WILDFIRE ALERT: IS YOUR HOME PREPARED?
Despite record-breaking rainfall this year, the risk of wildfires persists. To increase your property’s chances of surviving a wildfire, it’s essential to create a defensible space around your property and reinforce your home or business with fire-resistant materials.
- Create a defensible space. Minimize your home’s exposure to risk by modifying the vegetation space around it to help resist a wildfire. California requires 100 feet of defensible space around your property.
- Increase your home’s defenses.
- Consider building your roof or re-roof with materials such as stone, slate, metal, clay tiles or asphalt shingles, which offer the highest resistance to fire.
- Cover all vent openings with 1/16-inch to 1/8-inch metal screening, as flying embers can enter your house through vents.
- If possible, windows should be double-paned with one pane of tempered glass; it’s recommended to help reduce the chance of breakage in a fire, especially if facing large areas of vegetation.
- Keep rain gutters clear or enclose rain gutters to prevent the accumulation of plant debris.
- Cover your chimney and stovepipe outlets with a non-flammable screen. Use metal screen material with openings no smaller than 3/8-inch and no larger than 1/2-inch to prevent embers from escaping and igniting a fire.
- Additional things to consider:
- Have a fire extinguisher and tools such as a shovel, rake, bucket and hose for fire emergencies.
- Store all combustible and flammable liquids away from ignition sources.
- Make sure your address is clearly visible from the road.
- Consider having multiple garden hoses that are long enough to reach all areas of your home and other structures on your property.
For more information on wildfire safety, visit sdge.com/Wildfire-Safety.
