DEFENSIBLE SPACE

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■ Use hard scape such as concrete or

noncombustible rock mulch around

your home.

■ Clean roofs and gutters of dead leaves,

debris, and pine needles.

■ Store firewood and other combustible

materials away from your home, garage,

or attached deck.

■ Prune away touching or over-hanging

branches from the roof to a distance

of at least 10 feet.

■ Replace or repair any loose or missing

shingles or roof tiles to prevent ember

penetration.

■ Rake and remove flammable

vegetation, such as leaves and needles

or wood mulch, from underneath your

deck and away from your home.

■ Use non-wood, low-growing

herbaceous vegetation. Succulents,

or other fire-resistant plants, are recommended choices.

■ Create vegetation groups or islands

to break up continuous fuels around

your home.

■ Remove ladder fuels to create a

separation between low-level

vegetation and tree canopies to

keep fire from climbing into trees.

■ Remove leaf and needle debris from

the yard.

■ Keep lawns, native grasses, and

wildflowers less than four inches in

height.

■ Store firewood and other combustible

materials away from outbuildings such

as a shed or barn.

■ Move trailers, recreational vehicles,

storage sheds, and other combustible

structures out of this zone and into

Zone 3. If unable to move, create

defensible space around them as if they were apart of your home. 

■ Create and maintain a minimum of 10

feet between the tops of trees.

■ Safely remove ladder fuels up to a

height of 10 feet, while retaining at

least 75 percent of the foliage, to

create separation between the ground

and tree branches. This keeps fire from

climbing into the tree canopies.

■ Store firewood in this area, keeping it

a safe distance from your structure.

■ Create space between shrubs and

trees to eliminate a continuous fuel

bed at the ground level.

■ Remove dead trees, shrubs, and all

other dead or dry vegetation.

■ Create separation between your

property and your neighbors.

Consider that your trees may pose a

greater risk to your neighbor’s home

than to your own.