09/24/08 How to defend

At next month's Idaho Wildland Fire Conference experts from Australia will talk about their program called Stay and Defend. For more than four decades the Aussies have trained homeowners to stay and protect their property instead of evacuating in the face of an oncoming wildfire. We asked conference organizer Brett Ingles if the Stay and Defend program could be adopted in Idaho. INGLES "It's possible. It would involve a lot more work from you know community members joining rural fire districts and becoming comfortable with the idea that they're going to be responsible for protecting their home." A Montana fire chief will also talk about his community employing Stay and Defend during the two day conference October 8th and 9th in Boise. Ingles says there will also be discussions about whether federal agencies can continue to provide money to fight fires on private property. INCLES "We're running out of money. We can't protect every home and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on each home." Idaho has been fortunate this year with few wildfires, a marked contrast to 2007 when 2.3 million acres burned during the worst fire season in over 80 years. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott