I was shocked when I learned that 60 to 90% of the houses that burn in wildfires are ignited when tiny embers from a fire hit the house. Not from flames. Not from heat. In order for that to happen there has to be a place where the embers are caught for enough time to ignite the surface they’re on.
These embers are carried by the wind from the fire, and can travel miles ahead of the fire. That’s why home hardening is so crucial in making our homes fire safe. Home hardening means that the home is built with fire safe materials, like a Class A roof. And that it has little to no cracks or openings, no flammable parts in it or attached to it, no space for the embers to land and easily ignite the house.
There are lots of resources that show how to protect your home from wildfire — at least as best as possible. And it’s the law to have 100 ft of defensible space all around your homes. This 100 ft. includes Zone 1 and Zone 2. Zone 1 goes to 30 ft out from the house and Zone 2 goes from 30-100 ft. Next is Zone 3 that goes on to 120 ft. — all on flat ground. The distance is greater when the property’s on a slope, and that’s determined by the steepness of the slope.
The theory of defensible space zoning came from the Los Angeles County Arboretum in the 1960’s in response to large fires that occurred in the area. It’s been so effective that it has been adopted throughout the world.
Now, there’s a new law that came into effect on January 1 that applies to those of us in high fire risk areas. It’s the addition of Zone 0. Zone 0 is called the Ember-Resistant Zone and it requires us to keep the first five ft. from our houses clear of clutter and flammable items. That can mean plants. It also means garbage bins, toys, tools, anything else that isn’t fireproof.
It does mean no organic mulches. Instead, the ground can be covered with gravel, stone, decomposed granite, or concrete. And it needs to stay free of weeds.
I think it’s a good regulation, it’s supported by science. Because 90% of houses that burn in a wildfire are ignited by flying embers ahead of the fire. Those embers can hit the house, they often land in the dry flammable materials, ignite them, and start the house burning.
And every house that burns contributes to a worsening fire, sending embers on to the next area.
An outcome of the Camp Fire
After the Camp Fire, the city council of Paradise was addressing its laws about how to proceed with better fire safety. There was a list of regulations recommended by the fire department. But there was a lot of resistance. Concerns included that people wouldn’t be able to afford to build there or move back there.
And the idea that you can’t have your foundation shrubs in the front of your house was too much. It goes against our collective idea of what’s been a standard landscape aesthetic.
A city council member asked the fire professional in the room what would be ONE thing that would make a difference in fire safety. The fire professional answered...the first five feet.
It was incomprehensible to the city council to restrict people’s planting in that area. One that is held dearly in our collective sense of aesthetics.
Nobody wanted to force anyone to give up that nice space for a foundation planting.
They voted it down. Every single one of the council members voted it down. A proven practice that can hugely lower the risk of your house burning to the ground from the greatest cause of loss of structures to fire. (In a town that just suffered so much!) In fact, they voted down all of the fire professional’s recommendations.
Well, the state of California went on to make the first five feet a law, a law to protect everyone.
If you can find a copy of the documentary Bring in the Brigade, watch it. It covers the Camp Fire in Paradise and the Woolsey Fire in Malibu...they both started Nov. 8, 2018, and each has cost billions.
Let’s welcome a new aesthetic
Nobody wants their house and their community to burn. Defensible space zoning recommendations work and have been adopted globally.
We need to welcome a new aesthetic that keeps us safe. What we have grown up with is not always the best choice for our current world.
Zone 0 is designed to keep us all safe. Surely we can all come up with what to do with that 0-5 ft. space out from our homes.
Think of the possibilities: stone walkways and patio space, rocks with paths leading into a low profile planting of non-flammable plants outside the 5 ft. space. Or just nothing, knowing that your home is safer when fire weather hits. And it protects neighbors and the whole community.
Fire-safe landscaping doesn’t mean no plants, but it means the best choices for each of the defensible space zones. It doesn’t mean all lawn either, because we can’t always sustain the water needs of lawns in our climate.
I realize that many people have mature plantings within that first five feet. But it’s worth considering making a change. You may want to request a Defensible Space Advisory Visit from the Nevada County Fire Safe Council to help. Some plants may be admissible.
Resources to help you get safer
And of course, the Nevada County Fire Safe Council offers chipping programs and defensible space evaluations for your home’s exterior and landscape. You can request a Defensible Space Advisory Visit from a trained volunteer to help you with improving your fire safety at areyoufiresafe.com/programs.
Considering all things to do to make your home safer, clearing Zone 0 is the first thing you can do. It might be easy or it may involve a lot, like removing established plants (this is the time of year to do that), but it can help you eliminate a major cause of home loss in wildfires.
