What is California Doing to Prevent Wildfires This Summer?

6/3/2020 (Permalink)

One thing you can do to prevent wildfire damage is establishing defense zones around your property.

Every California summer brings with it the threat of wildfires. This summer is no different. Right now, there is a lot demanding our immediate, and understandable, attention. But we still should take steps to prevent fires from risking lives and damaging property this wildfire season.

What You Should Do to Prepare

First, we can do our part to prepare for wildfire season in Los Angeles. Create defensible perimeters around our properties by trimming overgrown trees and cleaning up dead leaves or debris. Review evacuation plans, test smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. Take precautions around BBQ grills and fire pits to keep them from sparking fires in the first place.

Businesses should also consider creating a SERVPRO Emergency READY Profile (ERP). Should a disaster occur, an ERP provides SERVPRO of North Hollywood with key information about your business. Our fire damage restoration specialists will respond quickly to mitigate and restore the damage, minimizing your costs and downtime.

Statewide Prevention Efforts

However, we can only do so much. With that in mind, Governor Gavin Newsom recently said that statewide efforts to prevent wildfires remain a priority.

“I want folks to know that we have been preparing for the upcoming wildfire season, and we’re not stepping back our efforts. We’re in fact stepping them up,” Newsom said at a press conference in May.

According to the Los Angeles Times, 2020 has already been a bad year for wildfires across California. Fires were up 60% through May, compared with the same months in 2019.

At the Cameron Park Fire Department, Newsom announced a 106-person wildfire safety commission as a division of the California Public Utilities Commission. In addition, his proposed state budget includes an additional $127 million for monitoring wildfires and other hazards.

The details on how utilities plan to mitigate wildfire risks this summer are available on the California Public Utilities Commission's website.

Wildfire Damage? Call SERVPRO!

Of course, it's unlikely we'll completely prevent wildfires this summer. Keep up with the latest info by visiting Cal Fire or following @CAL_FIRE and the L.A. County Fire Department on Twitter. And should your home or business suffer fire damage or smoke damage, SERVPRO of North Hollywood is ready to lend a hand.

Our highly-trained fire damage restoration team is here 24/7 to clean up, deodorize, repair and restore your property “like it never even happened.” Call us at (818) 754-0050. We're here to help!