Santa Fe Co. helps residents assess fire danger around homes
Posted at: 07/13/2011 11:26 PM
| Updated at: 07/13/2011 11:30 PM
By: Joe Vigil, KOB Eyewitness News 4; Danielle Flores, KOB.com
New Mexico has been receiving some rain, but it is not enough to curb the fire danger throughout the state.
Santa Fe County has been proactive, assessing the fire danger at homes and telling people what they can do to avoid a tragedy.
Robert Habbersett said he is a stressed out Santa Fe County homeowner. From his house, he has watched two fires burn, the Pacheco and Las Conchas fires.
The Santa Fe County Fire Department has been teaching residents like Habbersett how to protect their properties from fire.
The advice is free, but officials said it is up to homeowners to do the work.
Habbersett thinned out the area around his house, including one hillside that was packed full of dead tress from bark beetles.
He also trimmed the bottom of many trees around his home to keep fire from spreading to tree tops and other fuels.
Assistant County Fire Chief John Wheeler described what actions residents should take to protect their property from a potential fire threat.
"The recommended distance is trying to clear fuels roughly 30 feet from your home. Common sense things…moving wood piles further away. Not having ground litter, pine needles, leaves, sticks, twigs…not have those piled up on the ground. Clearing them out. Essentially, denying the fire the ability for the fire to get to your structures," Wheeler explained.
Wheeler also said to keep propane tanks away from homes.
"When we were patrolling in Los Alamos during the Las Conchas fire, homeowners there were sell acquainted with moving their flammable fuels out of the house. Propane tanks, gas cans…they were all in the driveway close to the street. So if the worst case scenario should occur and they combusted, it would happen there and not in the garage or close to the structure," Wheeler said.
Wheeler said over the last two years, the fire department has done more than 2,000 property assessments.
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