Joe,

If you haven't removed all of the fuel (trees, shrubs, tall grass) from a reasonable distance around your house and other structures, this is your wakeup call to get it done. Do you have a well, a pump, a storage tank or stock pond to draw water from? (Some friends in Idaho were told when they moved to 5 acres outside Moscow that they must put in a holding pond--most of the time it looks like an attractive water feature at the bottom of the yard, but it is there by ordinance).

Good luck. You've done the drill before. It seems to be getting started a bit late this year, so perhaps it won't be as bad as some years. Though it has been many years since my Forest Service fire fighting days, I still feel a slight adrenalin rush when I start reading about the fires out there. (It's how I paid for college, all of that overtime and hazardous duty pay).

SRS