How to Protect Your Home from Wildfires

Wildfire season is coming to California soon. The fall months have seen the worst wildfires in recent memory, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes at some point in the last few years. Finding yourself in the path of a raging wildfire is not the time to consider how to defend your home from catching fire and burning to the ground. Instead, you need to plan ahead and take action in advance. There are several things that you can do to minimize the risk that your home will be lost to fire.

How to protect your Home from Wildfire: Defensible Space

Defensible space means clearing an area around your home, and leading up to your home. That means removing brush, wood piles, and vegetation radiating out from your house in all directions. Plant fire-resistant plants in that zone, such as succulents, or low lying plants, such as grass. Keep all trees within the defensible zone free from dry branches, dead leaves, and overgrowth.

How to Protect your Home from Wildfire: Replace Your Wood Roof

Wood shake roofing is the most susceptible roofing in a fire. All it takes is a loose ember landing on it and the fire can spring to life on your home. Replace these old roofs with more modern options, such as tile or composition materials that are fire resistant. Also, clear rain gutters and roofs of dead leaves and pine needles.

How to Protect your Home from Wildfire: Maintain Emergency Access

Make sure that your house is clearly marked with an address number. Also, if you live in a rural area, make sure that emergency vehicles can reach your home and maneuver around it. Keep roads clear of old unused vehicles, overgrown vegetation, and other hazards. In large wildfires, firefighters need to make difficult decisions on what homes to defend and what homes to let burn. It is easier to defend a home that has been maintained and is accessible. You also need to maintain emergency access to have clear route out of the fire area. Evacuations will be ordered in waves in a large fire. That is not the case if a wildfire suddenly comes to life in your area. Rural residents should be prepared to evacuate a wildfire at a moment's notice.

How to Protect your Home from Wildfire: Educate Yourself and Your Family

For more information on how to protect your home in case of a wildfire, do some additional reading. The FEMA website has more detailed information that can help you to assess what your personal fire risk is, and what steps you can take to minimize that in advance.