Through the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Chelaque Estates became a registered National Firewise USA® Community in 2018.

NFPA's Firewise USA® program teaches people how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together to give homeowners a better chance to survive a wildfire and to prevent losses.

There are three areas around our home that can help reduce wildfire threats. The link below to the, “Tennessee Fire Adapted Communities Guide” will explain more detail about actions you can take.
Click Here for Guide! "Tennessee Fire Adapted Communities Guide"

 1. Access - This area helps emergency responders locate your home in a timely manner.

2. Defensible Space - This pertains to the vegetation and landscape around your home.

3. Home and Construction Material - Recommendations for home construction.

Investing volunteer hours in wildfire risk reduction is one of the requirements for maintaining our certification as a Firewise community. Wildfire reduction hours can be reported to the Firewise team by sending an email with a description of the activity/expense to [email protected]. Please refer to the following link for examples of actions and expenses that can be reported:

https://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13336/Firewise-Time-Expense-Investment-Examples
 
Wildfire Risk Reduction Videos:
The videos below discuss what you can do around your home to help reduce wildfire risk and ignition potential. These are small things that anyone can do around your house such as: 
- Clean up dry debris, leaves or needles
- Cover external vents with fine metal mesh
- Evaluate locations of out buildings and shrubs

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pfbEcMeYFFA&feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vL_syp1ZScM&feature=share

Burn Safe TN.
This is an information site on fire prevention, daily fire reports, fire danger news, obtaining burning permits and much more.
https://burnsafetn.org/ 

Chelaque's Open Burn Procedures:
 Click here to view the Chelque Open Burn Procedures 

Chelaque’s Evacuation Plan:
Click here to view the Chelaque Evacuation Plan

Evacuation Checklist Video:
The video below provides a checklist of what to do, if you have time, inside and outside your home when a wildfire is near. To help protect your residence and assist firefighters:
- Shut all exterior doors and windows
- Turn on all interior and exterior lights
- Turn off all fans to include heating and air conditioning systems

 https://youtube.com/watch?v=wDUlVJ1GeGY&feature=share 

Preparedness Kit Website:
https://www.ready.gov/plan

If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to report the hours spent on the three areas around your home, please email the Firewise Team at: [email protected]

Your Firewise Team Members:
Doug Bowman, Co-Coordinator
Jenny Bowman, Co-Coordinator
Jill Vander Hook
Tracy Brueggeman
JoEllyn Ryan
Terry Dettmar
Mark Bourne
Peggy Stultz


Below are the before and after pictures of our Gate House which was used as a Chelaque Estates Firewise USA® model project.