SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Local firefighters are urging homeowners to look for potential fire hazards around their homes right now.
They say those leftover fuels on the ground after winter could pile up, and that can cause a bigger problem during the dry summer months.
“If we can reduce areas that are touching the home where embers can accumulate, that’s the biggest value,” Paul Kimball, division chief with the Spokane Valley Fire Department, said.
On Tuesday, the Washington Department of Natural Resources and local fire departments walked around a home in the Ponderosa neighborhood with the goal of urging the public to remove any combustible material away from the home, even compost piles, to avoid fire hazards.
Firefighters say to check places like under the deck and garbage bins for combustible material. Make sure to get rid of any combustible materials that are piling up and remove and piles that are made up of unused top wood.
“Get rid of them during Spring,” Guy Gifford, community resiliency assistant division manager with DNR, said.