With warm weather comes dry grass and the chance for fire. Recently, we accompanied Chief John Speakman of the Oakland Fire Department on a tour of some of the potentially hazardous fire areas in Oakland, CA. That city was the site of the 1991 firestorm that destroyed nearly 3,000 homes. He showed us how the fire department is working to prevent a recurrence. We discovered that the Oakland firestorm could happen almost anywhere.

And, we learned about a fire ladder. At first we thought that it is the apparatus used to climb out of a second or third story window a portable fire escape. According to Chief Speakman, a fire ladder is something that a fire climbs. It consists of dry grass, shrubs and trees. The grass grows up and around shrubs and they and trees grow together to form a continuous chain of foliage that begins with superb kindling dry grass ö and ends with a massive fuel source that burns extremely hot and high in the air a tree. Normally, trees and shrubs are hard to set on fire. But, when grass dries out, its ignition point becomes very low making it easy to catch fire, and turning it into kindling capable of igniting shrubs or trees. Pruning, mowing, cutting and chopping help, but a caveat: completely eliminating the grass in summer could result in a dangerous erosion condition in winter. For hillside conditions, Speakman recommends leaving about 6 inches of foliage on the ground. Also, planting fire-resistant foliage helps. Check with your local fire department to find out what species are available in your area.

We also learned that dry, brittle dead wood accumulates in practically all trees. From a distance a tree may look green and lush. But if inspection from the underside reveals bare limbs and branches, the tree could be a prime candidate for a quick, low temperature ignition, even if pruned up and away from shrubs and grass.

Dry grass also should be mowed away from buildings, fences, decks, wood retaining walls and other combustibles. Speakman recommended that in most areas dry grass should be mowed away from the house 30 to 100 feet or more. Again, he mentioned that safe distances vary from community to community and that a quick phone call to the local fire Marshall is prudent.

Most people don't use fireplaces during the warm months. For that reason few folks consider the importance of installing a spark arrestor atop their chimney during the summer. But, Speakman told us that the time to deal with a spark arrestor was the summer when the fireplace wasn't being used. He said waiting to notice hot embers in the winter is poor procedure.

We asked an old timer for counsel about pruning trees and shrubs. His sage advice: "Leave more leaves than branches."