Fire season is here- time to check defensible space

KENNEWICK, Wash.-- Temperatures are warming, and that means fire season is here.

Dry conditions in the Lower Basic are getting started early, prompting the Department of Natural Resources to issue a burn ban that went into effect Friday, April 10, 2020.

Local fire officials say now is the time to start looking around your property for dry and overgrown vegetation that can be removed to make your home more resilient to wildfires.

"Green is good," said Captain Brian Ellis with the Kennewick Fire Department. "But you really need to look inside the bushes and the vegetation-- is it dead, full of old, dry material? That should be cleaned out as well. But cutting it back and giving yourself a good clear space, at least five feet out is going to help immensely going into the wildland fire season."

There have already been several reports of natural cover fires throughout the Tri-Cities over the past few weeks, and that will only get worse as we get closer to summer.

Residents in neighborhoods along the outskirts of the Tri-Cities, those right up against undeveloped areas with natural vegetation, are especially at risk for threats from wildfires.

"But also inside the city," Ellis said. "We have Zintel Canyon and Blackberry Canyon, and some other areas that have a lot of vegetation, and if your house is up close to that, if fires start in that area, having that defensible space five feet out from your house that doesn't have combustibles around it is going to be the defining factor in saving your house.

For more information on creating defensible space around your home, and other information to protect your family and property from fires, visit ReadyForWildfire.org.