Preparing for wildfires

Fireproofing your home

There is a misconception that homeowners have no power to protect their home when it’s threatened by a wildfire.

“This cannot be further from the truth,” says Joel Hamilton, Wildfire Mitigation Supervisor for the Regional District of Central Kootenay. “Having an understanding of where your home’s vulnerabilities lie and taking even the most modest of actions to mitigate them can mean the difference between returning to your home safely or returning to a loss of structure.”

In fact, fireproofing your home may not be as costly as you think. A recent study, sponsored in part by the insurance industry, compared the cost of traditional building materials to those specifically designed to halt or slow the spread of fire.

The results were fascinating:

For a three-bedroom, 2,500 square-foot build, adding a fire-resistant roof, vents and gutters increased material costs by $6,000 (or 27%). Fire-resistant doors and windows added another $5,000. However, the increase in cost can be offset by using fire-resistant fibre-cement siding, meaning the overall cost increase is only 2%.

Building or renovating with fire resistance in mind

The cost of fireproofing a home doesn’t have to be prohibitive, at least to address the most significant vulnerabilities.

The Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide, published by The University of Nevada, The University of California, and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, details how many components of a home can be retrofit to increase their fire resiliency.

Some of the most critical components include:

The roof

The most important aspect of a home to consider is the roof. Speaking to the LA Times, University of California forestry advisor Susie Kocher says, “roofs are the number one factor that contribute to the flammability of a home because they can serve as large landing pads for embers.”

Both The Home Retrofit Guide and FireSmart Canada use a standard rating system for the fire-resilience of roofing materials: Classes A, B, and C. Class A roofs are the most fire resistant. These include roofs fitted with fibreglass composition shingles or clay tiles, for example. Any roof presently fitted with wood shingles or shake would benefit from an upgrade to a Class A material. The right combination of lower-class materials, if installed a certain way, can be as effective as a Class A material (referred to as a “Class A by assembly” rating).

Aside from refitting the whole roof, there are other steps that homeowners should take to improve their roof’s fire resiliency. Most notably, it’s important to remove debris (especially dried leaves and other combustible vegetation) from the roof—including gutters. Installing metal flashing at any roof-to-wall intersections also improves fire resistance, as embers are likely to gather at these points (just as leaves or other debris do).

When faced with a wildfire threat, any dormer windows or skylights should remain shut.

Vents

Vents, whether leading to the attic, a crawlspace, or elsewhere, are a prime entry point for embers. All vents be covered by a minimum 1/8-inch screen, made of non-combustible, corrosion-resistant material. Finer screens are even better at preventing embers from passing through.

Vent screens should be checked regularly for tears or corrosion. Inside the home, avoid storing anything combustible near vents—a particular concern with attic vents, given how often attics are used as storage space.

Windows

Some windows are prone to cracking and breaking when exposed to the heat of an approaching wildfire. Multi-pane windows with tempered glass hold up best to heat. In addition to the right glass, a window screen can prevent embers from entering the home if the glass does break.

Windows should remain shut during a wildfire threat.

Decks

Many decks are made of wood, which is certainly susceptible to fire. It’s important to create a fire-resistant zone around the home and the deck (more on that in the following section). Additionally, installing metal flashing on wooden joists or replacing them with metal joists helps. Even if most of the deck surface is wood, the boards closest to the house should be replaced with something non-combustible.

Fences

Like decks, many fences are made of wood. A separation between a combustible fence and the house is ideal. Failing that, any fence sections within about 2 metres of the house should be replaced with non-combustible material.

For more details about building or retrofitting your home for wildfire resistance, consult Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide or FireSmart Canada’s guide. For some low-cost retrofit options, see this list from Cal Fire.

FireSmart Home Ignition Zones

FireSmart is a partnership of community members, local governments, firefighters, community leaders, and industry partners, brought together under one umbrella by a not-for-profit organization called “Partners in Protection,” whose goal is to reduce the threat of wildfire.

FireSmart recommends various ways to protect your home from damage caused by wildfires. A report by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) shows the results of a study to see how at-risk communities are complying with these guidelines.

One area that stood out as a potential problem was vegetation near homes. While there are regulations surrounding the types of materials that can be used in home construction, vegetation surrounding a property was identified as the single largest contributor to homes lost in wildfires.

Based on this, FireSmart developed a framework for identifying and mitigating these potential fire hazards: the Home Ignition Zone, or HIZ.

Immediate Zone

The first 1.5-metre radius immediately surrounding your home (and including the building itself) is the most critical area to consider for fire protection. This is the Immediate Zone.

“Over half of observed structure loss during a wildfire event is due to the accumulation of embers igniting combustible material and vegetation within the first ten metres surrounding a structure,” says Hamilton. “The homeowner’s focus should start in zone 1, and then working outward.”

“Simple tasks such as removing the leaves from a home’s eavestrough and under decks, replacing the combustible doormat or relocating wood stacked against a home to at least ten metres away will drastically improve the resilience of a home.”

Keep zone 1 clear of vegetation and deadfall. Keep grass in the area mowed and watered. This fuel-free space gives firefighters a chance to save your home from an advancing fire.

“At the same time,” continues Hamilton, “consider improvements such as replacing single pane windows and combustible siding, installing six-inch metal flashing where combustible wall features meet and installing 1/8-inch metal vent screening on all open vents.”

Hamilton suggests checking out FireSmart BC or the Regional District of Central Kootenay for more information.

If you’re ever planning to construct a new home, keep non-combustible building materials in mind during the design process. Ditto if you’re planning major renovations.

Intermediate Zone

Between 1.5 and 10 metres from your home is the second priority zone, known as the Intermediate Zone. Within this area, FireSmart recommends the following actions:

Extended Zone

The Extended Zone is comprised of the radius from 10-30 meters away from your house.

In this zone, the goal is about reducing the intensity of any fires that happen to enter the area. You can accomplish this goal by doing the following:

For more valuable tips, and to complete a home hazard assessment, check out the Fire Smart Manual for one of these provinces: Alberta or BC. For more detailed information about protecting your home from wild fires, take a look at the Homeowner’s Guide published by the BC Forest Service.

Preparing your family

Despite the best prevention efforts, wildfires may still threaten your community. When they do, it’s important to be ready. Have a plan for yourself and for your family.

Emergency plans and grab-and-go kits

A wildfire action plan should include the following:

1. A meeting point outside high-risk areas, in case a rapid evacuation is necessary while your family members aren’t together.
2. Escape route plans, both from your home and from the wider area. Every family member should know where to go in case of an evacuation.
3. Arrangements for pets and livestock, especially those you won’t be able to easily take with you.
4. A family communication plan, which includes someone outside the area to serve as a contact point for all family members. Click here for a sample document.

“As an evacuation alert may be pending for some time, and evacuation orders can happen suddenly, it is very important to be prepared,” says Hamilton. “Make a list of the items you, your family and your pets require while away from your home for several days and ensure they can be assembled on short notice.”

Hamilton recommends including the following on your list:

• Extra (appropriate) footwear and clothing
• Travel documents
• Extra vehicle keys
• Credit cards
• Medication
• Sanitation supplies
• Copies of important documents (passports, birth certificates, etc.)
• Flashlights
• Irreplaceable valuables
• Anything else you feel is appropriate

“This Grab-and-Go kit for your family and pets is recommended to anyone living within an area potentially effected by wildfire and should be able to be assembled on short notice.” He says.

Hamilton also recommends establishing a trusted contact away from your area, who can pass messages on to loved ones and help coordinate logistical needs for you in case you experience cell service interruptions. For more information on pre-planning, Hamilton suggests checking out FIRESafe MARIN or speaking to your local fire department.

Other evacuation prep tips

There are several other things you can do in advance to prepare your family for a wildfire evacuation:

1. Have your family members practice using fire extinguishers.
2. Ensure everyone in the house knows how to shut off utilities (gas, electric, and water) in the event you have to leave quickly.
3. Prepare emergency supply kits for each of your vehicles.
4. Share your plans with your neighbours, and encourage them to make similar plans if they haven’t.
5. Make copies of important documents like birth certificates, passports, wills, and so on. If you’re comfortable setting up secure online storage, digital backups are useful. Otherwise, make sure there’s a set of hard copies stored somewhere away from your house (like with a family member).

Home insurance considerations

Fire coverage is a fundamental part of home insurance policies. Fortunately, that includes wildfires.

Obviously, it’s important to have homeowner’s insurance that covers the cost of rebuilding your house if the worst should happen. But home insurance will also cover the cost of replacing personal property lost to a wildfire. On top of that, it includes additional living expenses (ALE) coverage. ALE covers extra living costs you incur if you’re ordered to evacuate due to an insured peril (like a wildfire), or if you have to live elsewhere while you’re home undergoes repairs.

For these reasons, everyone should have an active home insurance policy, whether they own or rent their home.

Want to learn more? Visit our Home and Personal Safety resource centre to find more information about protecting your family and your home. Or, get an online quote in under 5 minutes and find out how affordable personalized home insurance can be.