April 29, 2002

Utah firefighters are already busy this summer in the southern half of the state.

Each year, more homes are threatened by wildfire as communities build deeper into the wildlands.

As News Specialist Jed Boal reports, fire managers are pushing prevention as the best form of fire protection.

During an average year, more than 100-thousand wildfires destroy about 300 homes across the country. This California fire torched 37 homes.

The Los Alamos fire two years ago destroyed more than 200 homes. Could fires like that happen in Utah?

You bet, and they do, especially in a drought year.

As homes dig deeper into the wildlands, the risk grows greater.

Larry LeForte is the Fire Management Officer for Southwestern Utah.

He's at a three-day Firewise Communities workshop at Snowbird to teach firefighters and community leaders how they can better protect homes.

Larry LeForte/Southwestern Utah Fire Management Officer: I THINK WE'RE GOING TO SEE A TREMENDOUS AMOUT OF URBAN INTERFACE FIRES. THE MORE PROACTIVE THE TOWN AND THE PEOPLE BECOME THER BETTER CHANCES OF SAVING THEIR HOUSES THERE IS.

Jed Boal/Eyewitness News: FIREWISE DOES NOT DICTATE POLICY, NOR DOES YOUR LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT. FIREWISE IS A GRASS ROOTS EFFORT TO HELP PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN AREAS LIKE THIS ON UNDERSTAND THAT THEY PLAY A PART IN FIRE PROTECTION.

IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO THREATEN FIVE, TEN, HUNDREDS OF HOMES.

Firewise program manager Jim Smalley says Firewise helps communities in wildfire zones identify problems and solve them.

But, the responsibility is up to each homeowner.

Jim Smalley/Firewise Program Manager: IF THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF IT THERE, THEN THAT LESSENS THE THREAT THAT'S GOING TO GO ON IN THE REST OF THE SUBDIVISION, THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY.

Try to clear a 30-foot defensible perimeter around the home.

Keep dead and flammable vegetation and wood piles away from the house.

You don't need to chop everything down...but, when landscaping, don't create a ladder of fuels to your home.

Firewise managers say many people are getting the message.

For more information, go to www.firewise.org.