Wildland Fire Triage Checklist
Written By Brad White of Grand Fire, appeared in Sky-Hi News on May 20, 2015.
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The five Fire Districts and the US Forest Service's crews extinguish approximately fifty wildland fire starts (on average) every year in Grand County. Even with the wet spring we are experiencing this year, three fires have already been extinguished. Our local crews respond quickly and work hard, keeping most wildland fires under one acre. The question is,
What happens on those rare incidents when fires can't be stopped on initial attack?
These incidents may require evacuations, additional crews and additional resources to be ordered. As conditions change and deteriorate, strategies will change and fire managers will start looking ahead at where the fire is going and what properties lie in its path.
In many cases of large wildland-urban interface fires, crews with clipboards will be sent to the neighborhoods to triage houses.
It will be their job to determine if it is safe for crews to work in the community when the fire gets there. They will analyze what houses are likely to survive a flame front or an ember shower and which ones will require additional preparation and work. Will crews be able to stay in the area and hold their ground, or will they need to pull out of the subdivision and return after the fire passes through? Is one house easily defensible while the neighbor's house is an unsafe place to stay?
These decisions can be difficult to make in the heat of the moment and are often made by crews who are not familiar with the area. Crews assigned to Triage often work from a checklist to determine if a house can be saved with no work, a little work, or more work than fire suppression crews will have time to do. They move though the neighborhoods assigning each address a green, yellow, red, or black triage rating.
- GREEN homes need no work and are likely to stand on their own, and are often considered safe areas for crews.
- YELLOW homes are considered defensible, and with ten to fifteen minutes of work can be held, with crews remaining at the house.
- RED homes take the same fifteen minutes of work to prep, but will likely be unsafe for crews, so they will pull back as the flames near, returning after the main fire front passes.
- BLACK homes will not be defensible with the time allotted and can be an extremely dangerous place for crews to remain.
You can triage your own home ahead of time to get an idea of what crews will be looking for.
- Is your house within 30 feet of a 20% slope?
- Is it within 50 feet of a 40% slope?
- Are there above ground power lines within 30 feet of the house?
- Does your house have a combustible roof?
- Does it have untreated wood shake shingles?
- Do you have an elevated deck that is not protected or has open storage underneath?
- Is your driveway long, 200 feet or more?
- Does it dead end at the house?
- Are tree limbs overhanging your roof?
- Is there excessive brush or low lying limbs within 30 feet of the house?
- Is there a vehicle parked within 30 feet of the house?
Some of the above questions can be mitigated through a long weekend of work or by doing more extensive contruction/remodel projects. Others, like topography factors cannot be mitigated.
Now add up all of the YES's. How many do you have?
- If you have two or less, you're doing pretty well and your home will likely get a Green tag and could be protected from fire with minimal work.
- Up to five YES's means it could be prepped and held by crews with the allotted time, getting a Yellow tag.
- A Red tag will have six or seven YES's and your home will not only need a lot of work, but crews will likely be unable to stay in the area during the fire. They will need to return when it is safe to put out any remaining fire spots.
- When you have eight or more YES's, you are likely to receive a Black tag is given, meaning that crews will not likely spend any time at the house, but will return after the fire to extinguish any remaining fires and assess damage to the home.
Other Factors
Heavy winds or extreme fire behavior can bump up your count a few points, and if crews feel your driveway is too steep to safely access your home, they may go straight to a Black tag. Remember, crews often are limited on time and may only have an hour or two to look at 30 homes. A neighborhood with mostly Green and Yellow homes may require only a few engines to defend, while neighborhoods with primarily Red and Black labels will require a lot of manpower to prepare the community for the upcoming firefight, and there may not be enough time or resources to get it done.
Take a few minutes one afternoon and assess your own home and property and see what you can learn.
Look for some simple projects you can do to improve from Red to Yellow, or better yet, to Green. Even more beneficial, get a few neighbors together and make a day of it.
Your home's survivability may very well depend on what actions your neighbors have taken to mitigate their wildfire hazards.
If you have questions, contact your local fire department or the Grand County Wildfire Council. They are more than happy to come out, walk through your property with you, and make recommendations.