Posts Tagged: emergency preparedness
Farm Preparation for Wildfire and Other Emergencies
According to many state fire officials, we no longer have simply a ‘Fire Season' but a ‘Fire Year'. In winter drought conditions, some parts of our region do not receive enough rain to mitigate fire danger. It is more important than ever to constantly assess your farm for fire safety and be prepared for any emergency.
The following information will assist you in thinking through four important areas of disaster preparedness for your farm: Paperwork & Plans, Farm Map & Layout, Tools & Machinery, and Operations & Training.
Paperwork & Plans:
- Conduct a fire risk assessment and record your findings. Assess brush clearance, road access, evacuation routes, defensible space, topography (fire climbs hills quickly), and water sources. If needed, make a plan to address any critical issues.
- Evaluate current insurance coverage to ensure adequate coverage for farm assets. Consider livestock, crops, buildings, and equipment.
- Keep up-to-date production, marketing, and financial records. Check the Foothill Farming website resources on risk management and business planning tools for templates. Scan or store them on a USB flash drive or external hard drive.
- Make a farm communication plan. What happens if you are not home during a disaster situation? Do you have phone numbers and good relationships with neighbors? Are the phone numbers written down for your family members and employees as well?
- Create a farm emergency plan, use the following free online templates or use them as a guide to create one more suitable for your own farm.
- http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/289237.pdf
- https://www.formsbank.com/template/325465/emergency-plan-for-farm-template.html?page=5
- http://www.maeap.org/uploads/files/EMERGENCY_PLANNING_fillable_Form_E2575-ET_AA.pdf
- http://www.ncagr.gov/disaster/Farm-Emergency-Plan-Template.pdf
Developing a farm emergency plan before a disaster can help you respond more rapidly and objectively.
Farm Map & Layout:
- A farm map should be part of your emergency plan. Create a map including symbols and a key for the following:
- Homes, barns, and outbuildings.
- Utility shutoffs.
- Power and utility lines.
- Fuel and chemical storage.
- Roads and bridges (including weight limitations).
- Water sources and delivery systems.
- Gates (including combinations).
- Fuel breaks.
- Any other possible farm hazards.
You may include brief general guidance for emergency responders on the map as well.
- A well-maintained and accessible water source is critical. If possible, consider a water source for fire trucks. An accessible source includes:
- Defensible space.
- Gravel road access within 12 feet of water source.
- Minimum 45-foot radius turnaround close by.
- Post permanent signs indicating water source location.
- For more detailed information about what is needed at a water source, check out this information from Oregon State Extension https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/supplemental/pnw618/pnw618-chapter6.pdf
- Farm design should incorporate these principles, especially around structures. Create at least 100 feet of defensible space by:
- Removing flammable objects from around barns or dwellings (e.g. flammable vegetation, feed bags, cardboard boxes, plant debris, fuel, etc.).
- Breaking up fuel continuity by separating plants from each other in gardens and landscape design.
- Taking care in selecting, locating, and maintaining trees.
- Post a clearly visible sign with property name and number at the entrance.
Tools & Machinery:
- Carry fire extinguishers and fire tools, especially in off-road vehicles. (e.g. trucks and tractors), CalFire requires a 5-gallon water supply and a fire tool be carried in wildland settings – consider adding this equipment to your tool box!
- Conduct frequent inspections of farm machinery for debris removal. Pay attention to hazards associated with exhaust systems and catalytic converters.
- All farms should have proper personal firefighting equipment such as shovels, hoes, and fire extinguishers that all farm employees can carry.
- Use rodent deterrents as they can chew through electrical insulation.
- Limit or postpone machinery use on high fire danger days. If use is unavoidable, plan for competing tasks before 10:00 AM.
- Stay 30 minutes after machinery use is shut off to monitor fire risk.
- More tips on preventing farm equipment fires, http://www.redrivermutual.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Preventing-Farm-Equipment-Fires4.pdf
Operations & Training:
- Conduct an annual fire plan and equipment “refresher” for all farm personnel. Consider labeling safety equipment and fire tools on your map, with signs for your employees and family. Train folks on how to use this equipment.
- Have a routine for “red flag days” such as delaying mowing or machinery use.
- Although California law requires all electric fences to have low-impedance chargers, check frequently to ensure wires are free of materials that may cause the fence to arc. Always operate according to manufacturer directions.
- Restrict or clearly designate smoking areas.
- Include fire danger mitigation and forest management in annual planning.
Fire prevention should be a year-round activity in our fire-prone region. Be sure to consider the needs of both family and farm personnel in any emergency situation. Proper planning now will help mitigate the inevitable stress involved in farm emergencies. We would love to hear your thoughts, plans, and ideas related to disaster preparedness. Please feel free to comment below.
Fire Season Is Not Over Yet
Local fire agencies have warned that fire season is not over. Cooler temperatures are a relief but not a stop sign for wildfire. As of last week, according to Chief Marc Bashoor at FireChief.com over 50 fires still rage in the Western United States, at varying degrees of containment, California taking the brunt of the damage. It is important that local farmers and ranchers continue to take necessary precautions against wildfires and other disasters. How can you be prepared? The following blog was written by Livestock and Natural Resource Adviser, Dan Macon.
Fire Preparation for Ranchers - Writing Down Your Plan
- Author: Dan Macon Posted: July 11, 2018. Updated Aug 27, 2018.
“In June, I wrote about preparing our ranches for fire (Fire Season is Here: Is Your Ranch Ready?). Since that time, we've seen large fires in ranching country. Each of these fires is a stark reminder that we live and raise livestock in a fire-prone landscape.
In July, a number of ranchers from Placer County met with law enforcement, fire and animal control officials to discuss the emergency preparation and response issues unique to commercial-scale ranching operations. As we talked, I realized that there are several factors that make planning for and responding to wildfire (and other emergencies, like flooding) challenging for these kinds of ranching businesses:
- Many ranches have livestock in multiple locations.
- Many leased pastures are simply pastures; there is no landlord or other resident on site.
- Because of this, the physical address of the pasture may not be readily apparent.
- Often, the number of livestock at a particular site may be more than can be easily evacuated in a single load in a stock trailer.
- Access during a fire may be difficult due to law enforcement road blocks. Since many of us lease pastures, gaining access (as opposed to staying at our home places in the event of an evacuation) can be problematic.
There are several things we can do to help address these issues. First, we should write down the locations where our livestock are grazing at least on a seasonal basis. What's the address? How many animals are at each location, and what classes of animals are there? What are the evacuation routes you'd be likely to use to get animals out of harms way? If you couldn't evacuate the animals, are there safe zones on or nearby the location where animals could be moved? Is there an on-site landlord or resident, or perhaps a neighbor, that you could call in an emergency situation? Finally, are there 2 or 3 nearby ranchers who could help you? Here's a sample of my one-page plan:
Access to leased pastures during a large-scale fire or other emergency may be more problematic. On Monday, we learned from CalFire that there is a liaison officer within the agency's incident command structure who can help facilitate access to livestock during a multi-day fire. Short-term access may be more difficult - we're working with our local emergency responders to find ways to address this while also protecting public and fire fighter safety.
What steps do you take to prepare for the possibility of wildfire? I hope you'll share your ideas and questions in the comment section below!
And finally, I'm working on organizing similar meetings with first responders in Nevada, Yuba and Sutter Counties. If you operate a commercial ranch, or lease land to a rancher in one of these counties, and would like to get involved, please contact me at dmacon@ucanr.edu.”
Watch for a follow-up blog that will focus on farmer preparation for wild fire or other emergency threats.