Tom Selleck stars in this well done, and very effective 33-second public service announcement, advising home owners what they can do to keep their homes from burning in a wildfire.
Tag: prevention
New Smokey Bear video and mobile apps
There is some new Smokey Bear stuff out there. One is the video below, which was posted on Smokey’s YouTube page three days ago.
Also new:
- Mobile app for Android smart phones.
- Mobile app for iPhones
- Web site optimized for mobile devices
Here is a screen shot of the mobile web site, which is identical in appearance to the mobile Android app.
I downloaded the Android app. It contains some good information, has a pleasing appearance, and it works fairly well, but has a couple of confusing design quirks. When you are on any page in the app, there is a large bar across the top that says “Back”. This, of course, takes you to the previous page within the app, but it remains there when you’re on the home page for the app, which looks like a secondary page. Touching it then exits the app.
The home page says “Campfire Safety”, which seems like it should be a sub-heading within the app. Four of the nine large buttons on the home page refer to campfire topics, while the other five are unrelated.
The Android Smokey Bear app is a good first effort, but needs a few tweaks. I would give it three out of five stars.
New Smokey Bear video
The Advertising Council, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Association of State Foresters released today a new Smokey Bear advertising campaign. It includes the poster above, the video below, radio PSAs, and an educational DVD. The announcement is a little ahead of the Smokey Bear web site and his Facebook page, which will probably have more details later.
The video is about 8 minutes long. It is animated and is directed at children, educating them about campfire safety.
The video is pretty good, and will probably be effective for the intended audience, young children.
who took over the role as Smokey’s voice in June, 2008 when a new series of PSAs was launched. One of Elliott’s first PSAs was cancelled after a controversy about the use of ATVs in the forest, but his voice was used in other videos. Washington D.C. radio station WMAL personality Jackson Weaver served as Smokey’s voice until his death in 1992. The voice was then silent until Elliott resurrected it in 2008.
Wildfire Awareness Week
This week four five states are observing Wildfire Awareness Week: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. We did some research and were able to find 12 states that in recent years have observed a week to emphasize wildfire prevention. Unfortunately the dates for the week are scattered from the second week in April through late June. If there were agreement for all states to observe it at the same time each year, there could be national fire prevention campaigns to raise public awareness. Synergy.
In a step towards this goal, this year the states of California, Nevada, and Oregon jointly proclaimed May 1-8 (or 2-8) as “Multi-State Wildfire Awareness Week”. We suggest that other states make it their policy to declare the first full week in May as “Wildfire Awareness Week”. Or perhaps it could be a month or so earlier to accommodate the spring fire seasons of some areas. The National Association of State Foresters should coordinate this fire prevention opportunity.
- Alaska: May 3-9, 2010
- Arizona: (In Flagstaff [only?] it was April 24-May 1, 2010; In 2008 both NM and AZ had a joint WAW March 29-April 4, 2008)
- California: first week in May, May 2-8, 2010
- Colorado: (In 2008 it was June 22-28)
- Florida: second week in April, April 11-17, 2010
- Idaho: first full week in June
- Maine: third week in April
- Michigan: April 18-24, 2010
- Montana: (In 2008 it was May 12-16)
- New Mexico: March 28-April 3, 2010
- Nevada: May 1-8, 2010
- Oregon: (first full week of May) May 2-8, 2010
- Pennsylvania: March 14-20, 2010
- Texas: (in 2006 it was April 1-8)
- Washington: May 2-8, 2010
If you are aware of any other states that observe Wildfire Awareness Week, let us know in a response or comment. We’ll add the additional dates as they come in.
Los Angeles to charge homeowners $13 brush inspection fee
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Los Angeles to charge homeowners $13 brush inspection fee The cash-strapped city of Los Angeles for the first time will begin charging residents living in a “wildfire danger zone” a $13 fee for having their home inspected for adequate fire clearance. Firefighters, earning overtime pay on their days off, will check to be sure flammable vegetation within 200-feet of the structures has been cleared.
If the home fails the first inspection the resident will be charged a $300 re-inspection fee. If the city has to hire a contractor to do the work, the homeowner will have to pay a $1,112 administrative fee plus the cost billed by the contractor.
A homeowner can avoid the $13 inspection fee by doing a self-inspection, but they have to provide a signed affidavit, a copy of the Tax Assessor’s map of the property, and photographs showing that the work has been done.
Kids develop system to detect and report fires
Six children in Auburn, California came up with an idea for detecting and reporting wildfires. It is one of those relatively simple, why-didn’t-I-think-of-that concepts, but it uses advanced technology. It all started as a First Lego League project, which is a global program created to get children, ages 9 to 14, excited about science and technology.
Here is how the kids explain it on their web site:
Our innovative solution would use computers and people all over the world to watch forests. The system would employ solar powered cameras mounted on poles situated throughout the forest. The video cameras would be continuously panning and would be linked by ethernet radios to a hub (one of the fire watchtowers).
The hub computer would then take the snapshots from the cameras ( a “live” feed) and store them in a web server on the internet. A free “Forest Guard” screen saver would be offered to anyone to put on their computer to show these forest photos.
As people enjoy the photos, they could also be the “eyes” to keep a look out for fires. Our research shows that nothing spots smoke better than a human. If you spot smoke, you press a key on your keyboard and Forest Guard would notify the right people (like the local fire fighters station).
Sony Europe, a sponsor of the First Lego League, became interested in the project and followed the team as they won an international competition in Copenhagen last May. Then the company provided an engineering team to help make the idea into a working prototype.
The first camera was installed in the Tahoe National Forest this winter.
Sony Europe has made a documentary about the project. Here is a trailer.
There will be a free screening of the documentary on March 27 at 7 p.m. at the Placer High School Auditorium, at 123 Agard Street, Auburn, California (map).
