Keeping your home safe during fire season

Being prepared can keep homes, families safe

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – With wildfires continuing to pop up around the Jacksonville and St. Johns County area, being prepared and knowing what to do to keep your home and family safe is key.

Wildfires have hit most spots in the region from St. Johns County to Clay County to Pumpkin Hill up near Oceanway.

News4Jax talked to Annaleasa Winter at the Florida Forest Service to learn how bad they expect this year's fire season to be.

"Well it goes on a cycle. Every five or seven years we'll have a really bad fire season. We're probably about due looking at the weather conditions and that really is what the factor is. The primary factor is how much rainfall we're going to be getting," Winter said. 

The Jacksonville area has had major fire seasons in the past that may make residents want to start getting prepared. There was the huge fire season of 1998 that went from Memorial Day to mid-July. Then one in 2007 that lasted from early-April to mid-May. And the longest season in 2011 from March to July.

Winter said that to start getting prepared doing things like keeping underbrush away from your home can be critical if a brush or wildfire pops up near you.

"If you have native brush very close to your home, you want to get out there and clear it back a minimum of 30 feet," she said.

When clearing brush make sure there aren't other things close to your home that could be an obstruction.

"Just look around the house and determine if fire equipment can get back here, can it go all the way around my house," Winter said

According to Winter, making sure your roof and gutter are clear of debris is the next major step in keeping your home safe.

"What is the roof condition? Is there pine litter and straw leaf and all this flammable debris accumulating on my roof and in my gutters which could catch an ember from a wildfire and really damage a home?" Winter asks.

Winter adds that the most vulnerable places are the ones that are the most remote and have swamps in the area, because often fires in those areas can burn for weeks and fire crews have a hard time fully putting them out.
 


About the Author:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.