The City of Atwater firefighters ask that you cut down, disc them under or otherwise remove them by mid-April so they do not become fuel for the next blaze. With the many recent large catastrophic and devastating fires that the state has experienced over the last few years, it is even more important to be fire safe.
The Atwater Fire Department will begin its annual Hazard Abatement Program as the summer season approaches. Property owners who haven’t been as diligent about eliminating weeds and rubbish in the past will be getting notices and reminders from us to cut down their weeds, disc their fields or remove a fire hazard. The Atwater Fire Department will begin inspecting their respective areas of the city on April 15th.
This past year has been a particularly devastating fire season for California and very challenging for firefighters. The rain and warm weather have left a lot of vegetation that will soon die, dry out and will become fuel for fast moving summer fires. If it is the long, hot, dry summer that some have forecasted, we will need everyone’s help and diligence to prevent costly fires.
While dead weeds are the most serious fire hazard, fire officials warn that piles of debris, tires, and rubbish can also be fire hazards. Current codes and ordinances ask that these hazards be removed.
Code enforcement and forced abatement are not the driving force behind the program – common sense, fire safety, and compliance are. The whole idea is to make the City safer for all residents.
