East Bay residents are still reeling from a horrific wildfire season where since the beginning of the year, there have been over 8,100 wildfires which have burned well over 3.8 million acres in California. Everyone is now very familiar with the term AQI and most likely have personal photos of orange skies and red sunsets.
We are not out of the woods yet, as evidenced by the roaring and uncontained Glass Fire in Napa Valley and Santa Rosa which continues to affect air quality in the Bay Area.
These harrowing wildfire events remind us in the East Bay that we need to remain vigilant as we enjoy living in a community that is vulnerable to fast spreading wildfires. As we head into October, a month that brought the infamous Berkeley Hills Fire in 1991, wildfire preparedness has to be a priority for all of us this fall.
Keep Your Home Safe
The City of Oakland shared an informative online pamphlet “The Changing Paradigm of WildFire Prevention” created by Dr. Robert Sieben, certified an inspector by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Here are highlights
- Don’t start a fire.
- Harden Your Home –
Help your home survive if blizzards of flying embers that may be coming from a fire a mile away and be smaller than a grain of rice, get picked up in the wind and are headed to the East Bay.
Screen vents under your roof or in your foundation with 1/8th inch metal mesh or newly available ember-proof plugs
Seal the lower edges of any unsealed siding or keep combustibles including mulch away from the lower edges of unsealed siding
Remove combustibles such as brooms, pieces of lumber, or firewood from under stairs & decks
Screen open spaces below decks or stairs within a foot of the ground with 1/8” mesh
Keep decks clear of combustible furniture, baskets, sculptured twigs, dried plants/flowers
Keep flammables, including plants, four inches away from glass windows and doors
Remove pine needles and leaves from your roof, gutters, decks and stairs, particularly when dry winds are predicted by a Red Flag warning. A leaf blower can be used to blow these off the roof when it counts.
Consider removing gutters, which catch and hold leaves
Don’t store gasoline in your garage
Remember to close the garage door when you leave in a panic
- Pay attention to fencing. Replace wood fences with metal.
- Maintain a non-ignition zone 5 feet adjacent to your home so that embers landing there will not find enough fuel to sustain a fire.
- Create defensible space beyond the non-ignition zone to reduce the intensity of wildfire as it nears your home.
Use available resources to plan NOW for an emergency later. Here is a helpful guide: http://wildfireprevention.info
Get Alerted: The AC Alert is the primary emergency notification system for Berkeley and Oakland. AC Alert share emergency information and instructions through phone calls, emails, text messages and TTY/TDD messages. Sign up to receive an AC Alert
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Be Proactive:
The Berkeley Fire Department, Office Of Emergency Services is offering a free Wildfire Evacuation preparedness class:
Wed, September 30, 2020
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM HST
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/berkeley-wildfire-evacuation-preparedness-registration-122636090849
Click here for High Fire Danger Warning Information or RED FLAG WARNING BROCHURE
For more information about Weather Alerts visit NOAA-National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service
Evacuation Guide for the East Bay
Give your household the best chance of surviving a wildfire by being ready to go and evacuating early. Have an Evacuation Plan; know what to take and where to go if a wildfire strikes.
Keeping Your Pets Safe
Berkeley Hills created this post as a resource to help you keep your pets safe in the event of a natural disaster or wildfire.
Berkeley Hills Realty cares about our East Bay community and knows the value of being prepared, being active and alert, and being educated and is proud to share these resources. Please share with your neighbors and family members, too!
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