Local club maintains flower beds at Hollister Fire Station
The garden at Hollister fire station No. 2 is more than a
garden; it’s a teaching tool. Instead of housing roses, daffodils
and irises, the Hollister Fire Departments’ garden is an example of
how vegetation can be used as a barrier to protect a structure
against the threat of fire.
Local club maintains flower beds at Hollister Fire Station
The garden at Hollister fire station No. 2 is more than a garden; it’s a teaching tool. Instead of housing roses, daffodils and irises, the Hollister Fire Departments’ garden is an example of how vegetation can be used as a barrier to protect a structure against the threat of fire.
Designed by the Fire Safety Council and maintained by the Fleurs Gardening Club, the fire safe garden at the Union Road fire station serves as an example of how a garden can be implemented to protect structures.
It used to be that in order for a garden to be “fire safe” it had to be 30 feet from any surrounding structures, however that specification has been updated and the amount of clearance required is now 100 feet, according to Sandra Davidson, member of the San Benito Fire Safe Council and a member of the Fleurs gardening club.
“That means that if you have plants near a house they should be fire resistant,” Davidson said. “At least if you want to be safe.”
A lot of plants are already considered fire safe, meaning that they don’t tend to support ignition.
The intention with the fire safe garden, which has been at the firehouse for about three years, was to give people an example of what they could set up in their own homes, Davidson said.
“We wanted people to be able to see these types of plants in a setting so that they could decide what they liked for their own gardens,” Davidson said.
The nice thing about fire safe gardens is that typically because of the types of plants they use, they don’t use much water and are pretty low maintenance.
The Fleurs club only has to attend to the garden about twice per month, however they spend about four hours per shift.
The Fleurs got involved because the California Gardens Club encourages gardening clubs to take on civic projects whenever they are available, according to Sally Biersdorff, Fleurs chapter president. The fire safe garden has been around for three years.
“Initially, the fire safe council had planned to put in something smaller,” Biersdorff said. “But we asked to take on more. The firemen now jokingly refer to it as the Martha Stewart garden because we’re out here all the time. Most of the plants in the garden are California natives.”
Located inside the garden is a comprehensive list of plants located in the garden that are fire safe. There are other types of fire safe plants and the best way to find out what is and isn’t fire safe is to ask at a nursery. Some common types of fire safe plants include maple, birch, crape myrtle and dogwood trees; roses, lilacs, foxglove, calla lilies, and California poppies. Some examples of highly flammable plants include evergreens, such as pine, fur and cedar trees, palms, bamboo, eucalyptus, and fountain grass.
There is talk of setting up more fire safe gardens around San Benito County, but nothing is currently in the works.
If you would like more information on fire safe plants or how you can set up your own fire safe garden, please contact the San Benito Fire Safe Council at 623-1677 or at sb***@ga****.com.
