June 2004

The June 2004 Arkansas FireWise Home of the Month belongs to Craig Coleman of Humnoke. In one of those interesting quirks of fate, David Samuel took a photo of the cropduster below as the first picture in the series from Humnoke. Linwood Davis then posted them to this Web page — only later did they find out Mr. Coleman is a cropduster. Humnoke is an average small Arkansas town with a population of 280, and the area surrounding it is rural and agricultural.

The Coleman home is nestled close - but not too close - to a wooded area. This is a prime example of the defenition of "wildland/urban interface."

The trees in the defensible space have not been eliminated, but have been thinned so they won't cause a problem. The complete lack of ladder fuels is a huge plus, as is the fact the yard is kept "lean, clean and green." Low shrubs around the deck are kept in good shape, and the deck is enclosed. A slightly smaller mesh on the deck enclosure might be helpful, but keeping the area free of dried debris certainly helps.

The home has paved streets and a pressurized water supply that can be used to fight fire. Note the streets are clearly marked with fire-resistant signs.