Be READY Now
Understanding Your Risk
To support the local fire service and communities in this charge, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) recently developed 2 WUI fire awareness tools to raise awareness about where WUI areas exist throughout the United States. The 2 tools are the WUI Fire Property Awareness Explorer and the WUI Fire Community Awareness Explorer.
Community members are encouraged to use the new WUI fire awareness tools to inform locations in their communities to focus mitigation and risk reduction efforts toward building more resilient, fire-adapted communities.
WUI Fire Property Awareness Explorer Application
This application allows users to search addresses or communities to gain a contextual understanding of their area relative to the WUI and vegetative fuels. The application also includes an assessment of a location's structure density and proximity - important factors to consider for creating fire-adapted communities in the WUI and for developing mitigation plans and outreach campaigns.
WUI Fire Community Awareness Explorer
This dashboard provides a quick snapshot of counties or places in the US and potential exposure to wildfire hazards for structures in the WUI. Users interested in building fire-adapted communities and resilience can quickly identify vulnerable structures or areas in the WUI to help inform community risk reduction planning and targeted outreach efforts.
What are the primary threats to homes during a wildfire?
Research around home destruction vs. home survival in wildfires point to embers and small flames as the main way that the majority of homes ignite in wildfires. Embers are burning pieces of airborne wood and/or vegetation that can be carried more than a mile through the wind can cause spot fires and ignite homes, debris and other objects.
There are methods for homeowners to prepare their homes to withstand ember attacks and minimize the likelihood of flames or surface fire touching the home or any attachments. Experiments, models and post-fire studies have shown homes ignite due to the condition of the home and everything around it, up to 200’ from the foundation. This is called the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ).
Learn more about how wildfires spread and ignite home in our online course Understanding the Wildfire Threat to Homes. An overview of fire history, fire basics, and how homes burn.
Stay Informed
Emergencies do not always arise with enough notice to have the proper time to prepare. The time to prepare is now. In the case of a wildfire, you can move through the stages of READY, SET, and GO in the matter of minutes.
Be aware of the hazards that can threaten your community. Keep up to date on local news, weather watches, weather warnings and public health recommendations.
Whether you are a full-time resident, part-time resident or visiting, it is important to stay informed on all potential threats for this area. Navajo County's Emergency Notification System attempts to contact residents and businesses via recorded phone messages, text messages, or email messages when there is an emergency or disaster in their area. Please make sure that you are registered.
Don't Wait - Prepare Now
The list of things to do can often become overwhelming. We have created two categories of preparedness to help narrow the focus for each task.
PREPARE YOUR HOME walks you through wildfire risk reduction steps that can make your come safe during a wildfire.
PREPARE YOURSELF offers some simpletons to help make leaving your home quicker, easier, and safer in the event of a wildfire.