Fire Preparedness: How To Fire Harden Your Home
By Summer Knight
2025 President
Santa Barbara Association of Realtors
As wildfires continue to impact communities throughout California, including the current fires in Los Angeles, it’s crucial for us in Santa Barbara to take proactive steps to protect our homes and loved ones. Fire-hardening your home doesn’t just reduce the risk of damage, it can save lives. Drawing on valuable insights from the California Association of REALTORS®, here’s what you need to know:
Address These Vulnerabilities First:
- Upgrade Your Roof: If your roof is made of shingles or wood, consider replacing it with Class A fire-rated materials such as composition shingles, tile, or steel.
- Seal Roof Gaps: Inspect your roof for gaps and seal them to prevent embers from entering your home.
- Vent Safety: Cover all open vents, including chimneys, with 1/8” mesh to block embers. Move any combustible materials away from vents, both inside and outside your home.
- Fire-Resistant Walls: If your home has wooden walls, think about remodeling with ignition-resistant materials like stucco, fiber cement, or fire-retardant-treated wood.
- Gutter Protection: Use screens to cover rain gutters and keep leaves and debris from accumulating.
- Vegetation Management: Maintain defensible space around your home by:
- Keeping only small, well-pruned plants with high moisture content within 20 feet of your house.
- Removing all vegetation within five feet of the property.
- Window Upgrades: Install multi-paned, tempered glass to reduce the likelihood of windows breaking due to heat and allowing embers inside.
Did You Know?
Embers are the most dangerous part of a wildfire. Carried by the wind, they can land directly on your house and ignite it, even if the fire itself is far away. Every inch of your home could be a vulnerability, so it’s important to take comprehensive measures to harden your property.
Additional Fire-Safety Tips:
- Ensure your home’s address is clearly visible from the street to help emergency responders locate it quickly.
- Equip your home with at least one fire extinguisher, or two if you have a detached garage.
Stay on Top of Ongoing Maintenance:
- Regularly clean out rain gutters.
- Remove dead plants, dry leaves, and other flammable debris from your property.
- Trim trees that come close to your home.
- Clean outdoor decks, especially between deck boards, to prevent trapped leaves from becoming a fire hazard.
- Check your fire extinguishers annually to ensure they’re not expired.
- Keep your driveway and access roads in good condition for emergency vehicle access.
By implementing these measures, you’ll help ensure your home is better protected against wildfires. Let’s work together to keep our Santa Barbara community safe.
Special thanks to the California Association of REALTORS® for providing these vital tips.
Summer Knight is a Santa Barbara native and top producing Realtor at Sun Coast Real Estate. Summer has been a member of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors for over 20 years and currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors. Reach Summer at 805-886-1261 or summer.k.knight@gmail.com.
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