Maintaining a fire smart yard will protect your home. Follow this weekly checklist to keep your home safe.
If you contract someone to care for your yard, review this checklist with them. And remember – the key to fire safety is maintenance, maintenance, maintenance!
Clear Zone 0
▢ Remove combustible items within the first 5 feet around the house
▢ Remove hazardous plants like juniper, Italian cypress and bamboo
▢ Use non-combustible mulch, like gravel, stones or pavers
▢ Remove leaves and debris from
Zone 0
▢ Gutters
▢ Rooftops
▢ Beneath bushes
▢ Under decks and staircases
▢ Behind garage or sheds
Limb up trees and trim branches
▢ Prevent fire from spreading from the ground to tree tops by removing the lowest branches of the trees to at least 6’
▢ Keep bushes and plants low beneath trees to avoid “fire ladders”
▢ Remove dead branches
▢ Trim branches 10 ft from the roof
Raise the “skirts” of bushes and hedges
▢ Trimming bushes a couple feet from the ground will allow you to keep the bed beneath clear of leaves
Keep space between plants
▢ Thin out bushes and plantings to allow space between plants to prevent the spread of fire
▢ Weed and clean beds regularly
