Is Your Home In The Wildland-Urban Interface?

by Anna Glendenning | More from this Blogger

08 May 2006 11:33 AM

It won't be long before the hot, dry days of summer return along with the increased risk of wildfires. During wildfire season, homes and landscaping interact with nature and the results can often be increased or reduced risk for complete loss of your home and everything inside of it. Even with the wide difference in climates and settings there is no region safe from the devastation of wildfires. The greatest areas of risks are where homes and dwellings are built next to forest lands. These areas are often referred to as the wildland-urban interface.

As we push out the boarders of our cities and build more homes and structures on the edge of the natural environment the risks increase for homes, outbuildings and landscaping to burn in time of catastrophic wildfire. When wildfires happen in these areas, there may be limited resources to fight a fire and firefighters are often forced to choose between attacking a fire and defending a home.

Homeowners generally will have higher Insurance premiums for homes built in wildland areas due to the increased risks. Homeowners can also make their home and property safer by using firewise landscaping techniques The website FireWise.org offers resources for designing and installing firewise landscapes in wildland-urban interface areas.

As we move to the wildland-urban interface areas what was once a forest, field or pasture is now an office complex, shopping mall, highway or home. Much of this modern building has taken place in the path past fires and surely in the path of future fires. We are moving to areas where wildfires have taken place naturally for centuries. Many of these homes, buildings and other structures have simply added fuel to help accelerate and spread wildfire. Homeowners can use landscaping to protect property and lives from wildfire. Trees grow; careful pruning preserves their appearance, structural integrity, and functional values. But pruning also maintains its ability to resist fire.

The Firewise.org Resources for Homeowners website offers several helpful tips about different landscaping ideas including taking proper care of trees, pruning branches six to ten feet from the ground for example interrupts the fires path. Homeowners can learn about caring for shrubs and how they need to be well-spaced to break up the fire ladder. Homeowners can learn to identify which landscape features increase and reduce a chance for fire risk. The fact is that even healthy landscapes, have fire risks if there is a build-up of leaf litter and other debris. Sometimes it is the little things that give fires a chance to start.

Taking some time now, to understand how you can lower your risk for wildfire destroying your home now while it is still spring and by understanding how to have fire safe landscaping could make a big difference this summer when the wildfire really start to blaze. Look forward to future Blogs on the topic of landscaping for wildfire prevention as the season approaches.

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Related Blogs:

• Is Your Home In The Wildland-Urban Interface?
• Landscaping To Reduce Wild Fire Risks For Homeowners.
• Firewise Landscaping: Trees
• Evacuation Planning

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firewise, homeowner, risk management, Wildfire