Wildland fires have been occurring in Kentucky for thousands of years. Native Americans used fire to clear land for wildlife. Settlers moving into the state adopted the Native American land-clearing techniques, including the use of fire. Unfortunately, these fires began to threaten homes and communities prompting the need to establish forest protection laws.
Forest protection laws were enacted in 1831 in a few specific counties with heavily wooded areas. The fine and penalty for intentionally setting a fire was $20. Luckily, the forest protection laws have dramatically changed.
Today, Kentucky's forest protection laws include much stiffer penalties for intentionally setting a fire on land owned by another (KRS 149.380). The penalties for violating KRS 149.380 or a fine of not less than $1,000 or more than $10,000, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both fine and imprisonment.
Ninety-nine percent of all wildland fires in Kentucky are caused by humans. Some of these fires are accidental like unmonitored debris burning, campfires and sparks from farm equipment, but sadly, many are intentionally set. Wildland arsonists cause more than 55 percent of the fires in Kentucky.
Thousands of homes in Kentucky are threatened each year by these wildland fires. The Kentucky Firewise Communities Program provides information on how you can protect your home and community before a wildland fire strikes.
Do you live in or near a forest? If you do, then you live in the wildland urban interface and your home has an increased risk of being destroyed by wildland fire.
To learn how to "Firewise" your home and community and how to establish a Firewise Council visit the national Firewise Web site at http://www.firewise.org/ or contact the division's Firewise program coordinator, Jennifer Turner.
When adequately prepared, a house can withstand a wildland fire without the intervention of a fire department. In fact, a house and its surrounding community can be both Firewise and compatible with the area's ecosystem. The Firewise Communities/USA recognition program enables communities in all parts of the United States to achieve a high level of protection against wildland/urban interface fire as well as sustainable ecosystem balance. Firewise Communities/USA program provides residents of the wildland/urban interface with the knowledge and skill necessary to make it happen.
Firewise Communities/USA is a unique opportunity available to America's fire-prone communities. Its goal is to encourage and acknowledge action that minimizes home loss to wildfire. It teaches you to prepare for a fire before it occurs. The program adapts especially well to small communities, developments and residential associations of all types.
Kentucky's Firewise Communities/USA
