Do you feel threatened by wildfires where you live? Already this year, wildfires have erupted — and at a faster pace than ever before so early in the fire season — and homes have been destroyed. Do you fear your home is in danger?
Even places like western Washington, where the land is green year round and the forest floor blanketed with ferns, fires are starting … and growing. The big fires in southern Oregon last fall were a big surprise to many Northwest residents who assumed they were safe in the green belt, where rain was common, even in the summer.
So, to our question — Do you worry about wildfires where you live? Only respond if you live in a house or RV that can’t simply be hooked up and easily moved.
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We have for the last 3 years so we have a plan if fires get too close for a fast escape. CC Magna so only 1 slide out and it’s not super deep so that happens fast. Actually we can get the RV ready faster than the airlines get up to pressure (diesel pusher).
We live in the middle of B.C. and a small town a few hours away reached the highest temp in Canada 2 days ago and burned down today -high winds and ? fire starter.
Oh, that’s so terrible, John. We’re very sorry to hear about Lytton. We are also very sad to learn of all of the heat-related deaths in the past week in B.C. We send our sincere condolences to all of our friends in Canada. Take care. –Diane
No worries about wild fires in Central Pennsylvania.
Since we’re fulltimers, we stay away from fires. Right now, in Massachusetts, the risk is low.
It’s lush and green in northern Indiana.
The only wildfires here in Wisconsin tend to be marsh fires in the early spring before things green up. Still there is a grassy area on the south of our property so we mind the burn bans when they’re in effect.
Hurricanes and tornadoes, not wildfire in Lower Alabama.
where i live, not so much. but just an hour out of town there are plenty of fields and forests and it is not unheard of to have wildfires in them.
Anytime you’re in a forested area and it hasn’t rained for a week or so, there’s a fire danger.
I live in a city, so no. But even if I were out in the woods, the answer would be “no,” because I would years ago have done extensive work to create a “defensible space” and a relatively fire-resistant structure. It is not difficult to render your home relatively fire-safe, and the fact that we risk firefighter lives and spend piles of taxpayer money to save homes whose owners have done no preparation is a travesty.
Scott, your point about preparation is well-taken, however, there are times when no amount of preparation will save one’s home from a wildfire. Sometimes you will lose your home no matter how much “raking” you do.
Yes and no regarding feeling threatened by wildfires. We live in a community that is surrounded by many 1000’s of acres of farmland. Last year the fires in Oregon were within 7 mile’s of our commuty, we did not have to evacuate as many other communities near us did. However, it is not inconceivable that fires could reach us especially now that we are experiencing unprecedented high temps. We hit 107 yesterday and are forecast for 115 today, 108 Monday and high 90’s for the next 10 days. This is highly unusual for a area that historically rarely exceeds 80 degrees in the summer.
My County in NE Minnesota experiences wildfires every few years. My advice is to pay attention, follow directions, heed warnings, and help others do the same. Have a plan. Support Emergency Services, they are a godsend.
Our home is removed from most threats but there are and have been many wildfires around us. Our biggest problem is the smoke.
I don’t feel so much of a threat from an actual fire burning our home but do feel a real threat from the smoke created by wildfires. In the past couple of years the smoke from wildfires has been bad even though the fires are no where close ( hundreds of miles away). We barely can see across our lake and the smell of smoke is in the air.
Same here. The smoke has been terrible from the fires in Arizona
I live in SE Louisiana on the edge of the Honey Island Swamp (part of the Pearl River Delta) and with all the rain we’ve been having, I am more afraid that the rainwater ponding in my back yard will top my rubber boots. I’m glad these old live oaks can tolerate being submerged for long periods!
There’s a fire burning now, about 7 miles from the RV park we’re staying. We’ve been watching helicopters transporting water buckets from a near-by river to the fire for the last 3 days!
Have never heard of a wildfire in our neck of the woods (i.e., SE Tennessee). Our normal natural disaster is courtesy of tornadoes. Our worst wintry nightmare is freezing rain.
42 year of living in a CA mountain resort with annual threats of fires, we sold last year and moved back in to the United States where life is good.
Living in Colorado in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, it’s always on your mind. So we’re moving to Northern Arkansas, in the Ozarks where it’s green and lush. And the fishing is better! 😉
My family used to live between Rogers and Branson. You may like the fishing, but wait until you have to endure the ‘every-few-years’ ice storms. My parents were stuck on the hill they lived on for a week with no power and no internet/phone.
Possible, but HIGHLY unlikely in SW Washington. We still have to be careful and keep trees trimmed and brush cut back from home.
Live in Silicon Valley surrounded by hills. Distant enough should be ok. Worry about winds blowing embers. Seems hard to believe they could make it where we live. But nature is unpredictable. Do worry about our son, his wife & our 3 granddaughters. They live in a small town 30 miles south of us about 1200 ft up close to hills. Had a fire two years ago, but fire dept was close by & told my son they were ok. The fire he saw was a fire break. Last year they had to evacuate as they were part of the group of fires that ringed the Bay Area. After 3 days they were able to return home. All was ok. My niece lives in the Santa Cruz mountains. They too evacuated, for a week living out of motels/hotels. Home made it, but golf course where her husband works part time & they are members, had severe damage & still closed. Lots of property loss in area. Praying no lightning strikes this year & people not starting fires, accidentally or on purpose.
I don’t feel threatened by fire but I see another summer like last summer where smoke was a problem from forest fires all around. Living in the Tri-Cities, WA they say the worst of our smoke was from BC – whose fire season is already in full swing. But, I am thankful I only have to worry about smoke and not fire.
We live in Payson, AZ surrounded by forest. Last year a wildfire, caused by a car fire, came within 12 miles of town. Today the Backbone fire caused by lightning on June 16 is still burning. Two small towns north of us were evacuated. The fire crews are doing an awesome job keeping the fire away from the towns. Residents of Pine, AZ have gone back home but the town of Strawberry remains evacuated. Wildfire is a very real threat here in Payson.
Where I live, north of Seattle, I doubt our home would be affected. That said, we are facing 112F in the forecast for tomorrow, and days over 90F have more than doubled in the last 20 years. We are in a drought (in the Rain City…..) while more and more people keep moving up here, escaping other areas of the country that have suffered natural disasters. So, while I am more concerned about windstorms or an earthquake, a wildfire that spreads embers into my neighborhood is a possibility.
Hi, Jeff. Yep, I’m north of Seattle, also. Remember when the smoke in this area was so thick for more than a week last year that it was difficult to breathe? It was so bad that I even had to cut out my daily walk at the track. (I went this morning before it gets too hot today.) And it’s interesting to me that the smoke last year was from Siberia! And we’ve been “smoked out” by B.C. and California fires, as well. But, at least in Western Washington, we don’t get as many wildfires as other places (knock on wood). I think this is going to be a bad year for wildfires, unfortunately. Take care. 🙂 –Diane
We did evacuate for a couple of days due to extreme caution on our part. More for smoke issues than actual fire. However we live in a mobile home park with about 1000 homes and only 1 way in and out. We left about noon, by 4 pm it was taking 45 min to 1 hr to get out of park with police directing traffic.
Full-timer so I avoid those areas this time of year
Rarely a wildfire here in Iowa. Cornfields burn now and then, but they not a threat.
Worry about wildfires and smoke from them. We evacuated in October 2019 from fire and last year due to smoke. We live about half mile from where fire services stopped a fire in 2019. Blowing embers at 60 miles a hour can spread fires a long way.
Never but where I live, we clean up the trash and brush so there is no fuel for a fire, or we control burn to eliminate the potential for a fire. Those who don’t, “Here’s your sign!”
Most of the summers we’ve been here in NW Montana we’ve had fires close enough to do or own pre-pre-evacuation preparation. We have to drive through a corridor of trees on our highway, so we won’t wait for someone to come tell us to get out.