Wednesday, May 20, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Fire safety: Start with the roof and work your way down
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
With recent upheavals,
a lot of folks are carrying
around a constant buzz of
worry. One way to put low-
level anxiety to good use:
by preparing for common,
smaller-scale disasters.
Wildfires, evacuations,
and car breakdowns still hap-
pen, after all. Preparing for
those can feel empowering
and offer something concrete
and useful to do on quiet
days.
A good first step: Improve
fire safety around your
home. The Nugget spoke
with Ed Keith, Deschutes
County Forester, who toured
a one-acre plot of land west
of town, pointing out ways to
fend off potential wildfire.
Whenever evaluating a
home and its property for fire
safety, <start by looking at
the home from the outside,=
Keith recommended. <Start
at the roof and work down.=
He noted nonflam-
mable roofing material on
the house, and no broken
or missing tiles. <Great!=
he said, but his inspection
wasn9t done. <Where over-
layment meets edges and
corners,= he noted, flam-
mable parts of the house are
still vulnerable on or near the
roof.
What does that mean?
Basically, even if the roofing
material itself is unlikely to
catch fire, the roof may come
in contact with flammable
materials, such as the strip
of wood trim just above the
gutters.
Pine needles and other
materials on the roof can
cause problems. They also
help the homeowner under-
stand which areas need fre-
quent attention throughout
fire season.
<Embers will fall where
you see other stuff piling
up,= Keith explained. <I
wouldn9t focus as much on
getting every needle off of
the roof so much as looking
at where the needles are. If
the needles caught on fire,
would they catch the house
on fire?=
He pointed out wood sid-
ing on a chimney, at the base
of which needles had gath-
ered. Definitely flammable.
Debris might also gather in
a <cleavage= between one
part of the roof and another.
Often, dead leaves and nee-
dles wind up in the gutters.
If this material ignites, that
wooden trim may go up in
flames, then spread to the
rest of the house.
For fire season,
keep the gutter clear.
— Ed Keith
<For fire season, keep
the gutter clear,= Keith
instructed.
Next he looked at vents.
Foundation vents around
the bottom of a house let the
building <breathe,= allow-
ing moisture to escape from
crawl spaces. Vents higher
up on the house allow air to
circulate in attics and eaves.
Some provide the outside
venting for a fan or dryer
duct.
Research on how fires
consume buildings shows
that embers can easily enter
a house through vents.
Recent studies by IBHS,
the Insurance Institute for
Business & Home Safety,
have led to new recommen-
dations (along with some
dramatic videos, online at
www.ibhs.org).
<Wind-blown embers
are the principal cause of
building ignitions,= IBHS
concluded. <Although the
importance of embers (also
called brands or firebrands)
Wind-blown embers
are the principal cause
of building ignitions.
— IBHS
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has been understood for a
number of years, the ability
to evaluate them in a labora-
tory setting has been a rela-
tively recent development.=
Especially in wildfire-
prone areas like ours, vents
should be protected by 1/8-
inch screens. Previously,
1/4-inch screens were
recommended.
On this particular house,
Keith noticed triangular
vents coming from attic
spaces 4 with no mesh
screens installed at all.
<Gable-end vents are
more prone to accepting
embers,= he warned.
In The Nugget9s next arti-
cle in this series, Keith will
lead us through fire safety
for decks, trees, and zones.
In the meantime, where can
a responsible homeowner
or renter find additional
information?
The Firewise USA
poster and checklist Keith
left behind offered a panic-
inducing array of checklists
and diagrams. For homeown-
ers with little knowledge of
construction or architecture,
the Firewise materials may
simply amplify a feeling that
fire safety is too overwhelm-
ing to take on.
Those who don9t know a
foundation vent from a hard-
scaping component, a gable
end vent from a spark arres-
tor, may have a tough time
preparing their homes.
A myriad of websites
from Oregon Department
of Forestry, Keep Oregon
Green, www.firefree.org, and
local fire departments offer
a large but often confusing
array of information. For
immediate information about
wildfires currently affecting
the Central Oregon region,
www.centraloregonfire.org
is a solid resource.
Still, it may be difficult to
find basics such as, <When
does fire season begin and
end? What does fire season
really mean, anyway? What
is burn season? Is fire season
in effect right now here in
my part of Sisters Country?=
Sisters-Camp Sherman
Fire District can offer
home assessments
— Ed Keith
<Start with your local fire
department,= Keith advised.
<Sisters-Camp Sherman
Fire District can offer home
assessments, they9re the local
folks. Call your local people
first.=
The district also trains
volunteers to become part of
their Fire Corps. Everyday
citizens <learn this informa-
tion so they can help people,=
said Keith, aiding in home
assessments and other activi-
ties. Among the Fire Corps
offerings at Sisters-Camp
Sherman are smoke alarm
testing, car seat installation,
and an address sign pro-
gram, which helps firefight-
ers quickly locate a house or
property in an emergency.
Find Sisters-Camp
Sherman Fire District online
at www.sistersfire.com or call
the non-emergency line, 541-
549-0771. Cloverdale Rural
Fire Protection District is
online at www.cloverdalefire.
com or call 541-389-2345.
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