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Pima Co. Wildfire proposal encourages home protection

Suggestions to encourage protective clearing near homes
Pima Co. Wildfire proposal encourages home protection
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TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — What you can do to reduce wildfire danger and protect your property is part of a wildfire protection plan Pima County is developing.

Wildland firefighters worry when you have vegetation so close to your house that it could carry a fire right up to the structure. What they recommend is that you have a buffer of what they call defensible space that is not likely to burn. Now Pima Count’s proposed fire protection plan is suggesting an idea that could help encourage that.

The recent fires in Los Angeles were a harsh lesson in the danger of what firefighters call a wildland urban interface where natural areas ready to burn touch homes and businesses.

“I remember the big fire, the Bighorn fire a few years ago. I was afraid that was going to come straight down and wipe out the whole area.”

Jeffry Dellinger saw the danger in the Bighorn Fire five years ago.

But that fire stayed in the wildlands and did not destroy any homes.

Pima County Supervisors like Steve Christy want to keep it that way. With a lot of urging from Christy, Pima County has been developing a wildfire protection plan.

The plan includes proposals to encourage homeowners to protect their property with defensible space.

It suggests if people do clear buffers there should be no charge to take the debris to the dump.

The plan suggests if age, physical or financial problems prevent someone from being able to clear defensible space, volunteers or contractors could do the work.

And the plan suggests asking state lawmakers to change insurance law to help people near wild lands who are denied fire insurance or charged fire insurance premiums so high they can’t pay them.

Jeffry Dellinger runs a storage business on the east side of Pima County. He says he maintains defensible space around his business and likes the idea of encouraging others to take the same precautions.

“I think they're an excellent idea, helping people, basically, to take the pressure off of them and in making a defensible position happen for them much more easier, as would be an excellent idea.”

And creating your own safety buffer can help protect neighbors too because every patch of defensible space can slow down a fire.