Fire: Who does what when?
by SANDy ShAffeR
Recent studies are indicating that there
is confusion regarding some wildfire terms,
and that perhaps a better understanding of
these terms could help save some homes
from perishing in wildfires.
Fire prevention. Fire preparedness.
Fire protection. Fire suppression.
Do you think there’s a whole lot of
difference between them, especially in
regard to who does what? Let’s take a
look at definitions, starting with Webster’s.
And in this article we’ll talk about both
structural and wildfires, because often one
becomes the other.
Prevent: “to keep from occurring, avert,
hinder”
Prevention: “the act of preventing, effectual
hindrance”
Some of my first thoughts regarding
preventing unwanted fire are: not playing
with matches, having a screen across your
fireplace, keeping space heaters away from
flammables, having your chimney cleaned
annually, being aware of and following
local fire season restrictions, being prepared
with shovels and a hose when you do a
burn pile, and checking weather conditions
before you do a prescribed burn.
These mostly apply to private
landowners, but commercial and agency
forest workers also have a responsibility to
do safety checks when working. Checking
local fire restrictions would apply to being
both at home and also while traveling,
sightseeing or hiking. What about local
or county jurisdictional responsibility to
enact and enforce safe building codes? Or
fire agencies communicating effectively
and efficiently with residents when fire
danger increases? Those are both a form
of fire prevention.
Prepare: “to put things or oneself in readiness,
get ready; to put in proper condition”
Preparedness: “the state of being prepared;
readiness. possession of adequate…forces,
...resources and potential, especially as a
deterrent to an attack”
Fire preparedness could include any/
all of these actions: having a neighborhood
telephone tree, having fire extinguishers in
your home, providing a defensible space
around your home so that firefighters can
safely defend it, preparing your family for
a fire (or any emergency situation) with
written evacuation plans, and even to
providing an extra water supply or fuel
breaks across your property that firefighters
could utilize to fight a wildfire more
effectively.
But think further: wouldn’t teaching
your livestock to quickly enter trailers be
preparing them? When the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) thins trees next to a
populated rural area, aren’t they preparing
their lands to be a little more fire resilient?
And isn’t it about being more prepared
when our local Fire District puts up all of
those signs announcing the next volunteer
firefighter academy? Or when the Oregon
Department of Forestry (ODF) helps us
prepare for fire season by doing home
inspections, helping us get grant funds to
help pay for fuel reduction work on our
rural properties? When ODF hires new
crews at the start of fire season, they are
getting prepared to protect private property.
And of course, if you and a couple of your
friends get together to clean up an elderly
neighbor’s rain gutters and yard before fire
season, that’s helping to prepare them!
Protect: “to defend or guard from attack,
invasion, loss, etc.” “cover or shield from
injury or danger”
Protection: “the act of protecting or the state
of being protected”; “a thing, person, or group
that protects”
In addition to helping prepare us,
the ODF also protects our private rural
properties from nearby wildfires, and they
provide protection for all BLM lands in our
area. The US Forest Service protects their
lands if a wildfire is nearby. Our local Fire
District provides structural protection for
our homes when a fire is near and, if they
are the first on scene of a wildfire, they
will start to protect our private property
until others arrive. But as landowners we
can also help protect our homes from a
spreading wildfire by thinning our stands
and removing ladder fuels, so that the
wildfire’s behavior is slowed to a level that
allows the professional protectors to keep it
away from our homes.
Going even further, parents can
help protect their homes from burning by
teaching their children to respect fire and
be careful, and also by not leaving matches
where children can find them. What about
helping someone protect? If you have a
wide, open driveway, doesn’t that help
firefighters stay safe as they rush to help
defend/protect your home and property?
And if there were a large fire burning a
mile away, who might be the first person
to protect your home from flying embers
getting in an open window or catching
your patio furniture on fire? Wouldn’t/
shouldn’t that be you, the homeowner?
Suppress: “to stop or arrest…” to vanquish
or subdue, quell or crush”
Suppression: “the act of suppressing”
We might think of fire suppression as
the same as fire protection. It is mostly
the same people, but suppression is actually
putting out a fire. Suppressing wildfires is
usually just for trained firefighters, but
sometimes a fire gets so large that we
have forestry workers or the National
Guard helping suppress a fire. Structural
fire suppression is the responsibility of our
local fire districts. But because structural
fire suppression is very dangerous for the
untrained, going to the prevent and prepare
mode is the best defense: be careful with fire
in and around the house, have an adequate
defensible space, use fire-resistant building
materials and plants, keep dry leaves,
needles and other flammables away from
structures during fire season.
Anyone who lights a debris burn
pile is responsible for full suppression of
it when they’re finished with their work
(or if it begins to get out of control). But
again, let’s think beyond the obvious and
the ways to assist fire suppression efforts.
Good reflective address signs and arrows
along a wide driveway speed up the arrival
of fire suppressers. Having the previously
mentioned extra water supply along with a
water pump and a couple hundred feet of
fire hose on your rural property can surely
aid their suppression efforts. Evacuating
when you’re told to do so makes fire
suppression efforts safer for firefighters.
And moving up the chain of command,
declaring states of emergency at the state
or federal level can expedite fire suppression
efforts.
To summarize (and voice my
opinion), I guess I’m suggesting that
everyone does have a role of some sort in
fire preparedness, prevention and protection,
Applegater Winter 2012 17
...preparing your
family for a fire...
with written
evacuation
plans,...an extra
water supply
or fuel breaks
across your
property...
as well as an “assist” in fire suppression. So,
let’s all do our share so that we don’t ever
have to get to that point of declaring a state
of emergency in the Applegate.
Sandy Shaffer
sassyoneOR@q.com
“A
banker is a fellow who
lends you his umbrella when
the sun is shining and wants
it back the minute it begins to
rain.”
—Attributed to Mark Twain
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McGee