!! Wildfire Prevention !! Home Hardening & Vegetation Risk Reduction
Living in the foothills of the mountains, fire is is an ever-present threat. Wildfires in the mountains can be started by human carelessness or by lightning, and our homes are vulnerable. In conditions of drought, the danger of fire becomes more extreme. Sandia Heights is rated by insurance companies as having very high fire risk. The following resources discuss practical steps towards wildfire-proofing one's home.
Ember-Resistant Vents and Vent Screening - Windborne embers can travel as far as a mile and are responsible for about 90% of home ignitions. This powerpoint presentation gives a step-by-step DIY process for covering roof vents with steel mesh, thereby preventing embers from gaining easy entry into one's home.
Creating defensible space - This brochure, with its cartoon illustrations of a typical home in a wildfire-prone neighborhood, points out all the features of streets, nearby vegetation, home exterior, and home interior that can be redesigned to minimize wildfire's potential damage.
Creating defensible space for certification - not required yet by home insurance companies - Planting, exterior structure, and property maintenance guidelines developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). These recommendations are intended to form the basis of future certification requirements by insurance companies. It is an eye-opening read, as few existing houses would qualify. For example, for a distance of five feet around the entire perimeter of the house, there should be either hardscape or bare soil, with zero vegetation of any kind.
Fire Wise Plant Materials - Catalog of plants that are more fire resistant than others, along with tips (e.g., remove dead trees!) for creating a fire safety zone around one's house.
Ready, Set, Go Education - Advice from a coalition of New Mexico Firefighters on steps homeowners can take in advance of a wildfire, to minimize damage to their family and property.
Bernalillo County Open burning rules and burn bans - County policy on fires and burning outdoors. (note: Sandia Heights covenants also prohibit trash burning. They further state barbeques cannot be closer than 10 feet to a lot boundary, unless part of the home's structure).
2025 Wildfire Seminar - Many fire prevention resources from local first responders and county officials; this seminar was developed specifically for Sandia Heights residents.
Coexisting Safely with Wildlife
Situated in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, Sandia Heights shares habitat with an impressive array of wildlife. Bears, coyotes, bobcats, deer, and the occasional mountain lion are visitors to our area, along with smaller animals like rabbits, rock squirrels, raccoons, bridled weasels, pack rats, and various native mice. Bull snakes, rattlesnakes, and coachwhip snakes are also part of our environment, helping keep the rodent population in balance. Numerous bird species, from bluejays and roadrunners to hawks and other raptors, also make their home here. By choosing to live in Sandia Heights, our residents embrace both the thrill of seeing wild animals outside our windows and the responsibility to coexist harmoniously with our wild neighbors. One aspect of living with the wildlife component of our neighborhood is preserving the natural habitat in Sandia Heights through which the wild neighbors move and live.
Keeping Bears Alive and You Safe! - Don't put out trash, don't put out food, back away if you see one. This article gives the advice most long-term residents have ingrained in their heads. Note that Sandia Heights Services, the company that manages trash collection for Sandia Heights (as well as water services), states that trash bins should be out no earlier than one hour before collection time, due to persistent problems with human-bear encounters at or near trash cans.
Living with Predators - Coyote, bobcat, and bear awareness
More On Bobcats - Small natural history lesson on bobcats
Rattlesnake safety practices - How to identify different snakes in Sandia Heights - and how to avoid rattlesnakes, which are the only dangerous species locally.
Mice and Rats! - A description of the more common species of local mice and rats - and what you should do about them.
Packrats - How to eliminate packrats without poisoning; save all the higher wildlife in the ecosystem!
Plague and Hantavirus - Plague and Hantavirus are two rodent-borne illnesses that are lethal but extremely rare. This article describes both and advises that if you see a dead rodent or rabbit -- leave it alone, out of an abundance of caution.
New Mexico Game and Fish Publications - Plentiful information about hunting and fishing in New Mexico.
Environmental Quality (Light and Noise)
One of the privileges of living in Sandia Heights is being able to see the stars on a clear night. Towards the west, the city glow washes out the nighttime view of our galaxy, but if we turn towards the north or east, we can see all the major constellations in those directions. Cameras with nighttime photo capture will even pick up the reddish glow of an aurora borealis on evenings when strong CMEs (coronal mass ejections) are hitting the earth. There are multiple dark sky areas in New Mexico, but the restrictions on lighting in our neighborhood allow us to appreciate nearly the same skies right at home.
Light pollution and night-sky protection - Bernalillo county ordinance on outdoor light fixtures. Briefly, they need to be shielded and pointing downwards, so as not to contribute to ambient light pollution.
Another feature of our neighborhood is its relative quiet. In addition to low housing density and distance from commercial centers, Sandia Heights conforms to County noise ordinances, which can be researched in the document below.
Noise pollution basics - Bernalillo county specifications on permissible noise levels and noise types.