Fire Wise Landscaping: Protect Your Martinez Home

Written by Beatrice Karnes

It took five exhausting hours in scorching heat for firefighters to extinguish a brush fire near Concord on Monday. That fire blackened nearly 500 acres, leveled three outbuildings and threatened homes.

Some fire protection districts in Colorado, where thousands of homes have been lost to wildfires in the past five years, require residents to take specific fire mitigation steps in order to be placed on a ‘save’ list. Those homes are mapped by GPS and special efforts are made to save the homes because firefighters have a better chance of protecting them from flames.

While that’s not the case here—firefighters aim to save every home—it’s a good idea to make you home as defensible as possible.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), has provided these tips to keep your home safe:

Defensible Space

• Create a fire safe landscape 100 feet out from your home (30 feet is required by law)
• Remove native vegetation and replace it with low-growing, fire resistant plants
• Stack firewood and scrap lumber at least 30 feet from any structure
• Remove dead tree limbs hanging over your home

Organic Gardening offers specific tips for your landscaping:

Use Nonflammable Materials

• Choose concrete, stone and brick for patios, pathways, fences and retaining walls
• No wooden decks, balconies or fences
• No ornamental bark

Fire Resistant Plants

• Agave
• Candelabra tree
• Echeverias
• Nopal cactus
• Soapweed