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Your house should be at least 30 feet away from any trees or forest. Beyond 30 feet, clear out all dead trees and branches. They allow ground fires to jump into tree crowns. Keep all trees and large bushes well trimmed and 15-20 feet away from the house. Space trees 30 feet apart and trim until only about 8-10 feet tall. If you have large plants, like Rhododendrons and Hydrangeas, plant them at least 20 feet from your house or any other kind of building. Plant smaller flowers in your flower beds next to the house. If you do your landscaping this way, it will be a lot harder for forest fires to get to your house.
In the fall, dead leaves and pine needles will fall off the trees and some of them will land on your roof. Make sure that you never have leaves or pine needles on your roof. Clear them all off. Fire burns dead things very easily, so having dead leaves and pine needles on your roof is a fire hazard. You need to keep your rain gutters clean, too.
Fireworks are very dangerous and can start big fires. Always leave fireworks to professionals. Many people (mostly children) are hurt by fireworks. You should never play with fireworks because they could go off in your hand. You would get burned very badly if they did. If you find fireworks, don't pick them up; tell an adult as fast as you can.
Before you build a camp fire in your yard, you need to make sure that it is legal to have a fire, and you need to make sure that there are no dried up sticks laying around the place where you are going to build your fire. You should always build a fire in a fire pit so that it is harder for the fire to get out of your control. You should also have a shovel and a bucket of water nearby. Before you leave your camp fire, you need to be sure it is completely out. Never leave a fire burning when you are not watching it.
You need to make sure your home is easily accessible to fire trucks. If your driveway has branches hanging down, you need to trim them so that fire trucks can get through easily in an emergency. Also, keep your driveway well marked with your name and address.
Photo in title graphic courtesy of ArtToday.
Fireworks animation courtesy of Best Animations.
Fire truck photo courtesy of ArtToday.