Firefighters: Clean lawns saved homes from brush fire
Firefighters: Clean lawns saved homes from brush fire
26 February 2010
published by www.nbc-2.com
USA — Crews will continue to monitor hot spots throughout weekend after a 300-acre brush fire. While the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, firefighters are actually thanking homeowners for not letting the fire get out of hand.
Firefighters we spoke to pointed to one home as an example and said the reason it is still standing is because there was nothing to burn in the front yard.
Homeowner Daniel Garcia was able to breathe a sigh of relief Friday. Though there were charred palms and blackened grass near his property, his home was not damaged.
“Even then if you look at the damage, it was very minor,” said Victor Hill of the Division of Forestry.
He says that is because homeowners there have taken care of their properties and that there was barely anything to help fuel a fire.
“We cut a lot of trees down around the house trees that are too close to the house. So that helped,” said Garcia.
“That made a critical difference in the success of getting that wildfire out and making sure homes were protected,” Hill added.
Firefighters are thanking the community. They say it can serve as a message to others who live in heavily wooded areas that a little lawn care may save your home before firefighters have to.
“This could have been significantly worse and we could have had a lot more damage to the property,” said Hill.
Crews are still mopping up and patrolling the streets watching for hot spots and keeping a close eye on smoldering areas.
