Avoiding Wildfire Damage: a Checklist for Homeowners FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Avoiding Wildfire Damage: A Checklist for Homeowners FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

If you live in a forest or wildland area, you face the real danger of wildfire. Wildfires destroy thou- sands of homes and devastate hundreds of thousands of acres of woodland every year. Protecting your home from wildfire is your responsibility. To reduce the risk, you’ll need to consider the fire resistance of your home, the topography of your property and the nature of the vegetation close by. This homeowner’s checklist will help learn what you can do. You should also contact your local fire department, forestry office, emergency management office or building department for information about local fire laws, building codes and protection measures. Always be ready for an emergency evacuation. Evacuation may be the only way to protect your fam- ily in a wildfire. Know where to go and what to bring with you. You should plan several escape routes in case roads are blocked by a wildfire.

➧ Do you know your wildfire and other vegetation near your • Thin a 15-foot space between risk? home. The greater the distance tree crowns. between your home and the vege- Learn about the history of wildfire • Replace highly flammable vege- tation, the greater the protection. in your area. Be aware of recent tation such as pine, evergreen, weather. A long period without eucalyptus, junipers and fir trees rain increases the risk of wildfire. Create a 30-foot safety zone with lower growing, less flam- Consider having a professional around the house. mable species. Check with your inspect your property and offer Keep the volume of vegetation in local fire department or garden recommendations for reducing the this zone to a minimum. If you store for suggestions. wildfire risk. live on a hill, extend the zone on • Replace vegetation that has living Determine your community’s abil- the downhill side. Fire spreads or dead branches from the ground- ity to respond to wildfire. Are rapidly uphill. The steeper the level up (these act as ladder fuels roads leading to your property slope, the more open space you for the approaching fire). clearly marked? Are the roads will need to protect your home. • Cut the lawn often. wide enough to allow firefighting In this zone, do the following: equipment to get through? Is • Clear the area of leaves, brush, your house number visible from • Remove vines from the walls of dead limbs and fallen trees. the roadside? the house. • Move shrubs and other land- Create a second zone at least ➧ Have you thinned out and scaping away from the sides of 100 feet around the house. maintained the vegetation the house. This zone should begin about 30 around the house? • Prune branches and shrubs feet from the house and extend to All vegetation is fuel for a wildfire, within 15 feet of chimneys and at least 100 feet. In this zone, though some trees and shrubs are stove pipes. reduce or replace as much of the most flammable vegetation as more flammable than others. To • Remove tree limbs within 15 possible. If you live on a hill, you reduce the risk, you will need to feet of the ground. modify or eliminate brush, trees may need to extend the zone for

1 several hundred feet to provide ➧ Are eaves and overhangs burning heaters. Use spark the desired level of safety. enclosed? arrestors made of 12-gauge welded Like porches and balconies, eaves or woven wire mesh screen with ➧ Are combustible materials trap the heat rising along the exte- openings 1/2 inch across. Ask away from the house? rior siding. Enclose all eaves to your fire department for exact specifications. Identify all combustible materials reduce the hazard. outside the house. Stack firewood If you’re building a chimney, use 100 feet away and uphill from the ➧ Are house vents covered with non-combustible materials and make sure the top of the chimney house. Keep the gas grill and wire mesh? propane tank at least 15 feet from is at least two feet higher than any house. Clear an area 15 feet Any attic vent, soffit vent, louver obstruction within 10 feet of the around the grill. Place a 1/4 inch or other opening can allow embers chimney. mesh screen over the grill. and flaming debris to enter a home and ignite it. Cover all ➧ Is the house siding fire openings with 1/4 inch or smaller resistant? ➧ Are sun decks and porches corrosion-resistant wire mesh. If enclosed underneath? you’re designing louvers, place Use fire resistant materials in the siding of your home, such as stuc- Any porch, balcony or overhang them in the vertical wall rather co, metal, brick, cement shingles, with exposed space underneath is than the soffit of the overhang. concrete and rock. You can treat fuel for an approaching fire. wood siding with UL-approved Overhangs ignite easily by flying ➧ Is the roof made of non- fire retardant chemicals, but the embers and by the heat and fire combustible materials? treatment and protection are not that gets trapped underneath. If permanent. vegetation is allowed to grow The roof is especially vulnerable underneath or if the space is used in a wildfire. Embers and flaming for storage, the hazard is increased debris can travel great distances, ➧ Have windows been treated significantly. land on your roof and start a new to reduce the risk? fire. Clear leaves, trash and other com- Windows allow radiated heat to bustible materials away from under- Avoid flammable roofing materials pass through and ignite com- neath sun decks and porches. such as wood, shake and shingle. bustible materials inside. The Extend 1/2-inch mesh screen from Materials that are more fire resis- larger the pane of glass, the more all overhangs down to the ground. tant include single ply mem- vulnerable it is to fire. branes, fiberglass shingles, slate, Enclose wooden stilts with non- Dual- or triple-pane thermal glass, combustible material such as con- metal, clay and concrete tile. Clear gutters of leaves and debris. and fire resistant shutters or crete, brick, rock, stucco or metal. drapes, help reduce the wildfire Use non-combustible patio furni- risk. You can also install non- ➧ ture and covers. Are chimneys and stovepipes combustible awnings to shield If you’re planning a porch or sun covered with spark arrestors? windows and use shatter-resistant deck, use non-combustible or fire- Chimneys create a hazard when glazing such as tempered or wire resistant materials. If possible, embers escape through the top. glass. build the structure to the ground so To prevent this, install spark that there is no space underneath. arrestors on all chimneys, stovepipes and vents for fuel-

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