The Division of Forestry headquarters for the Kenai to Kodiak area will have an open house on Saturday in Soldotna to address various aspects of wildfire preparedness.
Fire Prevention Officer Dan Govoni says there will be free tree seedlings available to the public thanks to a grant from State Farm and the NFPA Wildfire Community Preparedness Day Project.
Govoni: “I went in and applied for one of those grants and we received $500 and what we’ve decided to do with the grant is purchase trees for local residents who were impacted by wildfires the last couple of years or folks just looking to put more fire resistant trees on their properties. So we have a number of different species available here and they’re free to the public.”
There will also be information provided about how to protect life and property from wildfires.
Govoni: “People should be looking around their yards, picking up any leaf debris, loose branches, trimming back brush close to their home. Along with that, they should be looking at options in case we have a wildfire, or an earthquake, or a volcano, any natural disaster, in terms of pre-planning. Do they have a store of extra water and food on supply? Where will they go in the event of an evacuation? What will they do with their pets? Particularly people [with ones like] horses and cows and sled dog teams.”
There will also be tours of a wildland fire fighting helicopter and fire engines as long as they are not needed for any wildfires.
The open house will be at the Office headquarters in Soldotna on Saturday, May 14, from noon to 4:00 pm.
