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November 14, 2008
CONTACT: Pam Kan-Rice, (510) 987-0043, pamela.kan-rice@ucop.edu
What to do before, during and after a wildfire
The University of California Cooperative Extension has wildfire advice in English and Spanish on the Web and on the phone.
Wildfirezone.org
Residents can get advice on what to do before, during and after a wildfire at wildfirezone.org. The Web site was developed by UC Cooperative Extension scientists in San Diego.
The section titled "What to do during a fire" answers these questions:
What about evacuating my family members and pets?
How should I prepare my car?
What should I take with me?
How should I leave the inside of my home?
How should I leave the outside of my home?
What about the health of my family?
AsisTel de la UC
AsisTel de la UC, the phone-based information service of UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, offers 25 concise messages in Spanish about dealing with the aftermath of wildfires. The messages are at (800) 514-4494, a toll-free number. You can also read and hear the messages at http://ucanr.org/asistel/fires.
Topics include health concerns such as handling food safely when facing interruptions of power, smoke exposure and how to know if one's symptoms are smoke-related, and the health and emotional well-being of adults and children.
For those facing evacuation or relocating to a shelter, AsisTel de la UC includes information on steps that can make the process easier, as well as messages on protecting home and family from future fires.
Center for Fire Research and Outreach
A variety of resources are available via UC's fire center Web site: http://firecenter.berkeley.edu. Using the link to the Fire Information Engine Toolkit ( http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/toolkit), homeowners can assess pre-fire hazard for their home, and get a customized "report card" with information on how to reduce hazards. The Homeowner Wildfire Assessment is also available in Spanish at http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/.
In addition, Californians can type in a specific address to see if they live in a region at risk for wildfires and obtain information about fires that have occurred in the area since 1950. CALFire's updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps are also available in an interactive, search-by-address web mapping site. Other tools include up-to-the-minute wildfire news, the locations of active fires in California, and after-wildfire resources.
"The toolkit provides immediate feedback that helps identify areas where people would get the biggest payoff in mitigation," said Max Moritz, UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension wildland fire specialist and lead researcher for the fire toolkit project.
SAFE Landscapes
Residents can learn how to make their landscapes sustainable and fire safe. UC Cooperative Extension SAFE Landscapes program gives tips and techniques on planting, maintenance, and building materials to help residents and their homes survive the next fire. SAFE Landscapes is a project of UC Cooperative Extension, the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council, the Los Angeles County Fire Department Forestry Division, and many other organizations.
To download a copy of the SAFE Landscapes 2009 Calendar and Guidebook, go to http://ucanr.org/safelandscapes. For information about future workshops, contact Valerie Borel at (323) 260-3851 or vtborel@ucdavis.edu.
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