‘Only you can prevent wildfires’

The Mat-Su Borough has grown in population since the Miller’s Reach Fire — the most destructive fire in the state’s history — began June 3, 1996, destroying or damaging 443 structures.

While pleasant, last week’s warm, dry weather called to mind for many people that wildland-urban fire and its lasting impacts on the community.

Back then, the borough had about 40,000 residents living within its 25,000 square miles of real estate. By 2012, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population had more than doubled to 93,925.

Most of us live in the core area surround Big Lake, Houston, Palmer and Wasilla, which is why that’s where most of the borough’s firefighting resources are concentrated.

Purely as an exercise in logic, an increase in population equals an increase in fire risk since the majority of fires are caused by humans — as was the Miller’s Reach Fire.

The good news then, is as Smokey Bear says, “Only you can prevent wildfires.”

In the past 17 years, the Mat-Su Borough also has taken steps to better prepare when fire threatens lives and property here. One such effort is the FireWise program, which aims to reduce life and property loss from wildfire.

FireWise, which operates under the borough’s Department of Emergency Services Wildfire Mitigation/Firewise Program, encourages homeowners to maintain a 200- to 300-foot perimeter around their property clear of flammable vegetation.

But prevention alone isn’t enough. No matter how careful we are in preventing fires, we also must be prepared in the event of such an emergency.

That’s where a new tool from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners can help. Available for smartphones or computers, the new service helps people document their valuables, update their inventories and store the information for easy access after a disaster. For smartphones, the app is online at myHOME Scr.APP.book. For computer users, visit delivr.com/2n5dh.

We remember a conversation with a man just last month who urged us all to use his family’s heavy losses in a Butte home fire as a call to action to get prepared, to inventory our valuables and to store that list in a fire-safe place.

“Check the batteries in your smoke alarm, get photos of valuables for your insurance company, keep important papers in a fireproof box, keep records of the serial numbers of valuable items,” Anthony Pambrun said.

He said fire isn’t picky about the lives it upends. “This could have been you. It happens to everybody.”

We agree with Pambrun. Whether it’s one family or a community that’s devastated, fire isn’t fussy about whose lives it chars.

We are grateful for our borough’s well-trained firefighters and programs like FireWise that educate us about ways we can prevent wildfires. Preventing a repeat of that conflagration that darkened the sky and stung our lungs 17 years ago is worthy work for all of us.