SALT LAKE CITY – The Salt Lake City Fire Department is gearing up for wildfire season by warning people about the dangers to their homes and teaching them ways to protect themselves.
Marty Peterson, Salt Lake City Fire Department, said firefighters went door-to-door earlier this week to speak to people about fire safety.
"We're trying to increase citizen interest and concern related to being fire wise," he said.
Peterson said they went to areas where homes could be endangered by future fires.
“When we have our urban interface fires in the summer these homes, being close to that interface area, are all in danger of having a fire spread to them,” he said.
Peterson said one way for people to protect themselves and their homes it to keep fuel from piling up around the home.
"We worry about step fuels,” he said. “So that means weeds on the ground that get to the bushes, and the bushes can spread the fire to the trees, and the trees spread the fire to the house.”
Peterson people should make sure there are distinct gaps between those steps of fire progression, and he said they are eager to help people make that happen.
"We have some levels of training on how to help people landscape, and we can refer them to websites where they have extensive information on how to landscape their homes and make them more fire wise,” he said.
Peterson said they are happy to be promoting fire safety, and he said residents seem to feel the same.
"It's a pleasure for us to do it, and I think the people are happy to see us out working,” he said. “We do this in between the emergency calls we have to go out on."
Firefighters recommend keeping an emergency kit at the ready so it can be grabbed at a moment’s notice in case of fire.
