“Be Wildfire Safe & Ready” event brings crucial fire safety lessons to San Mateo residents later this month
San Mateo County, California – After Southern California’s devastating wildfires, veteran Cal Fire captain Bryan Whitaker highlights a vital component of wildfire prevention that is sometimes ignored: preventing flying embers. His enormous front-line experience, which includes fighting the massive Park and Camp Fires, gives him specific perspective on efficient fire prevention strategies for homeowners.
Whitaker saw personally the remarkable discrepancy between houses that succumbed to the flames and those that survived, apparently untouched during his most recent deployment to the Eaton and Palisades fires. These findings confirm his conviction that proactive actions, especially in the close proximity to residences, could significantly impact outcomes during wildfires.
“I have been on most of the biggest fires we’ve had over the last 10 years, from most recently the Park Fire (671 square miles burned, 709 structures destroyed) to the Camp Fire (240 square miles burned, 18,804 structures destroyed),” Whitaker said.
He suggests replacing flammable landscaping like bark and decorative shrubs with non-combustible alternatives such as rock or concrete. Whitaker claims that often it is not the big wall of fire but rather the wind-driven embers that ignite these items, hence destroying homes.
Studies by the National Fire Protection Association back up this viewpoint; they show that in wildfires, embers and tiny flames rather than the advancing fire front are the main causes of home destruction. Adopting these preventive measures is more important than ever as California faces ever more severe and frequent wildfires.
San Mateo County is holding the “Be Wildfire Safe & Ready” event on Saturday, April 26, in the San Mateo County Event Center to share this essential information. This free public program is to inform people on the need of building defensible areas around their houses and other preventive actions to improve wildfire readiness.
The program includes a variety of activities and informational sessions:
- Demonstrations on creating safety buffers around homes.
- An overview of California’s updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps.
- Tips on assembling a “Go Bag” for emergency evacuations.
- Registration for emergency and severe weather alerts.
- Firsthand accounts from fire professionals and wildfire survivors, offering practical advice and personal stories of resilience.
Whitaker also underlined the importance an evacuation strategy is; sometimes families have only 20 minutes to respond.
The program guarantees that all participants may gain from the shared information since live translations in Spanish, Mandarin, and American Sign Language serve many populations.
Past wildfire experiences and activities like “Be Wildfire Safe & Ready” help communities to better prepare for the difficulties of future fire seasons.
