Tuesday, May. 26, 2009

Protect your home from the flames

The wildfire that chewed through almost 20,000 acres, destroyed 76 homes and damaged 96 others was officially declared out last week after days of downpours.

Despite some early fears, the Carolina Forest area was left largely unscathed by the April fire. But the blaze left behind questions about vulnerablity and property protection strategies.

The largest forest fire ever recorded in South Carolina scorched 30,000 acres of what is now Carolina Forest, Grande Dunes, the Carolina Bays Parkway, Veterans Highway, Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve. That was in April 1976, when the area was mainly pine forest dotted with Carolina bays, isolated wetland in natural shallow depressions fed by rain and shallow groundwater.

The bays were full of wax myrtle and bayberry, called "gasoline bushes" by foresters because they burn with a rapid intensity. The soft, wet ground made it impossible to plow fire lines through the bays. This vegetation on top of a bay will burn even if it is standing in water.

Those same factors fed the most recent fire. So we checked to see what experts said about landscaping that can cut a home's fire vulnerability. Here are some tips from the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida.

Landscape with firewise plants.

That is, those with :

High moisture content. The moisture content of leaves and branches is the single most important factor influencing the flammability of individual plants.

Broad and thick leaves. Thin leaves or needles tend to dry out quickly and ignite easily.

Low chemical content. The presence of oils or other chemicals in the leaves and branches can increase flammability.

Open and loose branching patterns

Deciduous plants. They are generally less flammable than evergreens.

Low amounts of dead materials. The accumulation of dead leaves and branches on plants can increase flammability.

Once you've planted them, maintain them.

Maintain vertical and horizontal separation between groups or islands of landscape plants.

Prune shrubs and trees periodically to reduce fuel volume, to maintain healthier plants, and to prevent development of ladder fuels.

Remove dead leaves and branches from standing vegetation and from the ground.

Remove dead annual plants.

Water plants adequately to maintain healthy plants and prevent drought stress.

Plants to avoid

These are popular southern plants that are highly flammable and should be avoided within 30 feet of your house, or what the forestry experts call "defensible space."

Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) -- accumulate dead leaves (fronds); dense, flammable leaves that are close to ground; evergreen.

Juniper (Juniperus spp.) - small needle-like leaves, evergreen, resins in leaves and branches, often contain dead branches if not pruned.

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) - dense leaves and branches close to ground (in younger specimens), evergreen; older specimens, which may develop a tree form, with open sparse branching, may be less flammable.

Staff writer Charles Slate contributed to this report.