Friday’s red flag warning day had us thinking about how to better prepare for emergencies like wildfires or spring storms. DO YOU HAVE A ‘GO BAG’? Don’t wait for an emergency to think about an evacuation or ‘go kit’. The Texas A&M Forest Service recommends you start with the fi ve P’s: people and pets, prescriptions, papers, personal needs and priceless items. https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/evacuationresources/ Every family has different needs. Consider the medication, eyeglasses or hearing aids your loved ones use. Include copies of insurance information or other important documents. Bring clothes, foods, water, toiletries, first aid kid, cash, computers or your tablet, phone chargers and sanitation supplies – like wipes and garbage bags. Priceless items may include photos or irreplaceable memorabilia. FEMA also recommends using this list as a jumping off point. It includes dust masks and paper maps. Why paper maps? In a natural disaster, cellular GPS may not work. If you ever have to evacuate, you don’t want to rely solely on a mobile phone for directions. When severe weather conditions are in the forecast, ask family members to keep their phones fully charged. Always monitor conditions in your area. Understand your community’s emergency response plan. Pay attention to any evacuation orders. If you are concerned, you don’t have to wait for an evacuation order to leave. If evacuating during a wildfire, the Texas A&M Forest Service recommends you have two evacuation routes in case one becomes compromised. Be aware of any dead-end roads to avoid. Cover-up to protect against heat and flying embers with long pants, long sleeves, heavy shoes or boots, a cap to cover hair, dry bandanna for face cover, goggles or glasses. Cotton fibers are preferred over clothing with synthetic materials. If time allows, the Forest Service recommends people close windows, move interior furniture away from windows and doors and turn off pilot lights for gas appliances. Turn off air conditioning and leave lights on so the house is visible to firefighters. Bring combustible deck furniture inside the house or garage and move firewood at least 30 feet away from the house or deck. It also says you can turn off propane tanks and other gas at the meter, cover attic and crawl space vents with pre-cut plywood if there is time. Wildfires 2 hours ago Key steps for property owners when potential fire danger is forecasted Wildfires 4 hours ago How to assess fire risk, pack a ‘go kit' and other essentials WHAT’S YOUR AREA’S FIRE RISK? When it comes to wildfires, do you know the risk to your area? You can search the Texas Wildfire Risk Explorer to learn more about the general risk in your vicinity. According to the online tool, much of metro DFW has minimal direct wildfire impacts. If you look closer, you’ll find heavily populated neighborhoods near pockets of land where the potential wildfire impact is high. “If you back up to a pasture or have undeveloped land near you, that’s a chance there might be a fire that starts there and it could move into your communities. If you have green space around you, this is something you should probably be thinking about,” Adam Turner with the Texas A&M Forest Service told NBC 5 Responds earlier this year. When you hear of destructive wildfires, you may imagine a wall of fire. Actually, Turner said the main threat to homes is airborne fire debris. “Most home losses occur because of ember wash,” Turner said. “The little, small pieces of burning material that you see floating through the air, those can travel quite a long way. They can sometimes go up to a mile.” Turner said homes in the Wildland-Urban Interface, where developed areas meet undeveloped land, are particularly susceptible. Those are areas where developed land meets undeveloped land. As the population grows, more people are living in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Collin County Feb 13 Lucas, Texas officials discuss the collective effort involved in preventing wildfire spread Taxes Jan 24 Options to prepare your taxes for free HOW TO FIRE-HARDEN A HOME There are ways property owners can help mitigate the wildfire risk for themselves and their neighbors. One key step is creating defensible space – a buffer zone between the home and combustibles like grass, trees and shrubs. The Texas A&M Forest Service explains it can slow or stop the spread of a wildfire. Property owners can remove dead vegetation around the home, create firebreaks with sidewalks, non-flammable landscaping, and trim shrubs and trees. It recommends storing firewood at least 30 feet away from the home. Basic maintenance also helps prevent a home from catching fire. Remove debris from the roof and gutters. If vent coverings, like the kind in your attic, don’t already have mesh screens, cover vent openings with 1/16-to-1/8-inch metal mesh. Longer-term projects may include making sure eaves are boxed in, walls are built with ignition-resistant materials and dual-paned windows with at least one pane of tempered glass are installed. This visual demonstration, covered by NBC Responds in the California Bay Area, shows firefighters trying to light two tiny homes on fire. One has wood siding, mulch in the garden and open eaves under the roof. The other tiny house was built with fire-resistant siding, sealed eaves and a metal fence where it meets the home. There is a fire-resistant buffer with five feet of defensible space around the house. When firefighters set small fires in front of each home, flames reach a shrub next to the traditional tiny home. The fire eventually follows the wooden fence to the house, which burns down. Next door, the fire did not make it past the defensible space surrounding the wildfire-prepared home. You can watch this story about how North Texas communities are banding together to mitigate their fire risk. NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form. Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW’s News Headlines newsletter. ...read more read less