Pinetop White Mountain Blog

Good Monday Morning Everyone,

The good news this morning is that some of the evacuees from the Springerville & Eagar area have been allowed to return home.  The Wallow wildfire is still raging but the firefighters are beginning to get an upper hand on some areas of the fire.  There is a lot of work to do and nothing is going to put that beast out except rain.  Sadly, we are still several weeks away from the beginning of the summer rainy season.

This weekend I was out showing property to some of my buyers and they were understandably concerned about homes that had a lot of trees, brush, and dry plants around the homes.  Those homes just screamed Fire Hazard especially in light of the fact that we could see the smoke from the Wallow fire in the background all day long.

There was a time in the White Mountains when it was almost considered a crime to cut down trees in neighborhoods and around homes.  Recent experiences have changed that thought process. The term Firewise was coined back in 2002 after the Rodeo Chedeski fire that burned almost a half million acres of heavy forest. The Wallow Fire has brought that term back to the headlines once again.  This fire in many ways was more dangerous that the one in 2002 because it has been burning in much more heavily populated areas.  Much of the country that is burning now is in the prime resort and camping areas of the State of Arizona. 

Time and short memories tended to erase the term Firewise from people's minds.  However it is back and it is more important than ever.  The Wallow Fire has reminded everyone what too little care and concern can do.  The USFS needs to answer for the mess in the Alpine & Greer area forests but as homeowners we can control how easy our own homes are to protect should another fire sweep through the area. A very real possibility each and every year in the late Spring and early Summer months in the White Mountains.

Firewising means trimming up trees so there are no ladder fuels within 8 to 10feet of the ground.  It means removing the smaller trees that also can serve as ladder fuels for the taller pines.  It means removing any shrubs and dry weed or flowers that are close to a house where a fire can creep up to foundations.  It means keeping needles and leaves cleaned up off the ground so fire can't catch them and race along.  It means removing wood piles or debris piles from close to your home so if fire does come through it won't be able to catch in that debris and spread fire to your home.  In short, it is a common sense approach to keeping your home safe from wildfire. 

If you would like someone to evaluate your home for it's fire preparedness, contact your local Fire Department.  They will be happy to put you in touch with the people who can help you evaluate your home for safety and make recommendations about what you can do to Firewise your home.  You may find that a clear and clean environment will make your home more appealing to potential buyers.  I know for mine it did.  Even though they liked one home better than the one they made an offer on, they chose the latter because it would require less to make it safe from fire.  It has already been cleared and certified once so they could see what they would need to do to keep it that way.

Have a great week, until next time....

Sandra Paulow, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR, REALTOR® (928) 242-0300