Home Hardening and Defensible sPACE

Since this is the closest to your home, it requires the most vigilance to remove flammable materials such as firewood, brush, pine needles, or tree branches. 90% of structures burned in Colorado burn because of embers landing on something flammable in the first 5 ft. Keeping 5 feet around your home clear can help protect your home and is a critical step for mitigation. Use nonflammable, hard surface materials in this zone such as rock, gravel, cement, brick, or bare earth.

To Do List:

• clear gutters of debris

• do not store flammable materials under deck (no woodpiles, gas cans, etc.)

• No mulch within first 5 feet

• Screen chimney with spark arrestor

• 1/8” metal mesh screen on vents around home (do NOT using mesh screening for dryer vents or radiator vents)

• No pine needles, leaves, natural debris on roof or decks

• Firewood stored at least 30 feet away

• Limb branches 10' from structure and 6-10’ from ground

• Make sure to bring inside couch cushions, rugs, flags, etc. if evacuating

  Other home Hardening things to know:

  • Make sure your roof is class A fire resistant roof (metal, composite shingles, etc.)

  • Use Fire resistant siding (stucco, siding, rock, etc)

  • Make sure you have Multi-pane, tempered glass, or glass block windows

  • Check the weather strips on your garage and outdoor doors

Zone 2 is the first 5-30ft around the home. This zone is meant to minimize a fire's intensity and its ability to spread by giving the fire less fuel. Fire is going to move on the ground and into our canopies of our trees via fuel connection. A few ways to reduce this is to reduce large accumulations of surface fuels such as shrubs/slash, and allow for 15' between individual tree crowns. We also want to remove ladder fuels, which carry fire into the crowns of our trees.

To Do List:

• Create 15’ clearance between tree crowns (steep slopes should increase this spacing)

• Limb trees 6-10’ from ground (or 1/3rd of tree) and clear all shrubs under trees

• Remove dead and dying trees

• Ensure that shrubs are at least 10’ away from tree branches

• Ensure that branches, slash, and chips are no more than 4” deep

• Keep grasses mowed to 4” or less

• While small groups or clumps of trees are acceptable, clearance around crowns should increase to 30’ if trees are in clumps

• Remove common ground junipers as they are highly flammable and tend to hold a layer of flammable material beneath them.

Zone 3 aims to keep fires on the ground and improve forest health. A healthy forest includes trees of different ages, sizes, and species. Reducing ladder fuels and increasing space between tree crowns helps fires move to the ground to reduce the intensity of the fire. If Zone 3 moves beyond your property, we encourage you to reach out to adjoining property owners to complete defensible space.

To Do List:

• Ensure 10’ clearance between tree crowns, or 30’ crown clearance around clumps of trees.

• thin/prune shrubs. “Silo” remaining clumps to reduce the “carpet effect” across the landscape

• Remove ladder fuels from directly beneath trees

• Remove dead, dying, or diseased trees. OK to leave 1-2 trees that are dead per acre for wildlife habitat, as long as those trees are not threatening structures or roadways.