Tips for a Defensible Home |
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Contributed by Alison Layman, Wildfire & Watershed Protection Coordinator, Office of Emergency Management
May is Wildfire Awareness Month, the days are longer and the weather is warmer, so let’s get outside! Let’s take a stroll around the outside of your home and see where to get started with wildfire preparedness. What we’re looking for are locations where embers can lodge and settle around combustible materials. We are looking at your structure because a staggering number of homes lost in wildfires are not lost because they were caught in the flame front and burn from direct contact with the wildfire. Instead, homes that are lost most frequently are because an ember, or shower of embers that take flight in wildfire winds, settled onto the home. There are ways to minimize the impact of embers.
As you walk around your home take note of gaps between logs, punctures and holes in siding, openings to attics and crawl spaces and missing shingles. Measure these spaces and record the material type and amount needed to fill, fix, or screen these locations. Remember, the goal is to stop embers from settling.
Here is a helpful list
- Block any spaces between your roof covering and sheathing with noncombustible materials (bird stops).
- Block gaps under decks and steps with 1/8” screening (or chicken wire). Be sure these gaps in screen are tight to prevent embers from getting under these unnoticeable areas and festering.
- Cover your chimney and stovepipe outlets with a noncombustible corrosion resistant metal mesh screen (spark arrestor), with 3/8-inch to 1/2-inch openings.
- Caulk and plug gaps greater than 1/8-inch around exposed rafters and blocking to prevent ember intrusion into the attic or other enclosed spaces.
- Inspect exterior siding for dry rot, gaps, cracks, and warping. Caulk or plug gaps greater than 1/8-inch in siding and replace any damaged boards, including those with dry rot.
- Install weather-stripping to gaps greater than 1/8-inch between garage doors and door frames to prevent ember intrusion. The weather-stripping must be compliant with UL Standard 10C (fire tested).
- Install a minimum 6-inch metal flashing, applied vertically on the exterior of the wall at the deck-to-wall intersection to protect the combustible siding material.
*helpful list contributed by Cal Fire.
Being wildfire aware starts with your home and structures and then works out into your landscape. If you want to talk more, please reach me to discuss opportunities to harden your home and make it defendable against wildfire. Alison Wayman, 970-382-6291
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