The Santa Barbara County Fire Department will hold four Wildfire Safety Town Hall Community Meetings in February to address the latest information on these issues with our communities (times and locations below). We have had a busy year locally and there is no time like the present to become better prepared. The title of this year’s program is:

“Preparing For Your Next Wildfire”

1.  Defensible Space

We ask our residents to do even more than the State Law mandates them to do when it comes to building and maintaining the defensible space around their homes. Is this effective? What are your roles as property owners and our roles as fire prevention officers in the public/private partnership?

2.  Fire and Ignition Resistive Construction

What fire resistive construction is, and what it is not. What does it look like, what does it cost, is it livable, and how critical is this link in the chain of home wildfire protection and survivability?

3. “What If I’m Trapped In My Home?”

The Australian fire philosophy: LEOSAD “Leave Early, or Stay and Defend” has become a buzzword. We do not currently endorse it as it is practiced in Australia, but we are examining it closely in conjunction with other California Fire Agencies. When we issue a Mandatory Evacuation Order, we want you to leave. But there could be a situation when it is too late to leave. Learn how to prepare yourself and your home for this possibility!

4.  Open public questions and answers.

County Fire officials will be on hand to answer questions after the presentation. All four meetings are open to the public, no need to register ahead of time.

The schedule is below:

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2009

Blochman School 4949 Foxen Canyon Road, Sisquoc

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 

Solvang Veterans Memorial Building,1745 Mission Drive, Solvang