Cal Fire has released new maps that identify different levels of fire hazard severity throughout the Bay Area, a practice done every few years. The updated maps are now showing more areas in the moderate, high or very high risk zones. You can zero in on your specific neighborhood to see what the updated maps show.
- LRA Antioch Map
- LRA Brentwood Map
- LRA Clayton Map
- LRA Concord Map
- LRA Danville Map
- LRA El Cerrito Map
- LRA Hercules Map
- LRA Lafayette Map
- LRA Martinez Map
- LRA Moraga Map
- LRA Orinda Map
- LRA Pinole Map
- LRA Pittsburg Map
- LRA Pleasant Hill Map
- LRA Richmond Map
- LRA San Pablo Map
- LRA San Ramon Map
- LRA Walnut Creek Map
Even if your immediate neighborhood looks safe I would still keep wildfires in mind. Many of the fires over the last decade show that wildfires burn through normal suburban neighborhoods. Even large and presumably well equipped fire departments are not able to knock down the spot fires fast enough to prevent the spread of a fire.
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I try to maintain a ten foot buffer around the house. That does not mean scorched earth but rather that nearby landscaping should be well irrigated and I plus thin plants to reduce the fuel load.
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On the house itself I have been installing 1/16th inch mesh screens for the crawlspace and attic vents plus removing anything that is remotely flammable in the area near the screens (both inside and outside).
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Something that has interested me about the videos I have seen from people driving through burning zones is that there’s a constant coating of small burning embers getting blown around on the streets and ground. 99% of those embers will land on the ground and then die. The 1% that gets caught in something flammable allows the fire to continue and creates a spray of new/fresh embers.
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I have not figured out what to do about wood fencing and gates. The issue in my mind is the horizontal 2x4s. Embers land on those and can start a fire on either the 2×4 and/or fence planks. While it seems easy enough to put something like roof shingles on the tops of the 2x4s those would trap moisture which leads to rot. Maybe I’ll switch to barbed wire fences…