National News
Firefighters make progress against forest fires in California
Firefighters were making progress Friday against Northern California forest fires that burned several homes and forced thousands to flee communities even as authorities prepared for a hot, crowded Fourth of July weekend that could bring the threat of new blazes.
by Associated Press
Jul. 2 2021 @ 11:10pm
Raymond Vasquez, a firefighter with Wildfire Defense Systems, extinguishes hot spots in the Lakehead-Lakeshore community of unincorporated Shasta County, Calif., as the Salt Fire burns nearby on Friday, July 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
REDDING, Calif. Firefighters were making progress Friday against Northern California forest fires that burned several homes and forced thousands to flee communities even as authorities prepared for a hot, crowded Fourth of July weekend that could bring the threat of new blazes.
Wildfire Defense Systems, based in Bozeman, Mont., provides private firefighting for insurance companies. It is considered the third-largest fire agency behind the federal government and the state of California. It s not a first responder service, it s mitigating structures, preparing them for fires, and so it s a service that s not in there with the first responders, said Torgerson.
He explained that the fire crews will be away from the active fire, preparing homes that are insured with companies they work with. We would do things like fuel mitigation, embers, leaves, sprinkler systems, retardant fire lines outside of the property on natural vegetation, fire blocking gel sprayed on the property. We just keep going and apply the tactics that it takes to make sure that the cycle of ignition does not occur on that structure, said Torgerson. We take a lot of firewood piles and move them 100 feet away from the property. We turn off barbecues. Actually, one of the big things that
Montana company offering wildfire protection to some Spokane home, farm owners
Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Apr. 18 Nearly 300,000 homes and farms in
Washington just received an added defense against destructive wildfires, part of a growing national trend intended to reduce the devastation of longer, more intense fire seasons.
Wildfire Defense Systems, a
Bozeman-based company that deploys trained and certified firefighters to several states in the West, has teamed up with
State Farm to provide protection services to policyholders in
Washington.
April 1, by a mailing from the company earlier this month.
The service comes at no additional cost to policyholders, and includes services typical of home and property defense during a wildfire. That includes vegetation removal and setting up sprinkler systems. Firefighters working for Wildfire Defense Systems can also apply flame-retardant gel to homes that are in danger of catching fire, and they do so with the agreement of l