Protect fire-vulnerable points in your home with fire-resistant materials and installation methods.
Fire has three weapons.
But that doesn’t mean we have to surrender to them. We need to take every precaution to protect our homes and neighborhoods.
All three are dangerous.
If a neighboring home is on fire, that home’s radiant heat, active flames, and cast-off embers are all threats to your home.
The smallest is deadliest.
Wind-carried embers can ignite homes up to a mile away.
Use a top-down approach to home hardening
Download the Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide and CAL FIRE’s low-cost ways to harden your home.
Roof
The most exposed, fire-vulnerable part of your home.
- Regularly remove leaves and other debris from your roof.
- Replace flammable materials with composition, metal, clay, or tile.
Chimney
If embers can get out, they can get in.
- Cover with metal screening with openings between 3/8-inch and 1/2-inch.
- Close the fireplace flue when the chimney is not in use.
Vents
Open vents are open invitations to flying embers.
- Install flame-resistant vents; consider vents recommended for WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface).
- Cover all vent openings with 1/16-inch to 1/8-inch metal mesh.
Rain Gutters
Clean them or close them.
- Regularly remove leaves and other debris from your roof.
- Replace flammable materials with composition, metal, clay, or tile.
Eaves
Easily-overlooked corners where deadly embers can gather.
- Box in roof overhangs with flat under-boards that block embers and debris from getting under your roof.
- Do so with fire-retardant or noncombustible materials.
Windows
Heat alone can break them and let fire inside.
- Install dual-paned windows with tempered glass.
- Screen working windows to increase ember resistance and reduce radiant heat.
Outside Walls
Most common home siding burns easily.
- Build or remodel with stucco, fiber cement siding, or another fire-resistant material.
- Make sure siding covers everywhere from the foundation to the roof.
Decks
These count as part of your house, too.
- Build decks and any surface within 10 feet of your home using fire-resistant materials.
- Fill the ground underneath your deck with gravel; cover the opening to it with metal mesh (1/16-inch to 1/8-inch).
Garage
Think of it as your car’s bedroom.
- Put weather stripping around and under the garage door to keep embers out.
- Treat windows and vents as you would inside your home.
Fences
Attached fencing invites fire.
- If you can, separate fencing from your house.
- If separating isn’t possible, upgrade the closest five feet to fire-resistant material such as steel.
