Spreading like wildfire
By Anne Tearse
In a recent Facebook post by South Whidbey Fire/EMS they warned “Wildfires can escalate quickly.” Admittedly, it is far more comfortable to tell ourselves “We don’t have big fires on Whidbey” than to contemplate losing our homes to a wildfire as we are seeing more and more in our Western states. The reality is, things are changing. Our summers tend to be hotter and drier than they were even 10 years ago. We can see that the snow on the Olympics is almost all gone, and it's only May. We can see trees dying all around us, particularly the hemlocks, and this is due to drought. This summer we will be experiencing a “Super El Nino” which means we may well experience a degree of heat and dryness we haven’t ever seen here. It's time to take fire seriously on Whidbey Island.
So, what do we need to do to protect our homes and neighborhoods? Research done by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety and the USDA Forest Service demonstrates that embers blowing from fires are one of the biggest threats to structures. These embers can blow a mile or more ahead of a fire, and as they find debris, they cause new fires. If this debris is in your gutters, on your roofs, along your foundation, under your decks, embers will find it and start a fire that could grow to engulf the entire structure. Additionally, embers can find their way into vents, and ignite debris or insulation in your crawlspace or attic. Embers that start a shrub on fire that is under a window can cause the glass to crack and provide another avenue for fire to get inside and destroy a home.
