On private lands, local fire districts are beseeching homeowners to create a defensible space around their structures. This is done generally by removing fuels within at least 100 feet of the house. Undergrowth is overgrown. Gutters are jammed with pine needles. Wood is stacked under the deck.
Dead branches litter the area.
It s so if a wildfire comes through, it allows the property to survive because the area has been cleared. Creating this defensible space is critically important, the chiefs said, when the geography is working against the homeowner. Sometimes access is difficult because roads are narrow or winding. Water supply is minimal. As homes are built in rural areas, often the land slopes, which allows fires to easily spread uphill.