The heat of the summer is reaching its peak this month, just as grass, downed branches and trees and other vegetation are drying out – creating the perfect conditions for wildfires.

All that’s needed is a carelessly tossed cigarette, an engine backfire or even a lightning strike to start an urban fire that could threaten homes and businesses.

Now is the time, according to city officials, to make sure all that fuel that’s drying out is removed.

King County has issued a Phase 1 burn ban due to the decreased moisture content in forests and wooded areas. The ban will continue through the summer until the region gets some rain.

“The threat is greatest in Renton between now and the middle of September,” said Bill Flora, the city’s deputy fire chief and fire marshal.

“Unless we get appreciable rainfall, it just continues to get dryer and dryer.”

The key is to defend now against fires, by creating a safety zone around a house.

Depending on whether it’s private or public property, citizens, the City of Renton and county and state agencies have a role in the clean up efforts.

A homeowners association or residents often are responsible to maintain greenbelts within the neighborhood, according to Gregg Zimmerman, the city’s public works director. Typically, those duties are spelled out in a neighborhood’s covenants.

The covenants often make clear what residents can and can’t do in terms of cutting down vegetation, with an eye toward protecting wetlands.

With its public wetlands and greenbelts, the City of Renton will hire specialists on an annual contract to make sure the proper wetland vegetation is maintained, he said.

The city doesn’t have a program earmarked to remove vegetation that’s specifically geared toward preventing wildfires, Zimmerman said. However, the city mows and controls vegetation along its rights of way.

“There is always a potential a fire could break out,” he said. “We do try to keep the length of vegetation down.”

The recent wildland fires in Southern California have many fire officials in the western United States thinking about fire prevention, especially in those areas where neighborhoods touch wild areas.

Within the City of Renton there are some areas that potentially are a concern, according to Bill Flora, the deputy fire chief/fire marshal for the Fire and Emergency Services Department.

Those areas include:

• Briarwood, with its hillside and heavy growth of trees, above Jones Road

• Along Interstate 405, especially along Renton Hill

• The Royal Hills in southeast Renton, near large apartment complexes

All those area have something in common – a hillside.

Such steep hillsides need to be as clear as possible of dead trees and dry grass, he said.

“The flames tend to travel uphill rapidly,” he said. Winds will push the flames up the hill, which acts like a chimney.

The city has had some “close calls” in the last few years, Flora said, at the S curves on I-405. At Royal Hills, the close calls come more frequently.

The city fire department has eight or nine staff members who have been specifically trained and credentialed to fight wildland fires, he said. Below that top, or technician, level, all firefighters are trained in wildland fire awareness and most are trained at the level where they can fight a wildland fire, he said.

“If your home is located close to wildland areas or other open spaces such as greenbelts, power lines, parks or protected wetlands, a wildfire could present a threat to your home,” said Fire Chief David Daniels.

Dean A. Radford can be reached at 425-255-3484, ext. 5050, or at dean.radford@rentonreporter.com.

Safety tips

Renton fire officials say prevention is the best approach to reducing wildland fires. Here are some tips from the city:

• Refrain from discarding lit cigarettes, hot ashes, barbecue briquettes or other heat sources on or near any combustible materials such as wooden decks, brush/shrubs, trees, wood shavings or beauty bark

• Supervise any outdoor recreational fires and be prepared with a bucket of water, hose and shovel.

• Create a safety zone around a home by removing all dense and flammable vegetation and dead wood from shrubbery.

• Additional precautions include thinning and trimming trees and shrubs (lower limbs removed), mowing lawns and grassy areas often, and preventing the growth of weedy grasses.

For more information about ways to protect your home from wildland fires call the Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department at 425-430-7000 or go to rentonwa.gov.