2020 has been a tough year for just about everyone but one thing that we can’t forget about is that the state is still technically in a fire season in Oregon is here.
If you haven’t thought about fire season that much this year, here are several things you can do to make sure that your house will survive a wildfire.
Tip #1 – Create A Defensible Space Around Your Home
One of the best things that you can do to protect your home from a wildfire is to create a defensible space around your property. This means that you remove brush, trash, debris, and anything away from your home which could become fuel for a fire.
In some parts of Oregon, homeowners like to burn firewood during the winter, if this is the case with your home, you should make sure that your supply of firewood is far enough away from your home so that if it were to catch fire, that fire would not cause your home to catch fire as well.
After you create a defensible space around your home, the next thing that you should consider doing is planting new drought-tolerant plants around your house like Ice Plant. This will help to keep your home looking great during the year, lower your water bill, and also eliminate the threat of your landscaping being responsible for your home catching on fire.
Tip #2 – Check Your Fire Extinguishers
The next thing that you should do this summer is to check your fire extinguishers. This tip is important because most homes have older fire extinguishers in them that are no longer working. \
To verify if your fire extinguisher is working, you should check the label attached to it because if it’s more than 10 years old, it’s likely that your fire extinguisher wouldn’t work when needed.
Tip #3 – Create An Emergency Exit Plan
Last, of all, you should create an emergency exit plan for everyone in your home so that each member of your house knows how to exit the house in the event of a fire and where to meet up with other family members once they leave the home.
If your home is a two-story house, you should invest in escape ladders for each bedroom, and teach the occupants of those rooms how to use those ladders so that everyone knows how to get out of the house safely in the event of a fire.
Summer is a great time to be in Oregon! Stay safe when you’re outdoors, protect your home by following the tips in this article and you can protect yourself in the event of a fire.
