The Homeowner's Role

As a resident in a rural or forest area, you play a key role in wildfire protection. Perhaps you are already a member of a group organized to protect yourselves from fire. Cooperative groups have been formed after almost every large fire in North America, to develop protection strategies to prevent future fires and the related losses.

You are responsible for protecting your buildings and property. If you already live in, or are planning to build in rural areas, you should take fire into account. It isn't difficult. Common sense will help you plan precautions.

The Basic Steps to Wildfire Protection

1. Understand how wildfires start and spread
2. Choose a building site that offers natural protection
3. Build a house that is fire-resistant, or improve the fire-resistance of your present house.
4. Use firewise landscaping principles to reduce a fire's ability to spread easily.
5. Follow fire-safety rules.

These steps all work together. When you are weak in one factor, another strong step may make up for it. For example, wildfire has less chance to reach the foundation if you keep material that easily burns away from the building. This way, how the construction materials used for the foundation aren't quite as important. But, if a vital step is lacking in an important area, any improvements may mean nothing. If vegetation is growing right next to the building, the building my burn even though other measures were followed.