Fire season has begun — your actions protect your home and your neighborhood
By Tonya Graham
I know the title of this Council Corner is provocative, but we need to talk about something serious. Wildfire has come to Ashland before, and it will come again. While we can’t keep wildfire from coming, we can narrow its path of destruction by reducing wildfire risk around our homes before it arrives.
Doing this work protects our families and businesses, but that’s not all. By making our homes resistant to wildfire, we can keep them from catching fire and spreading that fire to our neighbors. The city of Ashland provides free home wildfire assessments and has programs to help us know where and how to focus our efforts. Here are some good places to start:
Protect against embers
In a wildfire, burning embers can travel more than a mile before dropping onto a home or yard. Whether that ember ignites a larger fire makes all the difference. So, look around your property and imagine wildfire embers landing on your home and yard when you are not home. Then deal with any places where a falling ember would ignite a larger fire, especially within 5 feet of your home. Remove bark mulch, rake dry leaves, and trim weeds, trees and shrubs. Make sure vents are properly screened. Clean out your gutters and install gutter covers if you can afford it. If not, put it on your calendar to check them once a month during fire season.
Remove hazardous plants
Some plants are far worse than others in terms of fire risk. The city of Ashland has identified hazardous plants that are not allowed to be planted next to new construction. But they aren’t a good idea in any yard. The Prohibited Plant List on the city’s website includes photos of these hazardous plants, making it easy to spot them in your yard.
Gather your neighbors’ phone numbers
In the event of a wildfire, you or your neighbors may not be home and may need to rely on each other to help evacuate older children, parents or pets. If you haven’t done this already, now is a good time to exchange phone numbers with your neighbors on all sides, introduce your pets and children, and meet theirs. More information about wildfire preparedness and evacuation is available on the city’s website and will be featured in a future Council Corner.
Check your insurance limits
If you are a homeowner, make sure you have homeowner’s insurance and that it has appropriate limits. The cost of replacing a home has changed significantly in the last couple of years due to inflation and supply chain issues, so it’s a good idea to meet with your insurance agent and go over the limits of your policy. If you are a renter, make sure you have renter’s insurance.
Transform our relationship with energy
Our rapidly escalating wildfire risk is a direct result of the climate crisis that is unfolding globally. Addressing this and other impacts — such as extreme heat, severe storms and drought — over the long term requires that we transform our relationship with energy. This means conserving energy in all its forms, switching from fossil fuels to electricity and generating that electricity from renewable sources. The city of Ashland offers incentives to residents and business owners to encourage solar panel installations, electric bikes and vehicles, appliances and more.
Learn more
The actions highlighted here are just some of many ways we can all do our part. The city’s new website, ashlandoregon.gov, makes it easy to learn how to reduce wildfire risk and take climate action. Wildfire season began June 1 in Ashland. There is no time to lose in addressing the driving issue of climate change and preparing for the day when wildfire returns to our town. Working together, we can protect the community we love and our children’s future.
Email Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham at [email protected]. Email letters to the editor and viewpoint submissions to [email protected].
