While there may be no such thing as 100% "fire safe", there is what we like to call "impact minimization" and the choices about how best to achieve it on your property are yours of course, but we're happy to make recommendations and our general motto will always be : "higher is better".

30 feet isn't carved in stone; it's just the maximum we're set up to climb efficiently, and while it may seem excessive to some, the thing to keep in mind is that a large pine will grow its lower branches downward into the newly created space at up to a foot per year.

Assuming a normal snowpack on any given year, a north facing slope will retain more soil moisture into the summer months and hence generally have more and healthier trees on them.  They are however not exempt from drought conditions and the longer such conditions persist, the more subject they become to the potential for a firestorm due to higher tree density.  Firestorms are driven by wind and so the potential for wind must be a consideration in wildfire mitigation planning.

On moderately unstable days such as when you notice clouds that resemble giant cotton balls, a wildfire flame front can easily generate it's own wind even though things are otherwise relatively calm everywhere around it.  It is for this reason that one of the first things we look for is how to create a crown break between you and your neighbors, particularly if they have not undertaken any mitigation efforts of their own.

On really unstable days such as when thunderstorms are developing rapidly and lightning bolts are flying about by early afternoon, a wildfire flame front can spontaneously erupt into a particularly vicious beast and can even take the form of a literal tornado of fire, another reason why "higher is better".  It will be on just such days that the ignition source commonly known as "dry lightning" is a strong possibility.

Conversely, when the atmosphere is very stable, certain topographical features can become collection pockets of combustible gases in smoke which can burn explosively, that scenario being one of the primary reasons we say there is no such thing as "100% wildfire safe".  There simply are no shortages of circumstance, which warrant heeding an evacuation notice if a fire is bearing down on you.

That being said, the removal of volatile fuels and low hanging branches will dramatically alter both the intensity and the impact of even the most extreme wildfire event on your property.  Properly mitigated landscapes will even benefit in a variety of ways, not the least of which will be live trees as opposed to charred ruins.  Consultations on this subject cost absolutely nothing for Chelan area landowners.  Give us a call anytime...

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Wildfire Mitigation services for all of NCW North Central Washington, PNW Pacific Northwest including Lake Wenatchee, Plain, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Lake Chelan, Manson, Pateros, Methow, Carlton, Twisp, Winthrop, Mazama, Omak, Okanogan, Brewster, Bridgeport, Mansfield, Waterville, Entiat, and places in between.  AxMan Junior and Wildfire Mitigation Services are subsidiaries of The Skylight Company Inc.
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