UW, Other Land-grant Universities Offer Wildfire Protection Information Website

June 29, 2012 — Protecting a house from wildfire is detailed along with other fire-wise suggestions at a website managed by land-grant universities, including the University of Wyoming, and federal agencies.

The UW Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) site contains emergency contacts and information to help before, during and after natural and human-caused disasters. To access information, go to www.uwyo.edu/ces and click on "Extension Educational Program Areas" on the left-hand side, then "Ag and Natural Resources," follow the link under "Disasters," and click on "Wildfires" under "Natural Disasters."

“EDEN is a national organization of extension people all over the United States who work on all emergencies,” says Ron Cunningham, a UW Extension educator based in Fremont County. “It has information for all kinds of emergencies -- wildfires, floods, blizzards -- you name it.”

For example, the Living with Fire link takes readers to a website of the same name and offers information about creating defensible space, embers, evacuations, living with fire and what to do after a fire.

Cunningham and Barton Stam, an extension educator based in Hot Springs County, are the Wyoming delegates to the national EDEN committee.

The wildfire section includes such topics as:

• You can save your home from a wildfire.
• Fire-wise landscaping: The basics.
• Fire-wise construction.
• Protect your home against wildfire damage.
• How to make your home fire-safe.
• Living with fire.
• Fire-wise plants and construction.

Other resources to help residents prepare and recover from disasters are under the Quick Links section.