Fire Safe Definitions
Defensible Space - This term refers to the space around a structure, which is made defensible from wildfire when fuel clearances are done to state and local standards. This space reduces the risk that fire will spread to the structure, and also provides firefighters a relatively safe area in which to work while protecting the structure. In areas prone to wildfires, firefighters will often not attempt to protect structures that do not have adequate defensible space, both for safetey reasons and because such efforts are unlikely to be successful. (partial ref: wikpedia.com)
Fire Hazard - A fire hazard is any situation in which there is a greater than normal risk of harm to people or property due to fire. Fire hazards can take the form of ways that fires can easily start, such as a blocked cooling vent, or overloaded electrical system, ways fires can spread rapidly, such as an insufficiently protected fuel store or areas with high oxygen concentrations, or things which, in a fire, pose a hazard to people, such as materials that produce toxic fumes when heated or blocked fire exits. (ref: wikpedia.com)
Hazardous Fuels - Hazardous fuels, as used on this site, indicate excessive flammable materials in the forest and on private lands that will contribute to spread and growth of wildfire.
Shaded Fuel Break - This technique for treating hazardous fuels breaks up fuel continuity and the fuel ladder, leaving 60-100% canopy cover. Thinning out flammable and overstocked vegetation as well as dead and down fuel reduces the ability of a fire to move through the forest with high (and destructive) flame lengths. It must be understood that a Shaded Fuel Break will not stop a fire, but will give suppression forces and landowners extra time for safely fighting the fire and accessing or evacuating the fire area. Trimming the branches 6-8 feet up the trunk of the remaining trees reduces the ability of a future fire to climb the “Fuel Ladder” and burn the crowns of the trees. Selection of plants to thin is based on density and flammability.
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