Page 51

NVLife_NovDec_2013

GOING Green NAPA VALLEY BUSINESS SPOtLIGHT by the Napa County Green Business Program ABOUT THe napa COUNTY gren business PROGRAM The Napa County Green Business Program is a free, voluntary program that allows businesses to demonstrate their care for the environment by going above and beyond business as usual and implementing green business practices into their everyday operations. Certification revolves around a checklist that is broken up into four main areas: solid waste reduction and recycling, water conservation, energy conservation, and pollution prevention. A business has to complete a certain number of measures in each section and have an energy, water and waste audit completed before certification can occur. The program has partners who provide free technical assistance and audits to participating businesses. Once a business is certified, it receives public recognition through the Napa County Board of Supervisors, a listing on the green business website www.greenbusinessca. org , and rights to market themselves as a Bay Area Green Business. Certification is good for three years. The Napa County Green Business Program is part of the Bay Area Green Business Program, which currently has over 2,800 certified businesses in over 20 industries. To learn more about the program, or to look for a green certified business in your area go to www.greenbusinessca.org. For questions specific to the Napa Green Business Program, please contact Danielle Schmitz at dschmitz@ nctpa.net NOV E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 49 fire safe, but it also has several valuable links to other sites such as www. readyforwildfire.org, FEMA’s disaster preparedness website (Federal Emergency Management Agency), and the OES (Office of Emergency Services) emergency site. Locally there is a program called “FireWise” (napafirewise.org) which contains descriptions of defensible space,the 100 foot area surrounding your home which should be clear of most brush (see Zone 3 in illustration below), how to request the free chipping service, and a “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section which answers, well, frequently asked questions about being “fire wise.” Now for some specifics: Build an emergency kit for your house. Keep it easy to move, easy to identify, and easily accessible. In building it, assume you will be away from your home, or away from basic services for three days, maybe more. There should be enough food for each family member, including formula for babies and food for pets. Warm, layered clothing and prescriptions and over-thecounter meds need to be in there as well. A flashlight or two (discount stores often have them for $1) and a radio to stay informed are also critical. Handcrank style combination flashlight/radios (which generate their own electricity) are easy to find and relatively inexpensive. These are just a few items that should be considered. A full list can be found on one of the web sites listed above. Assume that your cell phone won’t be working. Cell towers often get destroyed in wildfires since many are placed on hills in the woods. Also, cell services will be overloaded. Consider having a remote person (e.g., a family member in another state) as a contact person for all family members. As soon as you get access to a land-line phone, make the call. Most critically: STAY CALM. There is a reason this is so often repeated when talking about disaster planning. No sound decisions are ever made in panic. A calm person makes sound, rational decisions. Sound decisions mean an even greater chance of getting out of the event unscathed. And in the end, an unscathed, safe family is the outcome you want. Remember: Things can be replaced. People can’t. Dave Robertson is a retired firefighter/paramedic who lives in Napa. 9 ZONE 3: REDUCED FUEL ZONE (30–100 feet from the structure) This wide area, which expands further on hill slopes, should be modified in an attempt to bring an advancing wildfire to manageable flame lengths Experts recommend a minimum of 10 feet of spacing (on level ground) between individual trees and 2X the height for shrubs measured at their widest part. You will need to increase spacing even more on slopes. Remember to plan for trees and shrubs at their full mature size when planning minimum crown-to-crown separation. It’s possible, depending upon the size of your property, that you will be limited by your property boundary and unable to complete the fire safe measures identified in zones 2 and 3. If this happens, talk with your neighbors and ask their cooperation. A safer home means a safer neighborhood for everyone. ZONE 2: FIREBREAK ZONE (10–30 feet from the structure) Both horizontal and vertical continuity of fuels must be broken up so a fire cannot reach the house. Trees should be pruned to a height of 10’ from the ground, and flammable brush species should be removed. Remaining vegetation crowns should be kept perhaps 20’ apart, off the ground, and free of dead material. Create a Firebreak Zone by keeping in mind the Three R’s of defensible space: This technique involves the elimination of entire plants, particularly trees and shrubs, from the site. Examples of removal are cutting down a dead tree or cutting out a flammable shrub. The removal of plant parts, such as branches or leaves, constitutes reduction. Examples of reduction are pruning dead wood from a shrub, removing low tree branches, and mowing dried grass. Replacement is substituting less flammable plants for more hazardous vegetation. Removal of a dense stand of flammable shrubs and planting an irrigated, well-maintained flower bed is an example of replacement. Removal Reduction Replacement ZONE 1 STRUCTURE IGNITION ZONE ZONE 2 FIREBREAK ZONE ZONE 3 REDUCED FUEL ZONE : 100-FOOT RADIUS Find out more ways to make your home fire safe: www.firewisenapa.org Text and artwork this page by ButteFireSafe.org and FireSafeHelp.com Fire “climbs” neighboring trees— don’t give it a ladder that reaches from the low to the high. Limb live trees up 10 feet as measured from the uphill side. Reduce density by giving brush and shrubs more space— ideally they should be about 10 feet apart from one another on level ground. THE THREE ZONES OF DEFENSIBLE SPACE 10/29/13 5:56 PM Illustration courtesy of ButteFireSafe.org Zones 1 –3 are fully explained at www.napafirewise.org


NVLife_NovDec_2013
To see the actual publication please follow the link above