Fire Safety: Living with Fire

Arson | Campfires | Debris Burning

Creating an Effective Survivable Space

Are you worried about the wildfire threat to your home, but aren't sure how to get started making your home survivable? Follow these recommendations to an effective, survivable space.

Is there at least a 30-foot-wide area surrounding your home that is "Lean, Clean and Green?"

Lean...small amounts of flammable vegetation.

Clean...no accumulation of dead vegetation or other flammable debris.

Green...plants are healthy and green during the fire season.

• Prune: Branches and limbs 6 to 10 feet off the ground on all trees within a 30 to 100 foot radius of buildings.
• Remove: Limbs within 10 feet of chimney, and dead limbs overhanging buildings.
• Screen: Half-inch mesh screen on chimney outlet.
• Clean: All needles and leaves off roofs and out of gutters.

Lean, Clean, Green checklist

• Emphasize the use of low-growing herbaceous (non-woody) plants that are kept green during the fire season. Herbaceous plants include lawn, clover, a variety of ground covers, bedding plants, bulbs, and perennial flowers.
• Deciduous ornamental trees and shrubs are acceptable if they are kept green, free of dead plant material, ladder fuels are removed, and individual plants or groups of plants are arranged in a manner in which adjacent wildland vegetation cannot convey a fire through them to the structure.
• Where permitted, wildland shrubs and trees should be removed from this zone and replaced with more nonwoody plants such as flowers. Individual specimens or small groups of wildland shrubs and trees can be retained so long as they are kept healthy, free of dead wood, and pruned to reduce the amount of fuel and height, and ladder fuels are removed.
• For some areas substantial removal of wildland vegetation may not be allowed. In these instances, wildland vegetation should conform to the recommended separation distances, should be kept free of dead plant materials, pruned to remove ladder fuels and reduce fuel load, and arranged so it cannot readily convey a fire from the wildlands to the house. Please become familiar with local requirements before removal of wildland vegetation.
• Tree limbs within 15 feet of a chimney, encroaching on power lines, or touching the house should be removed.

Title: Living with Fire
Last Updated: May 4, 2007