How Can I Make My Home Safer?

There are many ways to improve the safety of your home:

  • Make sure your address is clearly visible - This is an easy way to improve safety, by ensuring a quicker response from police, fire, and medical personnel. Many homes in our area are not clearly marked, and this can cause delays during an emergency. Make sure your street address can be clearly seen from the main access road, from both directions, especially at night. If you share a common driveway, all home addresses should be marked at the bottom of the driveway as well as at any splits. If you share a cluster of mailboxes, you still need to mark your individual driveway. Address signs are available from the Community Safety Store.

  • CO and propane detectors - Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors and propane detectors are also available and can detect hazardous situations that a regular smoke detector might miss. Both detectors are available from the Community Safety Store.

  • Keep smoke alarm batteries fresh - It is a good idea to change out all the batteries in all your smoke alarms when daylight saving time changes in the Spring and Fall. If you have battery operated CO or propane detectors, replace those, too.

  • Portable fire extinguishers - Fire extinguishers are fairly inexpensive and can save your home. Everyone should have one or more: in the kitchen, near wood stove/fireplaces, near entry ways, etc. The multipurpose dry chemical (ABC) type works well on most fires. Be sure to get them reinspected on schedule, and it is a good idea to pick up a dry chem model once a year and turn it upside down to keep the powder from settling too much. Fire extinguishers are available from the Community Safety Store.

  • Maintain defensible space - We live in a wildfire danger area. Every resident needs to be aware of the dangers and do as much as possible to make their home more defendable in the event of a wildfire. In the event of a major wildfire, local resources could be overwhelmed, and your preparation may make the difference in saving your home. Our Wildfire Mitigation Crew can advise you on this with a free property inspection.

  • Wood stoves/fireplaces - You should only burn dry, seasoned wood to reduce accumulation of flammable materials in your chimney. Get your chimney inspected once a year. This is especially important since many people in our area burn pine and it can cause build-up fast. Completely soak ashes in a metal container for a minimum of 7 days before disposal. Never dump ashes outside without soaking them first.

  • Call the fire department early - If you suspect a medical, rescue, or fire emergency, dial 911 right away. It is much better to cancel a response than to call it in too late. The first few minutes of an emergency are the most crucial.

Open Burn Permits

Residents of the Boulder Heights area may burn wood and slash outdoors with a permit under certain conditions. For the latest rules and regulations, and for a burn permit application, call the Boulder County sheriff’s fire management office at (303) 441-4500 or visit their website. Note that it can take 20 days to receive a permit. If you would like some advice about open burning, call Chief Benson or Mike Palamara at (303) 440-0235.

Pine Brook Hills Fire Code

Here is a copy of the Pine Brook Hills Fire Code in Microsoft Word format. This contains regulations regarding open burning.

Wildfire Danger

Find more information about wildfire preparedness from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at https://www.ready.gov/wildfires.

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS

Click on the link to the “NET Guidebook” to learn how you can organize with your neighbors to form Neighbor Emergency Teams (NETs) to help each other out in an emergency.