Fire Prevention Guidelines

Did you know that fires, even really big forest fires that can destroy hundreds of thousands of acres and valuable human structures, can be started by something as small as a spark? Sure we all know lightning strikes start the majority of wild fires, but did you know that this year some major fires have been started by; a camptrailer blowing a tire on the highway and creating sparks with the wheel rim, a homeowner who was trying to reduce the fire danger by mowing their dry yard created a spark hitting a rock, and an unattended BBQ that somehow turned over and within hours spread to over 1700 acres?

What other ways could a fire accidentally start in this hot and dry season? If you can imagine it, it has probably happened.

Besides sparks from mowers and flat tires and BBQs, fires can start from hot vehicle exhaust and tail pipes, chainsaw manifolds, ricocheting bullets, glancing blows of shovels and picks, and even magnifying pieces of abandoned glass! Obviously there have been plenty of discarded cigarettes and improperly extinguished camp fires leading to wildfires. And just as a natural lightning strike can sometimes smolder for days or weeks until conditions are just right for it to flare up, so too can manmade sources of fire appear safe and harmless until we neglect them.

So, like Smokey says, only you can prevent fires IF you are paying attention to all that can go wrong, and reduce the risks AHEAD of time. Especially when the summer heat and dryness makes the land ready to ignite with the smallest spark.

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