How to Make Your House Safer against Bushfires

 

Bushfires are very unpredictable and dangerous. They are hard to put out especially in warm and dry areas like San Francisco. The first thing to do when there is a bushfire near your home is to stay away from it because you might accidentally inhale too much smoke or worse, carbon monoxide poisoning. Here are some ways to make your home safer during these events:

1. Get rid of flammable material around your home. Burning debris from a bushfire may be carried by strong winds to the direction of your house and ignite with combustible materials like dry grass, doormats, woodpiles, and flammable chemicals.

2. Spark-proof your home. Place solid screens on windows, doors, ventilators and skylights. Close all openings on eaves and basement areas and seal all gaps on the roof.

3. Mind your windows. Check the crevices because that’s where embers can collect and become ignition points. Also check for cracks because these may become entry points for sparks and harmful smoke. This is especially important because some bush fires may last for days and the kind of smoke these produce is hazardous. Take a look at this fire in San Diego as reported by sfgate.com:

While some of the nine fires were extinguished and thousands of people were able to return to their homes, the San Marcos blaze roared back in the afternoon. Flames raced along scrubby hillsides as massive black plumes filled the skies.

Smoke limited visibility to a few feet at times in the city of 85,000 about 35 miles north of San Diego. On one street, five horses wandered nervously in a paddock as firefighters worked to protect nearby homes and barns.

It is wise to take these precautions especially in summer as the winds become drier and warmer. Having window replacement in San Francisco will ensure you that harmful smoke won’t find come into your house, especially if it’s from Renewal by Andersen.

As premier window contractors, they craft each window to perform flawlessly to give you optimum air ventilation, sealing, and viewpoints. This is achieved through their innovative and patented Fibrex replacement windows in San Francisco, crafted with a tighter fit between the frame and the pane. With Renewal by Andersen, you know you’ll be safe from hazardous bushfire smoke inside your home.

 

(Article Excerpt  from Flare-up keeps San Diego fire situation tenuous, sfgate.com, May 15, 2014)