5) MAINTAIN

Don’t allow anything flammable near your house!

CAL FIRE guidelines explain how to develop and maintain defensible space. This includes reducing and thinning vegetation so that an approaching fire will drop to the ground and run out of fuel before it reaches your home – also making sure there is nothing near your home that can be ignited if embers land on it.

Create defensible space by reducing flammable material in three zones of priority, starting from your home outward:

• Zone 0 is the 5 feet closest to your home (and the first 6 inches vertically). This zone should ideally have nothing flammable at all in it, so embers will find nothing there to ignite. Any plants in this zone should be away from vents and windows; they should also be low-growing, irrigated, well-maintained, healthy, and free of any dead material or leaf litter. This is the MOST IMPORTANT ZONE, and this is where you should start.

• Zone 1 includes the area from 5′ to 30′ out from your home (starting from the outer edge of any attached structures such as decks). In this zone, vegetation should be thin, low, sparse, and well-maintained, with no dead material. This is especially important near the house’s windows and vents.

• Zone 2 occupies the area 30′ to 100′ out from your home. In this zone, keep grass cut low, trees limbed up, and all vegetation spaced and separated, so that anything that might catch fire is unlikely to ignite anything else.

Check out this helpful graphic to understand the zones and their requirements.

If you are low-income, and age 65+ or with a disability that prevents you from doing the fuel-reduction work yourself, see if you qualify for our FREE Defensible Space Assistance For Income-Eligible program (DSAFIE).