Firewise Virginia
FirewiseVirginia Flashes:
What's New
- Virginia was featured in a recent FireWise newsletter.
Protect Your Home
Tips and Suggestions
- 50 Things You Can Do To Protect Your Home
- 25 Firewise Tips
- Homeowner Wildfire Assessment Form (English; PDF format).
Evaluate
- Home Hazard Test - this easy online test will help you identify potential fire hazrads at your home and property.
Safety
- Create a barrier around your home - a Wildfire-Defensible Space
- Safety Precautions for Your Home
Preparing For Wildfires
- Checklist: When a Wildfire Approaches Your Home (English; PDF format).
- Prepare Your Home For Wildfire Season (English; PDF format).
- Evacuation Plan - plan and practice leaving your home during an emergency.
Landscaping
- The Homeowner's Role - If you already live in, or plan to build in, a rural area, you should take fire into account.
- Checklist: Construction - Design and build a firewise home.
- Checklist: Landscaping - To create a firewise landscape, remember that the primary goal is fuel reduction.
- Virginia Firescapes Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes - Lists of "More or Less" Forest Fire-prone Trees, Shrubs, and Ground Covers.
- Community Wildfire Plant List (English; PDF format)
- Community Wildfire Landscaping (English; PDF format)
- Community Wildfire Plants For Landscaping (English; PDF format)
Protect Your Community
- How To Become A FireWise Community
- Firewise Communities For Virginia (English; PDF format).
- Community Wildfire Assessment Form (English; PDF format).
- Wildfires and Insurance - This report reviews trends in wildfire events and the role of insurers in reducing our vulnerability to wildfire hazards. (English; PDF format).
Subdivision Ordinances
Help make your subdivision firewise by using this sample guideline for subdivision ordinances.
Property Owner/Developer Information
- Community Wildfire Protection Plan (English; Word document)
- How to Become a Firewise Community
- Lowe's Fire and the Home Landscape (in English and Espanol)
Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
The number of homes being built in or near forested areas is increasing rapidly in Virginia. When a fire occurs around one of these homes, it often extends into the forest land, threatening other homes and forest resources. Forest fires often threaten and burn homes and structures built in wooded areas if the homeowner has not taken proper fire safety precaution.
- Living In The Wildland Urban Interface
- Home Fire Protection In The Wildland Urban Interface
- Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Understanding Fire Behavior (English; PDF format).
- Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Reducing Wildfire Risk While Achieving Other Landscaping Goals (English; PDF format).
Don't let Isabel's bruises turn into Virginia's fire scars. The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) received a $583,500.00 Grant for a Wildfire Prevention Campaign. The dangers from Isabel may not be over.
Financial Assistance
Grant programs provide Money For Mitigation.
Additional Information
Last modified: Friday, 07-Mar-2008 16:06:33 EST