NORTH COAST FIRE SAFETY 101 Indoors or out, planning equals prevention A Assume with a high degree (re- lated pun noted) of likelihood that D¿UH²DELJ¿UH²QHHGLQJWKH DVVLVWDQFH RI ¿UH¿JKWHUV LV QHYHU going to happen to you or yours. ,W SUREDEO\ ZRQ¶W %XW ZKDW LI«" 'XULQJ RXU XQVHDVRQDEO\ GU\ UXQ with warmer-than-usual tempera- WXUHVDQGDODFNRIQRUPDOUDLQIDOO D UHYLHZ RI ¿UH VDIHW\ EDVLFV LV D must. )LUVWDQGIRUHPRVWKDYHDSODQ LQ SODFH 5HVLGHQW YLVLWRU DGXOWV DQGFKLOGUHQORGJLQJRUFDPSLQJ WDNHDIHZPLQXWHVPDNHDQHPHU JHQF\ ¿UH SODQ ,I QHHGHG LW ZLOO VHUYH \RX DQG ¿UH SURIHVVLRQDOV well. ³0RVWRIDOOUHVLGHQWVDQGYLV LWRUVVKRXOGKDYHDZKDWWRGRLQ FDVHRI¿UH SODQ´ VDLG *HDUKDUW )LUH&KLHI%LOO(GG\³1LFHZHDWK er means lots of people here on the coast. This is a dryer season than XVXDO:H¶UHDPRQWKWRDPRQWK DQGDKDOIHDUO\LQ¿UHUHVWULFWLRQV This year in mid-June it was start- LQJWRGU\RXW7DNHSUHFDXWLRQV´ 5HFHQWO\RQ86+LJKZD\ LW ZDV DQRWKHU EHDXWLIXO EOXHVN\ QRUDLQLQVLJKW 1RUWK &RDVW GD\ 7KHNLQGRIGD\ERWKUHVLGHQWVDQG YLVLWRUVKDYHFRPHWR²ZHOOWKLV \HDU DQ\ZD\ ² H[SHFW 6ORZLQJ IRU URDG FRQVWUXFWLRQ D GULYHU OHW GURS D VWLOOEXUQLQJ DOPRVW¿Q ished cigarette. It fell casually IURP KLV H[WHQGHG ¿QJHUV WR WKH SDYHPHQW 6XFK DQ DFWLRQ FDQ EH GLVDV trous. ³5HPHPEHULW¶VLOOHJDOWRWKURZ DQ\WKLQJEXUQLQJRXWVLGHRIDZLQ GRZ´ (GG\ VDLG ³&LJDUHWWHV LQ particular are an ignition source; WKH\¶UH OLNH D VSDUN RII RI D WUDLQ WUDFN´ -XVW RYHU \HDUV DJR WKH 1RUWK&RDVW¶V86)RUHVW6HUYLFH GHFODUHG DQ HDUO\ ¿UH VHDVRQ 2Q -XO\ LQ DQRWKHU YHKLFOH DQRWKHUGULYHUGLVFDUGHGKLVEXUQ ing cigarette. A spark from that 4 | July 23, 2015 | coastweekend.com Photo by Joshua Bessex Gearhart Fire Chief Bill Eddy has been chief for more than 15 years. He says residents and visitors should all have a plan in place in case there’s a fi re. ‘Remember it’s illegal to throw anything burning outside of a window. Cigarettes in particular are an ignition source; they’re like a spark off of a train track.’ FLJDUHWWH SOD\HG D UROH RU LV WKH PDMRUVXVSHFWDVWKHFDXVHRIWKH WKLUGLQIRXUGLIIHUHQW¿UHVWKDWXO WLPDWHO\GHVWUR\HGDURXQG DFUHV RI QHDUE\ GHQVHO\ IRUHVWHG ROGJURZWK WLPEHU7KH7LOODPRRN %XUQ WKH FRDVWDO IRUHVW ¿UH EH WZHHQ 3RUWODQG DQG WKH 2UHJRQ &RDVWDORQJ86+LJKZD\UH PDLQV WKH UHJLRQ¶V PRVW GHYDVWDW LQJDQGOHJHQGDU\EXUQ /RFDO ¿UH GHSDUWPHQWV DQG WKH 86)RUHVW6HUYLFHKDYHZHEVLWHV full of helpful information regard- LQJ DOO NLQGV RI ¿UHV WKH NLQG ZH ZDQW WR VHW DQG WKRVH ZH GRQ¶W ZKHWKHU LQGRRUV DQG RXW ZKHQ ZKHUH DQG KRZ ZH FDQ DQG FDQ¶W EXUQ DQG ZKDW WR GR LQ FDVH RI D ¿UHHPHUJHQF\ $ORQJWKHFRDVWOLQHDEUXVKRU JUDVV ¿UH EHKDYHV PXFK OLNH WKH ¿UHV VHW LQ D ¿UHSODFH 7R JHW WKH ¿UH VWDUWHG ZH XVH DQ HDV\ LJQLW DEOH PDWHULDO PD\EH ZDGGHG SD SHU 1H[W FRPHV WKH VKDYHGOLNH NLQGOLQJDQG¿QDOO\WKHORQJEXUQ ing logs. 2XUEHDFKJUDVVVFUXEDQGWUHH ¿UHVLJQLWHLQPXFKWKHVDPHZD\ The grass and the plethora of in- YDVLYH 6FRWFK EURRP UHSUHVHQW the paper and the kindling. 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