Fire Safety

March 2025 Update from Fire Department:

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Following Helene everyone thinks about how it changed the landscape among other things. It also changed fire behavior and how we will fight fires for years to come. What we call dead fall, windfall, blow down, etc. is both live and dead vegetation that fell during the storm adding a massive amount of readily available fuels. For our part it makes it a lot harder to construct fire lines especially by hand. Fires will likely burn hotter and faster. We have and always will do anything we can to protect life and preserve property. There are some things residents can do to help us and also help protect your home. We have an old saying in the fire service, "Risk a Lot to Save a Lot (being a life), Risk Nothing to Save Nothing". Firefighters will literally without hesitation risk their lives to save another person. What we will not do is risk someone's life trying to save something that is impossible to do. We need all residents to help us to help them by creating a defensible space around homes. There is a link below that has a wealth of information. Also attached is an individual home owners Risk Assessment. An HOA/POA or just homeowner does not have to have a Fire Wise certificate to implement basic safety practices. Below are a few facts related to Wildland Urban Interface WUI in NC. We are not California but mainly only due to the higher winds. Typically we refer to the fire season as Spring and Fall but even that has changed some. Everything turning green helps with fire control some but all those fuels are still on the ground. If your Fire Department can help in any way please let us know. If you plan to have an HOA/POA meeting and would like someone there we would be glad to. Please Do Not Wait until something happens to be Prepared.

https://www.ncagr.gov/divisions/nc-forest-service/resist-wildfire-north-carolina

 

• North Carolina is #1 in the Nation of area (acres) in the WUI (Wildland Urban Interface), (13,402,007 acres of 33,708,881 acres), 39.8 percent.

• North Carolina is #4 in the nation for number of homes in the WUI (2,247,317 homes out of 4,327,528 homes), 51.9 percent.

• North Carolina is #4 in the nation for the number of people in the WUI (4,835,825 of 9,535,483 people), or 50.7 percent.

• North Carolina is #6 in the nation for number of Seasonal Homes in the WUI (144,879 of 191,508 seasonal homes are in the WUI), 75.7 percent.