What is Defensible Space?

Defensible Space is the buffer you create between a building on your property and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surrounds it. Defensible Space is essential to improve your home's chance of surviving a wildfire.

Defensible space will help slow or stop the spread of wildfire and protect your home from catching fire – either from direct flame contact or radiant heat.  Defensible space is also important to help protect firefighters when they are defending your home. 

Your home may be the most valuable investment you ever make. If you live in a high-risk fire hazard area, protect against the chance of losing that investment by creating defensible space and "hardening" your home with fire-resistant construction materials and design.  

Creating defensible space does not mean you need a ring of bare dirt around your home! Through proper planning, you can have both a beautiful landscape and a fire safe home.

Resources:

• NEW! Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide Produced by a team of fire scientists from California and Nevada, this 20-page publication provides step-by-step guidance on retrofitting homes to improve their resilience to wildfire. The booklet includes recommendations for 12 vulnerable components of homes in wildfire-prone areas, including roofs, gutters, vents, siding, windows, decks and fences. The study and publication was funded by CalFIRE along with a number of other partnering agencies.
• NEW! Low-Cost Retrofit Flyer
• NEW! Low-Cost Retrofit List - Low-Cost Ways to Harden Your Home
• CalFire - Low Cost Ways to Harden Your Home
• Basic Defensible Space & Vegetation Management Guidelines For Property Owners
• Maintain Defensible Space
• California Fire Safety Council
• Fire Resistant Plants For Landscapes, printable. Updated July 2022.