This is a great article with excellent advice to residents about becoming safer from wildfire. In fact, it is so good that I would like your permission to republish an excerpt in the national Firewise Communities How To Newsletter. Firewise Communities is a national nonprofit interagency effort to help individuals and communities become safer from wildfire. You can find out more about us at www.firewise.org. We publish the How To Newsletter quarterly and distribute a print version to about 500 people, primarily residents of communities that have achieved recognition status in our voluntary Firewise Communities/USA program. I’ll try to find one or both of you to contact you directly. In the meantime, kudos on an excellent piece, and best wishes for continued great work in your area in becoming Firewise.

All the best - Michele Steinberg, Firewise Communities support manager, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA.

I was a fireman for 38 years involved in major wildland fires up and down the state. The first time I ever had a fire blow over the top of me was in 1970 during the Laguna fire. We were attempting to keep the fire on one side of the road when it blew up. The fire killed the engine in the rig so we didn’t have any water pressure, we took shelter in the lee side of the engine and the fire blew right over the top of us. Incredible noise, wind, ash, a blizzard of embers, visibility down to just a few feet, and dark until the flames hit. I thought that was it, a short career, but we were on a fairly wide road and the flames just blew over the top of us and kept on marching, for the next several days. Since then the same thing has happened several other times, the point is that even that first time my nerves were steadied by more experienced men around me which your typical homeowner will not have the advantage of.

People in poor physical condition or with chronic health issues should probably leave at the first sign of trouble. The other problem is that some homeowners might think they know a little more than they do, or are willing to take too big of a risk to save their property. In a house built to the ignition resistant construction standards with the proper clearances residents should be safe in the vast majority of wildfires until the flame front passes at which time they can exit the structure and check for spot fires, but there is always the possibility of that mondo fire and people aren’t always able to tell the difference sometimes until its too late.