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Dead fuels Clearing out dead fuels from around your home now can help keep your property more fire safe next fire season. While you may want to keep a few snags or logs around for wildlife, be selective and smart about what you remove and what you keep. Here are the different kinds of dead fuels and how you can deal with them in your defensible space. Remember that defensible space extends a minimum of 100 feet from your house, and more depending on slope. Snags (standing dead trees). These are great for wildlife, but they make great fuel for wildfires, too. In your defensible space, remove snags. Farther away, prune lower limbs to limit the snag's ability to act as a fuel ladder. Downed trees & large limbs (large woody debris). If it's a recent fall and not imbedded in the ground, remove the tree or limb. If it's already decomposing, leave it in place to enrich the forest soil. Large shrubs. Remove any dead branches, or, if the entire shrub has died, the entire shrub. Grasses and "forbs". When you cut grasses and forbs (other low-growing vegetation like lupine or poppies) around your home, the clippings become dead fuel. Remove them if possible. Dead twigs, needles & leaves. Whether these are on the ground, still on the tree, or in your gutter, they are fuel for a fire. Knock dead material off trees to 12 or 15 feet, and of course clean out the gutter!
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Interesting little tidbits come from Clare Nunamaker. She is a registered forester and member of NorCal SAF and the Forest Guild.
forestry@nunamaker.com
707-485-8788
Nary a Drop to Drink Large Woody Material from the National Science Foundation Riparian Forests |
