CREATING DEFENSIBLE SPACE

 

The most important person in protecting your home from wildfire is not the firefighter, it is the property owner and the action the property owner takes before there is a fire. One of the key elements a fire needs is fuel. On your property, that fuel is the vegetation around your home.

DEFENSIBLE SPACE is the area between a house and an oncoming wildfire where the vegetation has been modified to reduce the threat, slow down and cool the approaching fire, and provide an opportunity for firefighters to effectively defend the house.

That space is usually defined as a 30 foot area around the house.

Depending on the slope of the property, that area could increase up to 100 feet.

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Effective Defensible Space doesn't mean bare ground. These tips can create an attractive, well vegetated, yet defensible area around your home.

  • Clean the area of dead trees, fallen branches, twigs, leaves, dead shrubs and trash.
  • Replace native plants with ornamental landscaping plants or shrubs that are fire resistant. Space shrubs 15 feet apart and no higher than 18 inches. See FIREWISE LANDSCAPING.
  • Prune tree branches to provide a 10 foot clearance from the roof and 15 feet from any chimney.
  • For trees taller than 18 feet, prune lower branches within six feet of the ground.

  • Stack firewood and scrap woodpiles 30 feet from any structure.

 

  • Space trees so their crowns are at least 10 feet apart.

 

  • Keep grass cut to 2 inches and keep well watered.

 

  • Keep driveways and access roads clear. Trim any overhanging branches up to at least 15 feet.

  • Consider providing an emergency water supply of 1,500 to 10,000 gallons, with a gasoline powered pump in case electrical power is lost.
  • If your water supply is a well, consider a gasoline powered electrical generator for the well pump.

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This site is provided for your convenience. The information and links are provided so that your home and family can live in a safe, reduced fire risk area.

 

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Updated November 17, 2002

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