V. Recommendations to Address Existing Wildfire Risk Factors

Reduce the Fuels Hazard

Homeowners may see themselves as being caught in a difficult decision with regard to fuels reduction. Common sense dictates that a majority of the biomass be removed to lessen the wildfire hazard and improve fire safe conditions on private property. However, people enjoy living in the Highlands area for the privacy and visual beauty the trees provide. The following recommendations are to assist private property owners in balancing acceptable fuels removal with consideration of aesthetic values. The P-J woodland does not lend itself well to an “overstory and understory” fuels management approach.

It will take a significant and on-going effort to modify the fuel structure and maintain that modified environment to accomplish hazard reduction.

It is important to remember that dense vegetation under natural conditions is ripe for fire, which is nature’s mechanism for thinning vegetation and maintaining healthy conditions. Manual thinning of vegetation merely emulates nature in a sense, and by doing so reestablishes diverse ecosystems and more fire safe conditions near human-occupied areas.

In the Virginia Highlands Community, EFFECTIVE FUEL BREAKS require extensive clearing for protection from worst-case scenario fires. Once constructed, fuel breaks will require regular maintenance to provide ongoing clearing and thinning of brush and vegetative debris.

The objective of constructing a fuel break is to reduce fuel loads in strategic areas in order to:

Slow down the advance of a raging wildfire and increase the effectiveness of firefighting opportunities;
Provide safe evacuation routes for residents and safe access for firefighters; and
Help confine fires to limited areas.

Existing road easements provide only limited area for fuels treatment. Thus, it is strongly recommended that the Fire Safe Highlands Coalition and the affected landowners whose properties abound the fuel break corridors work cooperatively to plan for adequate treatment. Due to the extreme fuel conditions throughout much of the Highlands Community, intensive treatment should occur within 75 feet of either side of the road centerline. If allowable, additional but less intensive treatment should occur for an additional 25 feet on both sides resulting in a 200-foot wide fuel break corridor.

Carefully planned prescribed fuels reduction will create fire-fighting opportunities to lessen the spread of wildfire into densely occupied areas. Specific recommendations for fuel break locations in each “zone” within the Highlands Community are proposed in subsequent sections of this report.

Defensible space within 100 feet of structures is the homeowner’s primary responsibility and individual opportunity to reduce risks to life and property. Drastic vegetation treatment, sometimes including tree removal and replacement within 30-40 feet of the home is recommended in extreme fire hazard areas. Less severe vegetation treatment (pruning / thinning) can be used within 40-70 feet of the structure.

Defensible space refers to an area around houses and other buildings where vegetation has been modified or removed to reduce the threat of wildfire. Both native and ornamental plants can normally be thinned or trimmed in a tasteful manner without damaging the health and vigor of the plants. This treatment greatly reduces the risk of wildfire to structures. When shrubs are pruned and thinned, fuels in proximity to the home or outbuilding are significantly reduced, without sacrificing the spatial and aesthetic influence of the plant. Pruning and thinning vegetation within 100 feet of a structure significantly improves the odds that firefighters will be successful in saving a home. Lower branches on trees within 30 to 100 feet of homes and other important structures should be removed. This pruning will provide firefighters with optimum conditions for felling and removing trees in an emergency situation with the oncoming threat of wildfire.

Note: The optimal time for pruning trees is during the winter to avoid problems with insect infestations. However, in critical situations where fuel reduction is needed immediately, such as in the Virginia Highlands, pruning scars should be sealed and trees should be sprayed with approved products to minimize the potential for attacks by insects.
Remove all tree limbs within 15 feet of chimneys, decks, and open overhangs at a minimum.
Remove all dead and diseased branches.
Harvested vegetation and trimmings must be immediately removed from the premises to assure that fuel reduction treatments are effective.
Remove obvious accumulations of trash, pine needles or other debris from defensible space areas.
All ground disturbances within the Highlands Community should be revegetated with fire retardant vegetation.

When applying thinning and pruning treatments to your property, it is essential that all trees, shrubs, pine needle litter from beneath pruned trees, and other plant biomass be removed from the site immediately to a safe storage area. This material dries rapidly and can contribute to the high hazard problem if allowed to remain on the premises. SCFD Station #2 has provided a designated area for disposal of all harvested biomass material. Burning the trimmings and tree biomass material at the home site should be avoided in all cases unless specific permission has been given by the local fire station, and fire suppression equipment is on site to assure safe conditions and confinement of the burn.

Areas that are disturbed, such as roadsides and building sites, should be seeded as early as possiblewith appropriate plant species to both stabilize soils from erosion and avoid serious issues with invasive species such as cheatgrass.

Recommendations for revegetation of disturbed areas are provided in Appendix B to address specific soils and ecological sites in each zone. The Virginia Highlands is located in an area of relatively low annual precipitation, and most precipitation occurs during the winter months. Therefore, the selection of suitable plant material for seeding is somewhat limited. The species recommendations given in Appendix B have been proven to be climatically adapted and successful in meeting fire objectives when planting recommendations are followed correctly.

Defensible space is geared toward protection of structures. The focus of this report is to emphasize the importance of implementing treatments that can make the conditions safer in the Virginia Highlands. Persons who do not or cannot initiate fuels reduction on their private property should contact the local fire department for advice on possible on-site sheltering.

Maintain and Improve Emergency Escape and Access Routes

Most of the roadways in the area have light to moderate ground fuels and large trees next to or overhanging the roads and driveways. Under extreme conditions such as those described under the “Worst-Case Scenario” with flame lengths of 100 feet or more, roads will become impassable regardless of being otherwise suitable on the basis of width and gradient. SCFD has completed an analysis to prioritize roads within the Highlands Community in need of fuels reduction as shown in Figure 4.

Careful and selective pruning, or in some cases tree removal, is required along roadways and driveways to minimize the threat of a fast moving fire that can block escape routes and preclude access by emergency equipment and resources during an emergency.

When ablaze, trees growing close to roadways can easily prevent escape in the event of wildfire. Annual road maintenance plans should be revised to include removal and thinning of overhanging vegetation within the “emergency access right-of-way.” Slope, plant community type, and tree density should dictate the specific needs for any given private roadway or driveway. Thinning vegetation along roadways and driveways can be achieved on a site-specific basis without destroying or seriously impactingthe visual effect of natural vegetative cover. For safety, trees within 20 feet of private access roads should be removed. Remaining trees should be limbed to a height of 4 feet. Shrubs within 20 feet should be heavily thinned to 10-foot spacing with most shrubs pruned to a height of two to three feet to minimize flame length.

Firefighter response to specific incidents within the Highlands is facilitated by good address signage. SCFD has done a good job in providing reflective address signs for private residences. However, not all homeowners are using them. Fire personnel may request additional resources to protect a structure. Easily visible address signs will assist additional equipment in reaching the structure quickly.

Private driveways need to have adequate address signage, not only for fire personnel to locate an incident on initial response but to aid in locating defendable structures when major fire operations begin.
Fire-resistant street signs need to be installed and maintained at uniform heights and with four inch reflective lettering to be readily legible by emergency responders.

These treatments are recommended to make the access and escape safer in the Virginia Highlands. It is however probable that under extreme high wind conditions during a wildfire incident, in some situations intense fire and dense smoke will make it impossible to exit the area in time to avoid a fast moving wildfire. There is no guaranteed place of safety under these conditions, but AS A LAST RESORT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE in the event the your escape access is blocked, be prepared to take shelter according to the advice of your local fire department.

Require Fire-Retardant Building Materials

All new construction, remodeling, and maintenance should require use of fire-retardant materials. The safest type of construction for this area would be composition asphalt or cement tile roofs and stucco walls.

Install spark arrestors on chimneys.
Maintain close coordination with the Building Department to ensure that all new construction complies with fire service needs such as turn-around space, water and defensible space.

Clear Hazardous Fuels from Utility Corridors

Utility corridors present additional hazards for both fire and human safety. Vegetation beneath utility lines should be cleared or significantly thinned and pruned to reduce fire hazards and allow effective fire suppression to prevent fire escape into heavily fueled areas. Recommendations for vegetation treatment in utility corridors are similar to that prescribed for access roads.