Budget-Friendly DIY Tips And Tricks To Fire Safe Your Yard

As wildfires continue to cause loss of lives, livelihoods, and property across Oregon, safeguarding homes to protect against potentially devastating events like the 2020 Almeda fire, which destroyed around 3,000 structures between Ashland and Medford, has become crucial.

There are many relatively simple and cost-free or inexpensive ways to ensure the fire safety of your own backyard. Here are a few tricks and tips to outsmart the fires to protect your home and loved ones:

Plant Fire-resistant Plants

All vegetation doesn’t have to be scraped away to create a fire-smart landscape. Fire is almost inevitable but gardens and wildlife habitats designed as a defensive space would include the careful placement of native plants.

Hundreds of native plants have evolved to coexist with fire. Rather than for example invasive butterfly bush, the mock orange, red-flowering currant, or blue elderberry can be planted.

Select fire-reluctant plants to replace plants that contain oils, resins, or waxes that could spread fire. Low-growing greenery should be planted in small clusters and surrounded by bare dirt, rock, gravel, brick, or pavers. Take small consistent steps season-by-season.

Juniper Plants Are Gasoline Plants

Firefighters call juniper gasoline plants. These shrubs are explosively flammable and Master Gardeners across the West are bringing attention to the danger with Junk the Juniper events.

A well-maintained, small juniper set apart from other plants is not an issue but old, overgrown, and dry pieces of juniper can fuel flames three times its height, quickly spreading to trees, wood fences, and decks, eventually engulfing homes.

Embers Are More Dangerous Than Flames And Must Be Handled Correctly

Homeowners need to take steps towards hardening homes and immediate surroundings against embers and flames. Embers can erupt when meeting dry needles, leaves, and other yard debris nestled close to a structure.

Floating embers look for weak spots and fire-prevention experts recommend a 10-foot area around a dwelling be clear of anything that could ignite. Late summer and early fall are the most critical times for debris removal, including clogged gutters, debris on the roof, and scrap wood stored under the deck.

Create Zones To Prevent The Spread Of Wildfires

Starting with the most vulnerable side of your home and extending protection to other areas, zones that prevent wildfires from spreading should be made and because fire doesn’t respect property boundaries, neighbors should be encouraged to make their property resilient to fire.

Create a non-combustible zone around your home and work outward to a “lean, clean, and green” zone. Depending on the slope and topography, this should extend for the next 30 feet or more.

Do A Landscape Checklist

Only grow plants with high moisture content in containers in the 5′ section next to the home.

These can be moved away from the home when wildfires threaten. Rockscapes can save your home and careful planning- alternating rocks with flammable plants can slow down or prevent the spread of fire.

Some varieties of deciduous trees and shrubs could be planted sparingly within the 10- to 30’ home ignition zone.

Concrete, stone, and gravel walkways

When surrounded by walkways, a home won’t burn. There is some maintenance as foundations and wall siding must be protected from moisture, bugs, and rot. These features also make it easier for residents and firefighters to move around the perimeter.

Clean-up Work Can Be Shared Between The Community

Done over time, people can get together as they have time available to share ideas and tools. Those who can’t do the work themselves should be given help. It’s not just good neighborliness, but a fire in an unkempt yard can quickly spread.

Simple DIY Ways To Fire-safe Your Yard

Understanding how a home ignites can be the difference between life and death. Fire prevention work doesn’t have to break the bank and much of it can be done by the homeowner, including these fire-prevention methods:

• Understand home ignition zones defined by the National Fire Protection Association. These are:

• The immediate zone: The dwelling and 5’ around it
• The intermediate zone: Up to 30’ beyond the home
• The extended zone: Up to 200’ away and could include the neighbor’s property.

• Keep house vents clear of debris.
• To prevent embers from making their way through eaves, crawl space vents, soffits, and decks, install 1/8” metal mesh screening over the entryways.
• Remove needles and leaves from roofs, gutters, plants, and around the ground within 10 feet of structures regularly, especially during fire season.
• Repair shingles, siding, and any other weak spots where floating embers could penetrate.
• Use non-flammable fencing within five feet of the house.
• Replace wood mulch with a fireproof alternative like very fine compost or rocks if inorganic mulching isn’t accessible.
• Maintain lawns and massed grass heights at four inches or less from June through November.
• Compost dead leaves as soon as possible or remove them from the property.
• Plant only what you can properly maintain and keep the soil and plants vigorous and healthy throughout the fire season.
• Never plant highly flammable shrubs and trees- including dwarf varieties, in an urban environment. Particularly flammable varieties include arborvitae, bamboo, broom, cedar, cypress, juniper, pampas grass, rabbitbrush, and sagebrush.
• Tree limbs within 10’ of chimneys or overhanging roofs must be trimmed.
• At the corners of the house- where the siding forms a 90-degree angle, identify and eradicate any possible fuel.- Temperatures from fires tend to be higher at this point and winds can create exceptionally tall flames.
• Don’t have fire logs or keep propane tanks or untreated wood decks near a structure.
• Consider fire-resistant alternatives for outdoor furniture and play sets.
• Become part of a fire-wise community

Volunteer for Ashland’s wildfire safety programs.

The key to a successful fire-safe program is to start with what can be done now and then start chipping away at the rest. It takes time and effort but a little makes a big difference.