The autumn air is crisp with change, and American Restoration Water & Fire realizes that the changing season means goodbye to green trees and hello to a yard full of dry leaves. Several fire hazards can arise when you have dry leaves moving freely about in your backyard. Here are a few tips on safely cleaning them up and preventing the fire hazards that they pose.
- Don’t Burn Them: Not only is it illegal in most states, but New Mexico is notorious for its dry climate and windy weather. Burning your leaves not only puts respiratory irritants in the air, but the fire can get out of control fast.
- Don’t Park on Them: Your engine isn’t the only thing that gets you home, moving parts are also under your vehicle, and if you are parking on a pile of dry leaves, you could unintentionally start a fire.
- Compost Leaves: Leaves are organic material and can easily be composted. If you don’t compost, your local social media gardening group could take them off your hands. This helps reduce the amount of waste filling our landfills, and since they are an organic material, they will break down relatively quickly.
Mulch Them: This sounds difficult, but it’s straightforward. This is great for your lawn; you can create a thin layer over your grass and run the lawnmower over them. Once you mulch them, they should be about the size of a dime and still thin enough that light and air can get through them to help break the mulched leaves down. A simple way to help fertilize your lawn! - Rake and Bag: Dry leaves condense well in biodegradable bags unless you are cleaning up acres of land. If you don’t compost and have very few bags full of leaves, clearing the fire hazards is more important than adding to your local landfill.
Taking steps to prevent fire damage to your home and your neighbor’s homes is the right thing to do! Not only do dry leaves pose fire hazards, but as they sit and accumulate fall and winter rain and winter weather, they can cause other damage like mold, which you can read about from a previous blog here. Ultimately, accidents happen, and fires start even when taking all the preventative measures. American Restoration Water & Fire is here for all of your fire damage and restoration needs. Our restoration team is efficient and effective, and ready to get you back to your daily life!