Defensible space protects homes

By Bear Eckenroth

The four seasons of Ramona

Let’s start with winter, aka the rainy season. It’s when we pray for more rain than we ever get. It’s when everything turns greem.

The next season is spring, aka the weed wacker season. This is the season when everyone gets out their weed wackers to mow down all the green stuff from the rainy season.

Then comes summer, when it gets Hot! and everything that was green in winter turns to brown. Summer is a good time to take the kids to the beach.

Next is fall, aka fire season! This is when all that brown, dry, flammable vegetation can become, with the Santa Ana winds, a firestorm.

A firestorm is the opposite of a rainstorm, like a proton is the opposite of an anti-proton. One annihilates the other. A firestorm annihilates everything the rainy season makes grow.

Which brings us back to the weed wacker season. It’s time to mow down those weeds to create some defensible space around your home sweet home. The fire department suggests at least 100 feet of defensible space around your home, with no flammable vegetationn like dry weeds or bush.

Defensible space around your home really works. During the Witch Fire (October 2007), our neighborhood was spared because everyone keeps their yards mowed down. The fire was coming straight for us, because we were downwind of the fire. When the fire got to our neighborhood, it went around to the north of us.

Defensible space not only protects your home, but also helps to protect your neighbors’ homes.

Let’s make your Home Sweet Home into a Home Safe Home.

Bear Eckenroth is a Ramona resident.