At SaddleBrooke’s National Firewise Awareness Day event, held Saturday, May 2 at the MountainView Clubhouse, participants learned about preventing wildfire damage and destruction to our homes and properties.
Taking these simple steps can help us live in a resilient community, noted one speaker at the event. In addition to minimizing or removing combustible items from the immediate surroundings of your home, you can install wire mesh screening on vents to prevent wind-blown embers from lodging in your roof or attic and starting a fire.
According to the National Fire Protecton Association, flying embers are a leading cause of home ignitions during wildfires. When wind-driven burning embers land on or near the structure they can start small fires in the immediate area around the house, which can spread upward and inward until the house ignites.
What Are Embers?
The embers of a fire are small burning pieces of wood, vegetation or building material that are lifted into the air during a wildfire. Once airborne, wildfire embers can be carried by the wind for miles, traveling far ahead of the main wall of flames.
Embers are often small and lightweight, making them capable of slipping into vents, accumulating in gutters or settling on debris near your house. There, they can smolder for hours until they gain enough heat to ignite the surrounding material. Smaller embers can spark multiple small fires that quickly combine into a larger blaze capable of destroying your home.
Experts estimate that ember ignition is the leading cause of home loss, with an estimated 90 percent of homes destroyed indirectly by wind-borne embers. Embers can land on a home’s patio furniture, doormat, deck, landscaping or roof. Once these items ignite, fire can quickly spread to the rest of the home, making embers one of the greatest threats to structures during a wildfire.
Our SaddleBrooke homes feature fire-resistant construction materials—tile roofs and stucco exteriors—and our yards include hardscapes (rocks, gravel and concrete or stone patios). Thus, flying embers are one of the biggest dangers against which we can take steps to mitigate.
Flying Ember Mitigation Strategies
- Gutters: Check your gutters for debris. Keep them clean of leaf litter. Noncombustible gutters can also shield your fascia boards from exposure to flame sources.
- Vents: Cover attic, eave and foundation vents with 1/8 inch or finer wire mesh to prevent large embers from entering your home. This screening can also help protect against pack rat intrusions into an attic.
- Dryer Vents: Check to make sure your dryer vent has a noncombustible lover or flap.
- Chimney Spark Arrestor: If you have a fireplace, make sure the chimney has an approved spark arrestor installed.
- Patio Furniture: If a wildfire threatens, move all combustible patio furniture, including cushions and umbrellas inside the home or garage.
- Barbecues and Small Propane Tanks: Move these into the garage if a wildfire threatens.
- Garage Doors: Adjust garage doors to fit as tight as possible. Close doors if a wildfire threatens.
Take steps to protect your home from wildfire danger and encourage your neighbors to do the same. For more Firewise preparedness tips, visit Firewise.org or check with our SaddleBrooke One and Two Firewise teams.
