Fire Safety – Protection and Prevention Controls – May 2024, Advisory Notice
Background:
Property owners in Chestnut Mountain Farms enjoy the benefits from the natural beauty of our heavily wooded mountain terrain throughout the annual four seasons. With the beauty of this protected wilderness is the responsibility to protect the environment from physical damage and personal safety. While natural forces (heat, wind, lightening strikes) are beyond human control of the risks from wildfires or home fires, owners do have a responsibility to prevent our personal actions from contributing to fire risk.
Insurance carriers for both the CMF common areas managed by the HOA and for individual homeowners consider CMF to be in a high-risk category for fire damage. The HOA is responding by working with the McGrady Fire Department to lower the community risk. Individual action by property owners is also required.
Fire Prevention Owner Responsibilities:
Owners will be held accountable for the following practices. This applies to locations where the owner has a home on their property, has ownership of undeveloped parcels, or for all communal areas and facilities within CMF.
Owner initiated fires for pleasure or for ground and facility maintenance are prohibited unless they meet the following criteria.
- An adequate source and volume of water must be accessible.
- The location of the fire must be free of excessive brush and tree canopy coverage.
- The fire must be contained in a formal firepit lined with rocks or other fire-resistant materials such as the brick composite components used in fire pits.
- Grills and other formal fire containers are also allowable, but also must be in areas generally free of excessive brush or tree coverage.
- Ashes must be completely extinguished promptly before individuals depart from the fire source.
- Our security service, our road and common area grass and tree trimming and snow plowing service providers and HOA Board members will report any violations of these guidelines if the non-compliance is identified in the performance of normal community responsibilities.
The intent of this advisory notice and the controls established are not intended to prevent outdoor cooking and the pleasure that a fire can bring for warmth in an appropriate container. As owners in this community, we seek to reduce the risk from any nature driven or unintentional fire related event.