How to make your home resist wildfires
To protect lives and property, we must build homes that resist fire and are designed to survive the growing threat of wildfires. Here’s how
Our mission is to advance the design and construction of wildfire-resilient homes by promoting fire-smart materials, defensible landscaping, and community education to safeguard lives and propertyKNOW YOUR RISKS & WHY IT MATTERS
More urban areas than ever are now threatened
Wildfires are becoming more intense and more frequent, because of climate change, human activity and land use pattern.
Global fire impacts
Recent years have seen unusually severe fires across the world from Australia to Europe to North and South America, claiming hundreds of lives and causing billions of dollars in damage.
2024 saw the worst wildfires in a century in Europe, burning more than 500,000 hectares and causing an estimated EUR4.1 billion in damages. In summer 2025, Europe is on track for the worst wildfire season on record, with France, Spain, Portugal and Greece hit heavily. The 2023 US fire season burned approximately 1.1 million hectares, causing $10.4 billion in insurance losses. In January 2025, the wildfires in Los Angeles marked one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern US history.
Expanding risk zones
There will be a global increase of extreme fires, but wildfires are no longer confined to traditional hotspots, such as the western US, along with western Canada, southern and eastern Australia, and southern Europe
More regions are becoming vulnerable to fires they weren’t seeing previously.
Urban expansion into wildlands is growing at a rapid pace and exposing more people and assets to wildfire.
Homeowners can make a real difference to building resilient communities
Simple wildfire mitigation measures, like creating defensible space and using fire-resistant roofing, can lower a home’s risk by about 20%, according to HazardHub. More comprehensive efforts can reduce risk by up to 70%.
Wildfire resilient design starts with understanding your risk exposure
Wildfirerisk.org defines four main factors that assess your location wildfire risk: likelihood, intensity, exposure, and susceptibility.
Knowing how these factors affect your home and community can guide you in choosing the most effective risk-reduction actions and design safer environments.
How do we assess the risk to homes from wildfires
Likelihood
Hazard
X
Vulerability
Risk Mitigation Strategies
How do homes typically catch fire
There are three main ways that wildfires can set houses on fire
Burning bits of wood or vegetation that can travel over a mile in the wind and ignite roofs, gutters, decks, or nearby plants
Hazardous Fuel Management
Probability of wildfire burning in a specific location. Mainly a factor of weather, topography.
Measure of the energy expected from a wildfire., mainly depends on physical landscape (topography) and vegetative fuel available to burn.
The combination of wildfire likelihood and intensity with things people care about, such as homes, infrastructure, or natural resources.
Assesses how easily a home can be damaged when a wildfire happens.
Emergency Response
Evacuation and Readiness
Burning bits of wood or vegetation that can travel over a mile in the wind and ignite roofs, gutters, decks, or nearby plants
Flames from vegetation or structures reach the home itself. Winds make this happen much faster.
Proactive planning and design decisions for both buildings and surroundings can have a profound impact on structure survivability and damage reductions from wildfires.
Extreme wildfires could rise by 14% in the next decade, 30% by mid-century, and 50% by the end of the century.
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal, 2022
As the number of people and property exposed to wildfires increases, designing wildfire-resistant homes is not just smart, it’s essential for protecting families and homes.
Explore your wildfire risk - Wildfire.org
Take Self-assessment of your home’s wildfire resilience
Understand what contributes to wildfire risk
How can we reduce risks
Ignition Resistant Homes
Land Use Planning
Prevent ignition
Intensity
Exposure
Susceptibility
START WITH YOUR HOUSE
What does it mean to be fire-ready
Limit Fire Damage – Houses and neighbourhoods should be designed and maintained to slow the fire’s spread, giving firefighters a better chance to protect your home.
What do different building material terms mean?
Combustible
A material that can catch fire and burn easily when exposed to flames or heat. Examples include wood, untreated siding, paper, and some plastics. Combustible materials are the most at risk in wildfires.
Fire-Resistant
A material that resists burning and slows the spread of fire, but may still char, melt, or eventually ignite under extreme heat. Fire performance has been tested (e.g. class A). Fire-resistant materials help protect a house and give firefighters more time to respond.
Non-combustible
A material that will not catch fire under normal conditions, even when exposed to flames. Examples include brick, stone, concrete, steel, and cement board. Non-combustible materials provide the strongest protection against wildfire.
“Don’t just do the minimum that the code requires. Building codes allow for homes that are only ignition resistant, even in areas we know will face wildfires. Our responsibility is to go beyond the minimum - building homes that are as non-combustible as possible.“
BAR Architects
DEFENSIBLE SPACE - YOUR OUTDOORS & LANDSCAPING
The 3 Zones
Defensible space is the buffer created between a home and surrounding vegetation to slow the spread of wildfire.
Defensible space is typically organized into three zones around the home plus a broader community zone, addressing both individual property protection and neighbourhood-scale resilience
Research and CalFire standards show that maintaining up to 100 ft around a house can make a critical difference, though in some places, like Los Angeles County, requirements extend to 200 ft.
These distances are guidelines; the right amount of defensible space depends on your site. Steeper slopes allow flames to climb faster, while terrain and wind patterns can direct fire toward a home more aggressively.
In higher-risk sites like these, increased defensible space and additional home-hardening measures may be necessary.
Creating and maintaining defensible space, tailored to your site’s risks, is one of the most effective and affordable way to protect your home.
Zone 1: Immediate - Ember resistant zone
The first 0-5 ft (or 0-1.5 m) around your home, patio, decks, balconies, is the most critical area for wildfire protection, because it is directly next to your home.
This includes keeping a 5-foot ember-resistant zone around sheds, detached garages, and other accessory dwelling units.
The objective is to prevent windblown embers from landing on or near your home and starting a fire.
Proper management here greatly reduces the risk of flames or radiant heat reaching your house, making it the strongest shield against wildfire.
Often homeowners have flammable materials and furniture near the building, including on and under deck and patio areas. This includes plastic or wooden outdoor furniture, garbage & recycling disposal, propane tanks, or sheds.
The Problem
Often homeowners have landscaped gardens including trees around the house.
Action: Keep area clear of any flammable items
Action: Keep area clear of any flammable items
Store flammable somewhere else (e.g. don’t formaterialsget to check underneath decks and porches)
Remove all combustible material around the house (e.g. mulch)
Ensure garden furniture is fire-resistant
Remove accumulated leaves and other dry vegetation from immediately around the house.
Actions: No life and dry vegetation around structures
Hardscape immediate area around the house using non-combustible surface
Setback planting with low growing and low flammability (some plants are far less flammable than others) at least 5 ft from all structures.
The Problem
Did You Know?
The “zero to five feet” clear zone around a home isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule. In places like California, many homes have large roof overhangs designed to keep interiors cool from the sun. But those same overhangs can trap embers during a wildfire, turning shade into a fire risk.
the safest buffer zone depends on your home’s structure, the bigger the overhang, the more space you should keep clear of vegetation and flammable materials.
Best practise
Hardscaping options
Gravel (e.g. gravel mulch, river rock, decomposed granite)
Permeable pavers
Concrete
“Clarkson has helped accomplish over 200 of its partners’ major conservation goals. They inspire everyone to care for the planet.”
— Quote Source
Let’s meet up in real life to share in the beauty of the natural world.
Sign up to be the first to know about our events. In sit amet felis malesuada, feugiat purus eget, varius mi. Nulla lectus ante, consequat et ex eget, feugiat tincidunt metus.