Does Your Property Add Fuel to the Fire?

An unusually wet winter and spring led to abundant growth of all sorts of plants and weeds. When they dried up and died, they became fuel for several early summer fires that hit way too close to home. What can you do to protect your home and family from brushfires?

From our elevated vantage point in the backyard, we watched with worrisome eyes and heavy hearts as four separate brushfires raged nearby in May and June. In our years of living in the Phoenix area, we’d never seen anything like it and so close to home.

Lightning did not cause any of them. Hot, dry conditions and an accidental man-made spark of some kind ignited the fires that spread quickly. Neighbors helped neighbors, and neighbors urged neighbors to clear their yards of overgrown brush and weeds that fire loves to feed on.

Our neighborhood has never looked so good! If there is any silver lining in these fires, perhaps it is that many more residents have taken precautions against a fire burning through their property and home. By cleaning up their yards and improving the curb appeal, they’ve increased the safety and the value of their neighborhood. Those are both good things.