Wildfires are terrifying events, and during these emergencies, social media can be flooded with stories and images, some more accurate than others. A now-famous photo circulated in 2017 depicted a house with a lush green lawn in the midst of a charred landscape, supposedly saved by the homeowner’s running sprinklers. But the photo doesn’t tell the whole story.
The photo itself is real. However, the caption attributing the house’s survival solely to sprinklers is misleading, according to Snopes. It probably has to do with the fact, following the fire, the homeowner, Tina Tajchman, turned to social media to provide context for the image above taken by the Kansas National Guard one their four Blackhawk helicopters as they worked to contain one of the largest fires in Kansas’s history. Tajchman explained that she had been diligently watering her grass for weeks to accommodate her pet cows, and she left her sprinklers running as she evacuated her home due to the approaching fire.
I just came across this online, it’s my house!!! I honestly feel like we have our silly cows to thank! We have had our sprinklers running overtime for several weeks because the cows love eating our lawn and since we haven’t fixed the fence yet we figured with the nice weather we may as well try to grow them grass while they’re in there!
Following this, the image exploded online, spawning memes with the following caption: “Homeowner turned his sprinklers on before leaving to escape a Kansas wildfire. He came home to this.”
Here’s an example.
But that’s only half of the story. While the owner may have left her (and not his) sprinklers running during the wildfire, and this indeed may have helped, firefighters and other factors played a crucial role. Assistant Fire Chief Doug Schmitt of the Riley County Fire District also weighed in on the Kansas National Guard photograph on Facebook, mentioning that some of his firefighters had watered down the property.
I am the assistant fire chief for Riley County Fire District #1 in Manhattan Kansas. I am very proud of my firefighters who stood strong as the fire raced up to them while they were protecting this house. They first checked the house to make sure nobody was still home then they soaked the house and the detached garage behind the house that isn’t surrounded by green grass. They left as the fire raced by heading to the next house they could find.
It all happened as shown in this video recorded one day after the National Guard’s Facebook post was published.
A few days later, Tajchman confirmed this sequence of events in an article published on Kansas.com:
“We did not leave our house until 7:15 p.m. (Monday) and the video sent to us by a neighbor of our property burning was taken at 7:30 p.m.,” Tajchman wrote in an e-mail on Saturday.
“During that 15 minutes, God blessed us in the form of two Riley County firemen who showed up, made sure no one was in the home and then proceeded to soak everything they could in more water.
“Just as they ran out of water, the fire reached our back shed and they had to leave,” she wrote. “Upon reaching the end of our driveway, they set a back-burn in an attempt to stop the fire, which was successful for five minutes before jumping the road north of us.”
So while her well-watered lawn might indeed have offered some protection against the fire, she emphasized that the firefighters were the real heroes.
So sure, our silly cows and our wet lawn helped, but these two are the real heroes to whom we will be forever grateful.
We have been able to personally thank the men that saved our home (and cows and baby chicks).
How effective are sprinklers against wildfires, after all? FireSmart BC, a wildfire mitigation organization, emphasizes creating a fire-resistant zone around your house. This includes maintaining a clear space free of flammable materials and using non-combustible roofing and siding. While sprinklers aren’t a guaranteed solution, they can add another layer of defense by keeping vegetation around the house moist and less likely to ignite.
So, while sprinklers might provide some assistance, they shouldn’t be considered a silver bullet in case of a wildfire.
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