OSTA Review 25
Parks have long been overlooked when it comes to fire safety. Due to the impact of past fires, there is a movement to help Parks become a FireWise Community. This is a designation for Parks that have taken part in a special program. This is a collaboration between Federal and State Government offices that created a program to identify problems in advance. More importantly, those findings will trigger work to correct them, involving volunteers and Park involvement.
What does that mean to us? The Associations are forming Committees to work with the project and undertake long-term commitments (estimated 2-3 years) to reduce the risks of fire damage to the Parks. Now is a critical time for this action, as the 5-7 year mark is a key period for fires to recur due to the regrowth of brush and trees in burned areas.
The best part? It will cost you and me nothing to take part. Tenants will be asked for some cooperation and participation. How does it work?
The process begins with a voluntary exterior home inspection to look for potential hazards. The report does NOT go to your insurance company or your landlord. It goes to you. Then an overall condition report is sent to the owners, to work together to address issues such as problem trees and overgrown brush. This is supported by volunteer programs by the US Forest Service and Young Marines, to name a few. Here’s an example;
A local park had 100 feet of Blackberry bushes along the creek. FireWise arranged to have a crew clear the entire creek path at No Cost (an estimated $9-$10,000 project). The park was then asked to spray 3x a year with approved chemicals to keep the brush down and prevent the hazard from regrowing as their contribution.
If you are interested in finding out more for your Park, reach out to FireWise at https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/firewise-usa
