief Colin Wilson of the Anderson Valley Fire Department will speak at 11:20 a.m.on water supplies for fire protection, with a slide show and demonstration of how to make home water supply systems available for firefighting.

At 1 p.m., Dr. Steve Quarles of the UC Berkeley Center for Fire Research and Outreach will discuss "Protecting your home from burning embers." He will describe building materials, methods and maintenance to keep your home safe.

At 1:45 p.m. Dr. Quarles will give live fire demonstrations of how burning embers ignite various decking and siding materials that we may have in our own homes.

At 2:45 p.m., Dr. Max Moritz of the UC Berkeley Fire Center will discuss the February 2009 Australian fires and the Australian policy called "Leave Early, or Prepare, Stay & Defend." In that country, able-bodied citizens are trained on how to defend their own homes in situations where fire engines are not available.

Finally, at 3:30 p.m. Sheriff Tom Allman will lead a discussion of evacuation and communications issues in the 2008 Lightning Fires, along with Cal Fire Battalion Chief Norm Brown, Anderson Valley Fire Chief Colin Wilson, KZYX Radio staff, and citizens who participated in informing the public about the fires.

The event will end at around 4 p.m.

For more information call the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council at (707) 462-3662.

Source: The Ukiah Daily Journal

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Sunday, May 3, 2009