Practice Wildfire Safety

• Report hazardous conditions that could cause a wildfire.
  
• Teach children about fire safety. Keep matches off limits.
  
• Post fire emergency telephone numbers.
  
• Plan escape routes away from your home by car and on foot.

Protect Your Home

• Regularly clean your roof and gutters.
  
• Inspect chimneys at least twice a year.
  
• Use 1⁄2-inch mesh screen beneath porches, decks, floor areas and the home itself.
  
• Install a smoke detector on each level of your home, test monthly and change the batteries at least once a year.
  
• Keep a ladder that will reach the roof.
  
• Consider installing shutters or heavy fire-resistant drapes.
  
• Keep handy household items that can be used as fire tools: a rake, ax, handsaw, bucket and shovel.

Before Wildfires Threatens

• Design and landscape your home with materials and plants that can help contain fire rather than fuel it.
  
• Use fire-resistant or noncombustible materials for roofs, siding, decking and trim with UL-approved fire-retardant chemicals.
  
• Create a 30 to 100-foot safety zone around your home clear of all flammable materials, including branches over structures and near power lines, vines on walls, leaves and twigs under structures, and stacked firewood.
  
• Thin a 15-foot space between tree crowns and remove limbs within 5 feet of the ground.
  
• Place stove, fireplace and grill ashes in a metal bucket, soak in water for two days, then bury in mineral soil.
  
• Store gasoline, oily rags and other flammable materials only in approved safety cans.
  
• Identify and maintain an adequate outside water source such as a small pond, well, swimming pool or hydrant.
  
• Have a garden hose long enough to reach any area of the home and all structures on the property.
  
• Consider obtaining a portable gasoline-powered pump in case electrical power is cut off.

When Wildfires Threaten

• Listen to your battery-operated radio for reports and evacuation information.
  
• Confine your pets to one room. Make plans to care for your pets in case you must evacuate.
  
• Arrange temporary housing at a friend or relative’s home outside the threatened area.

If Advised to Evacuate, Do So Immediately

• Wear protective clothing: sturdy shoes, cotton or woolen clothing, long pants, long-sleeved shirt, gloves and a handkerchief to protect your face.
  
• Take your Emergency Supplies Kit.
  
• Lock your home.
  
• Tell someone when you leave and where you are going.
  
• Choose a route away from fire hazards.

If a Heat Wave is Predicted or is Happening

• Slow down. If you must perform strenuous activity, do it during the coolest part of the day.
  
• Stay indoors as much as possible. If air conditioning is not available, stay on the lowest floor and out of the sunshine, or try to go to a public building with air conditioning.
  
• Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing.
  
• Drink plenty of water regularly and often, even if you don’t feel thirsty, and avoid beverages that cause dehydration such as coffee and alcohol.
  
• Eat small meals and eat more often.

Signals of Heat Emergencies

• Heat exhaustion: Cool, moist, pale or flushed skin; heavy sweating, headache, nausea or vomiting; dizziness and exhaustion. Body temperature will be near normal.
  
• Heat stroke: Hot, red skin; changes in consciousness; rapid, weak pulse and rapid, shallow breathing. Body temperature can be very high—as much as 105º F.

Important Terms to Know

• Heat wave: Prolonged period of excessive heat and humidity.
  
• Heat index: A Fahrenheit temperature that tells how hot it really feels. For instance, at 95ºF with a relative humidity of 80 percent, the actual temperature would feel like 136ºF.
  
• Heat cramps: Muscular pains and spasms due to heavy exertion.
  
• Heat exhaustion: Physical exhaustion resulting from exercise or work under extraordinary heat conditions and heavy loss of body fluids by perspiration.
  
• Heat stroke: Life-threatening condition in which the body’s temperature control system, which produces sweating to cool the body, stops working.
  
• Sunstroke: Another term for heat stroke.

Emergency Supplies

• Supply of water (one gallon per person, per day)
  
• Canned food and nonelectric can opener
  
• One change of clothing and footwear per person
  
• Blankets or sleeping bags
  
• First aid kit and prescription medications
  
• Battery-powered radio, flashlight and extra batteries
  
• An extra set of car keys, credit card and cash
  
• Sanitation supplies
  
• Special items for infant, elderly or disabled family members
  
• Cellular phone
  
• Important family documents in a waterproof container

Create a Disaster Plan

• Pick two meeting places: 1. A place a safe distance from your home in case of a home fire. 2. A place outside your neighborhood in case you can’t return home.
  
• Choose an out-of-state friend as a “check-in contact” for everyone to call. Commit that person’s number to memory.

Practice Wildfire Safety

• Post emergency telephone numbers by every phone.
  
• Show family members how and when to shut off utilities.
  
• Learn first aid and CPR. Contact your local American Red Cross chapter for information.

Treatment of Heat Emergencies

• Heat cramps: Get the victim to a cooler place and have him/her rest in a comfortable position. Lightly stretch the affected muscle and replenish fluids.
  
• Heat exhaustion: Get the victim out of the heat and into a cooler place. Remove or loosen tight clothing and apply cool, wet cloths. Let the victim rest in a comfortable position, and watch carefully for changes in his/her condition.
  
• Heat stroke: A life-threatening medical emergency. In the absence of immediate treatment, it could result in brain damage or death. In the event of heat stroke, call 911 or your local emergency number. Move the victim to a cooler place and quickly cool the body. Immerse victim in a cool bath, or wrap wet sheets around the body and fan it. Watch for signals of breathing problems.

The information provided herein is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties whatsoever, either express or implied.