Your home’s wildfire risk may be higher than you think

Wildfires like the one this summer that killed 19 elite firefighters near Yarnell, Ariz., can’t be stopped. But there’s plenty homeowners can do to protect their properties.

If you don’t think you should take remedial action, think again. One-third of all houses are located in what fire safety officials call wild-land urban districts, which are near or among areas prone to wildfires.

Worse, perhaps, wildfires have ravaged houses in three-fourths of the 50 states. And with more and more people choosing to live in rural areas closer to nature, the chances are greater than ever that someone you know — maybe even you — will lose a house to a fire.

Nearly 30,000 fires have burned 2.5 million acres already this year, according to the latest count by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. And the state with the most fires isn’t California, Arizona or another place in the West. It’s Georgia.

Fortunately, wildfires are covered by standard homeowner insurance policies. But the best insurance is prevention. Here, gathered from a number of sources, are some steps you can take to protect your house, improve its fire resistance and shield it from indirect exposure:

• Choose a fire-wise location. Canyons may offer a beautiful view, but they tend to act as chimneys, drawing the fire and accelerating the speed at which it spreads. A level site is better than a sloped one. A grass fire moves up a slope four times faster with flames twice as high as fire on level ground because hot gases rising in front of the fire preheat the up-slope vegetation.

If you’re building new, you can avoid this kind of topography. Also, find out about prevailing winds, seasonal weather conditions and the local fire history, so you can plan your landscape design accordingly.

• Implement landscape safety zones. Work on your surroundings so the landscape will not bring a fire to your door. Do this by creating three safety zones, the combined extent of which will depend on your property lines and your risk. In high-risk areas, even a zone reaching 200 feet from the house may not be enough.

The first zone should be a well-irrigated area that circles the structure for at least 30 feet on all sides. If your house is on a slope, though, a clearance of between 50 and 100 feet may be necessary, especially on the downhill side of the lot.

Plantings in this area should be limited to carefully spaced indigenous species. Beware of “ladder fuels,” or vegetation that serves as a link between the grass and treetops and enables the fire to climb into trees or onto your house.

Trees and shrubs are fine in the first zone, as long as dead or low-hanging branches are removed and the height of ground vegetation is controlled. But the more grass, the better, because a wide lawn can serve as a fuel break just as much as a driveway. Ditto for plants with a high moisture content.

Your irrigation system should also reach the second zone, which can contain a limited number of low-growing plants and trees spaced at least 10 feet apart. Dead or dying limbs should be trimmed away, and no live limbs should come within 10 feet of the structure. On trees taller than 18 feet, prune away branches that are less than six feet from the ground.

In the third zone, thin selected trees and remove highly flammable vegetation such as dead or dying shrubs and trees.

• Consider your roof, walls and windows. The landscape zones you construct around your house should keep all but the most ferocious wildfires at bay. But if one does happen to break through this protective zone — usually from wind-blown embers or firebrands, sometimes more than a mile away — ignition is most likely to occur on the roof.

Fire officials say eye-catching, untreated wood-shake roofs are the No. 1 cause of home losses in wild-land areas because they can catch wind-blown sparks. If local rules allow, a better choice is factory-treated shakes. But consider using such noncombustible or fire-resistant roofing materials as Class A shingles, metal, cement and concrete products, or tile made from slate or terra cotta.

Fire-resistant subroofing also can improve survivability. But don’t be fooled into thinking an expensive roof sprinkling system will stop a fire. You need a large volume of water to make a roof safe, yet water pressure is generally at its lowest during a fire. Also, the electricity needed to run the system is likely to fail, and the high winds that usually accompany a wildfire often divert the spray away from the roof.

Walls, too, should be made of fire-resistant materials such as stucco or masonry. Vinyl can soften and melt during a fire, offering little or no protection.

If you’re building a new house, minimize the number and size of windows on the downhill side, the side most likely to be exposed to a fire. Smaller windows perform better than larger panes, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders’ research unit, and double-pane and tempered glass are more effective than single-pane glass. For greater protection, windows, sliding glass doors and skylights should have nonflammable screening shutters.

To prevent sparks from entering your house, screen your chimney with noncombustible wire mesh. Also, cover exterior attic and under-floor vents with mire mesh — plastic or nylon screening will melt — with openings no larger than an eighth of an inch. Screen under your porch, too, as well as any other areas below the ground line.

Also, locate your under-eave roof vents near the roofline rather than near the wall to prevent heat or flames from becoming trapped inside. For the same reason, the eaves themselves should be boxed or designed with minimal overhang.

Finally, inspect your house occasionally, looking for breaks and spaces between roof tiles, warping wood or cracks and crevices in the structure where fire or sparks could enter.

lsichelman@aol.com

Distributed by Universal Uclick for United Feature Syndicate.