Fire Map of All Active Fires in California

Looking for a live map that shows in real time using Google maps and public data of all known active wildfires in California? Here we have the “official” view of current fires (if any). Real time data can be found here, including evacuation information. (fire-ca.gov) The fires of 2017-2018 were especially serious and deadly. Bookmark … Read more

Fire on ridge photo

The Vulcan Vent has a design meant to contain fires and dangerous embers outside buildings. So where does the name ‘Vulcan Vent’ come from? Hint: Not Star Trek. It may be logical to assume as much, but one would be incorrect. Not the Planet Vulcan either, the hypothesized planet from the 1800s. That turned out … Read more

What is an ember attack

Ember attacks are an occurrence near wildfires where are a huge number of burning fragments of wood and vegetation are caught on the wind. These can travel well ahead of the main fire before burning out, starting smaller fires well ahead of the the front line. This is how wildfires skip over roads and unvegetated … Read more

Iroquois Theatre Fire

Some things can’t be undone. Two days before the start of 1904, harsh lessons would be learned that fateful night  that would resonate worldwide. The Iroquois Theatre Fire of December 30, 1903 was an unequivocally horrific tragedy with an appalling lack of justice for the survivors, victims, and loved ones. Many bad decisions (mostly by … Read more

Image courtesy Creative Commons

If your community is within .5 miles of unpopulated and undeveloped wildland, you live in the Wildland-Urban Interface, the WUI, as it is called in California. This WUI is the area where the communities and farms end and nature begins. The wildland urban interface covers approximately 40% of all new development in the United States, … Read more

NFVA calculator - mass save vermiculite - save tons on your cooling bill every summer.

It’s perhaps that time of month again to look at that power bill. It’s perhaps summer, and your AC has been going, and going. It would sure be nice to not have to run that air conditioner for so long every day, but it’s hot and that’s all there is to it. Or is it? … Read more

easy and cheap things to make your home safer from fire

An ounce of prevention. We know it’s about more than the basics of using fire vents in your home, defensible space and changing out your smoke (and CO) detector batteries regularly as needed. Home defense from fires takes vigilance. This spring, as the temperatures rise again, and the risk of fire becomes greater, we’ve put together a list … Read more