Boundary County Fire District to host Wildfire Preparedness Dinner
Courtesy photo South Boundary Fire’s new wildland/structure engine. The department will be hosting a barbeque and informational meeting Saturday at Naples School.
As the wildfire season in northern Idaho approaches, the South Boundary Fire District will be holding a Wildfire Preparedness Dinner Saturday, June 18 at Naples School.
The dinner will start at 5 p.m. and the presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Fire Chief Tony Rohrwasser said the event serves two purposes: It’s a free community dinner featuring hamburgers and hot dogs furnished by the Firefighters Association with desserts provided by Helping Hands of Naples, as well as a chance for homeowners to learn what they can do for their home in case of a wildfire. Last year 100 residents showed up to the event, which was held at the fire station. As one can imagine, things got a little tight.
“We had about 100 people crammed into the station last year,” Rohrwasser said. “So this year we got the OK to use the field at the school where we’ll do the barbecue for everybody. Then we have the gym with the great big projection system, so it will work out great. The presentation will have a lot of good information on the science of fires, how houses burn, things like that.”
Rohrwasser said there are two different things for homeowners to prepare for should they find themselves in a wildfire situation.
“There’s the situation where the fire burns through to the house and ignites, but there’s also the fires that are miles off in the distance,” he explained. “The embers can land and burn the house up. Fires from ember-casts are probably the most common. Those embers will fly off those hills with the winds that are created. Any home has the chance of getting an ember-cast fire.”
During the presentation, instruction will be given on how to prepare for an ember-cast fire, as well as new information if the fire advances to within 100 feet of the residence.
“Our hope is to be able to talk to the community,” Rohrwasser said. “Give them some information, talk about preparation, when to leave, that kind of thing. And we would also like to sign people up for home evaluations. We don’t just go out in our district for these evaluations, we’ll go out anywhere. It’s all free, it’s just a matter of us going out and taking a look. We have a checklist, and we go from there.”
Saturday’s presentation will last about an hour, followed by more barbeque and desserts, with firefighters on hand to answer questions. After last year’s fire season, Chief Rohrwasser wanted to make sure the word got out for those wanting to be proactive when it comes to their homes.
“After a significant event like last year, we only have a short window to get people interested in doing what they can to help,” he said. “We just want to get the information out. We’re going to do food for up to 200 people, so we just encourage everyone to come out for a good meal and information. The presentation is open to anybody, not just members of our community. The whole idea is for people to realize that we can’t promise their house will be safe from a fire. It’s really about what people can do to help us in the event of a fire, and to help protect their homes.”