Protect your home from fire this summer
As we’ve seen in wildfire prone areas across the world, and more recently at Lake Ōhau in the South Island, wildfire can be devastating.
An excellent community evacuation plan ensured there was no loss of life at Lake Ōhau last October, but 48 structures were destroyed, and 5040 hectares burnt through.
It’s not just people this scorching beast affects - last summer wildfires destroyed over 10,000 hectares of native bird habitat in our beautiful country.
Thankfully there’s plenty you can do to prevent wildfire destroying your little piece of Aotearoa - wherever that might be.
Wildfire Specialist Graeme Still has been fighting fires in New Zealand since the nineties.
He and the team at Fire and Emergency New Zealand urge rural and semi-rural people to take fire prevention action to protect their homes.
“We’re also talking about people living on the edges of towns where trees or scrub are close to housing. All these properties are at greater risk of fire because they are surrounded by a lot more vegetation and the local fire station is further away,” Graeme Still says.
“People need to take this risk seriously and take steps to make their property fire safe.”
• Have a household escape plan with two escape routes. Do not rely on an official warning to leave. Wildfires can start quickly and threaten lives and homes in minutes.
• Plan what you’ll do with your
pets and livestock.
• Clear roofs, gutters and spouting of dead leaves, debris and pine needles.
• Move anything that could burn (mulch, flammable plants, leaves, needles and firewood piles) away from wall exteriors, decks or porches.
“The greatest risk to your home is from an ember attack when embers from a wildfire are carried by the wind. Embers can travel a long way from a fire,” Graeme Still says. • Enclose the space under homes and decks with fireresistant material and reduce the threat of embers passing through vents in the eaves by installing 3mm metal mesh screening.
• Carry out regular maintenance. • Once you’ve made your home safe, work your way outwards; keep your lawns watered if possible. The greener the grass, the less likely it is to burn in a fire. • Remove long grass, shrubs, twigs and other fuels that are within 10 metres of your home. Try to create a ‘clear zone’ around your house to stop a fire reaching your residence. • Once the area within ten metres of your home is clear, go wider. Create space between any trees within 30 metres of your home (to reduce how far and fast a fire can spread) and prune shrubs/and trees from the ground up to stop fire climbing up trees and burning through the tops. This will help to reduce embers spreading from tree-top to tree-top. Repeat with vegetation and structures up to 60 metres from your house. • Everything within the 60-metre zone around your house can influence how safe your home will be in a wildfire.
• It is also important to ensure firefighters can access your property in the event of fire and if we can’t get to you, we can’t help you. Make sure your house or RAPID number is easy for emergency services to see from the road, and that your driveway has enough clearance for emergency vehicles. Fire trucks need at least 4x4 metres.
Contact your local Fire and Emergency Area Office for more advice on safeguarding your property or if you are planning a burn for land management. You can find more tips on how to keep your home fire safe at checkitsalright.nz/reducethe-risk/safeguarding-yourproperty
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