HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) The home of Tom and Dr. Christine Sanders in the Jupiter Hills subdivision north of Hutchinson was an excellent example for firefighters and forestry experts. The home was used to point to recently during a residential wildfire preparedness workshop to help a handful of Sandhills residents visualize a fire wise home.
As well landscaped and designed as the expansive property was, however, the Sanders even learned of areas they can improve to make their property safer from the kind of fast-moving wildfires that have devastated parts of the county in recent years.
The greatest danger, the dozen participants learned, appeared to be from rows of Eastern Red Cedars that surround three sides of the property.
Though buffered from the home by different methods of disconnect mowed grass, a driveway, stone-walled flower beds and beds near the house of mixed stone and mulch the experts suggested moving rows of primarily cedar trees even further back from the home and then thinning the ones that remained.
The lack of fire has caused the wildfire problem, said Dustin Tacha, a rangeland management specialist for the Kansas Natural Resources Conservation Service, explaining that rangeland fires used to keep the number of cedars down, limiting them to rocky bluffs or areas the fires didnt reach.
Both decisions to plant cedars to create windbreaks and to douse fires as soon as they started, which Tacha called the Smokey Bear syndrome have contributed to the dense growth of cedars in many parts of the county and region.
Cedars create a high risk to homes because they explode in flame when they catch fire and send up masses of flaming embers that spread the fire very quickly when winds are high, which firefighters are often unable to keep up with, the Hutchinson News reported.
The Jupiter Hills fire (in the spring of 2017) was a tree fire, not a grass fire, said Dennis Carlson, District 6 Forester with the Kansas Forestry Service. Flames went 50 feet in the air, which is when the wind becomes a major factor.
Tacha suggested creating a 100- to 200-foot buffer around the home from the trees, then separating those that remain, so there is space between them, perhaps creating winding paths through the trees. Remove the female trees first, those with berries, to reduce the chance of new ones growing back.
The trees can also be trimmed up, removing all branches within 5 or 6 feet of the ground so burning grass cant ignite them.
The Sanders have been removing cedars, pushing them back further from their home for several years, but agreed they should thin the dense stands remaining.
District Conservationist Keith Williams suggested several trees abutting the driveway should be removed to create a safer path for firefighters, and a large mulberry growing on the opposite side of the drive be trimmed for about 15 feet up for the same reason.
Cottonwood trees are also notorious for spreading fire if they have cat faces or rotted areas that embers can get inside and smolder.
The idea, Carlson said, is not to allow high or intense heat near ignition sources. Having the grass mowed and debris removed, significantly reduces the chance of spread from sparks.
Rodney Redinger, a fire training specialist for the Kansas Forest Service, suggested residents start with the roofline of the home and then move out, looking at what in the path can lead to spread to a home.
Start by considering the type of shingles on a home. More flammable roofing needs a larger buffer.
