EDEN, Weber County — Over the past few weeks, wildland firefighters with the Weber Fire District have been helping homeowners clear potentially dangerous fuels from the areas around their homes and streets. Frank Wood, who lives in a Nordic Valley subdivision, said he's grateful for the regular help.
"We particularly appreciate this," Wood said. "We haul logs up to the road piles. And especially anything dead, we try to take the limbs down up to a certain height, so fire can't travel along the forest floors as easily."
Wildland fire crews roll through neighborhoods with a woodchipper, turning the fuels into mulch. The process is in part meant to encourage homeowners build a defensible space around their homes in case of fire, of around 30 feet.
"It helps us with structure triage in that we know houses that can be saved quick, others that we know that might not," Weber Fire District Wildland Fire Division Capt. Jimmy Martinez explained. "It helps out a ton because it lets us know as we're driving around doing the mitigation, we know the areas that have been worked on."
Weber County Fire Warden and Capt. Rick Cooper adds that these types of efforts are especially important as moisture levels are low, thanks in large part to a small snowpack this year.
"We are anticipating a very busy and very dangerous fire season this year based on the environmental conditions and the drought," Cooper said.
In addition to the wood chipping program that many agencies take part in statewide, firefighters can help homeowners assess their home's risk, and advise them on building a defensible space.
