UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service

458 Highway 98 North

Phone: (863) 763-6469

April 7, 2004

Feature Article - for release the week of April 11, 2004

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

Is your Florida Yard Fire proof?

Cool spring temperatures are slipping away, and warm dry weather have returned. This is fire season here in Florida, and our first bout of wildfires has already begun in nearby areas.

Hopefully we can avoid spring time fire disasters. Besides a prayer for rain, homeowners in more rural areas should take a look at their landscapes and prepare them to face wildfires. Taking a look at how risky your yards is, creating a defensible space, and fireproofing your yard are steps to take now - before its too late.

According to UF Forestry Specialists Martha Monroe and Alan Long, the first step is to examine your yard for wildfire problems. Here are two factors that contribute to wildfire risk: the land use in your area, and the kind of vegetation around your home.

Low risk landscapes are open with grass and trimmed branches. They provide a "defensible space" to separate home and landscape vegetation from surrounding forests and leaves room for fire fighting equipment to maneuver. The idea is to create a fire-break around your home.

High risk landscapes connect the ground to the canopy with vines and other vegetation. Fire can jump from brush piles to shrubs to trees, and then bound onto you home. Some plants have thick foliage while others contain flammable substances that can seem to explode.

Here are some steps to take to create your defensible space:

Trim lower branches up to 10 feet on tall trees, remove vines from trees, and keep shrubbery away from pine trees so that a fire on the ground cannot climb up these fuel ladders to the treetops.

Landscape your yard to make it difficult for fire to spread to your house. Use shrub islands or patches of perennials rather than continuous beds of plantings. Thin trees so branches do not touch each other.

Keep combustible items like wood piles, compost piles, gas grills, gas cans, and propane tanks at least 30 feet away from your house. Clear away dead vegetation, pine needles, and branches.

Use mowed grass, gravel walkways, and mulched plantings near your home. Although mulch helps retain soil moisture, it must be kept moist or it can become a fuel source. Do not use thick combustible mulch beside your home's foundation.

Keep large, leafy, hardwood trees in your yard, particularly on the east and west sides of your house. Their shade is important to cool your house, and the flat leaves trap moisture on the ground. Large pine trees also provide good shade. Trim lower branches and rake up pine needles.

Remove flammable plants like saw palmetto, wax myrtle, yaupon holly, red cedar, and gallberry within 30 feet of your home. These shrubs are appropriate farther from your home and in natural areas managed with prescribed fire. They contain resins, oils, and waxes that burn readily. Many other plants are not as flammable, such as viburnum, sycamore, magnolia, beauty berry, oaks, red maple, sweetgum, coontie, winged elm, black cherry, persimmon,, sugarberry, Florida soapberry, ferns, and wild olive.

How fire-proof is your home? Siding, soffit vents, and roofing should be made with heat-resistant materials. Clear the roof of pine needles, and trim branches so they don't hang over the roof. If you have a fireplace, make sure your chimney has a spark arrester.

If there is no hydrant system in your neighborhood, provide an emergency water supply for fire fighters, such as a swimming pool, pond, or water tank. Keep 100' of hose to stop small fires from spreading.

Today's column is adapted from a UF bulletin entitled Landscaping in Florida with Fire in Mind. To get a copy, stop by or office or get it on-line http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FR076

Master Gardeners can answer your questions about your Florida Yard - call or visit them on Tuesday afternoons here at our office. If you need additional information on preparing your landscapes for wildfires, visit our webpage at http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu , or stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North. Our phone number is (863) 763-6469, and you can email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu .

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Trade names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS /University of Florida. Larry A. Arrington, Acting Dean. Hit Counter

See the FDACS Division of Forestry's Florida Division of Forestry's Wildland Fire Risk Assessment System (FRAS) and the Commissioner of Agriculture's June 9th press release about this new fire-fighting tool.