With home destruction from the Tamarack and Dixie fires fresh on westerner’s minds, Living With Fire, a project managed by UNR Extension, held a home retrofitting Q&A last week to help residents protect their property from going up in flames.
Dr. Stephen Quarles led the virtual meeting. He’s the retired chief scientist for wildfire and durability at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety Research Center, currently working with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
He said that between 60 and 90 percent of wildfire home losses are due to ember ignition (not direct flame contact) as small pieces of flammable material move from home to home. Hence, the basis for LWF’s “Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide” is outlining home “hardening” practices that minimize the chance of an ember ignition.
As Quarles and LWF’s guide explain, some of the easiest and most effective home improvements for residents to consider:
• Clean the roof, areas near vents, decks, and along the edge of the house frequently during wildfire season. Pay special attention to the nooks and crannies where pine needles or leaves tend to gather. Embers might get stuck here and ignite that dry plant material, creating kindling to ignite the house.
• For more protection, install rain gutter covers, enclosed eaves, and/or vent screening to prevent embers from settling along the roof’s edge or entering the home and igniting something inside. For complex roofs, residents may add metal flashing to any roof-to-wall intersections or crevices where an ember might settle.
• Create a defensible space around the home, if space permits. The zero to five feet directly surrounding the house should contain nothing combustible. (Common offending materials include flower beds, wood piles, and wood fences touching a wall of the house.) Between five and 30 feet, think “lean, clean and green.” Limit the amount of vegetation nearby and keep it well-irrigated.
• If fire is imminent and evacuees have extra vehicles to store, place them in the garage or outside as far from the house as possible. Quarles said it’s not a good idea to park the car outside right next to the house.
• LWF does not recommend fire-retardant paints, coatings, or gels. These products are often expensive and wear off quickly, offering little protection.
In a past LWF home retrofitting workshop, Assistant Professor and Natural Resource Specialist Christina Restaino said, “Fire is a critical part of our landscape here… We are used to having a lot of fire here, and we should expect even more in the future.”
To view the full “Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide” with helpful diagrams and detailed instructions, visit bit.ly/WildfireHomeRetrofit. For additional guidance, LWF is always happy to answer questions via email at lwf@unr.edu.
Future webinar topics include “Reseeding and Flood After Wildfire” on Sept. 9 and “Prescribed Fire in Tahoe and Nevada” on Oct. 14. Register at livingwithfire.com/webinars.
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