‘Firewise’ planning, landscape design, and maintenance is important in areas where fires frequently occur. Homes built on the wildland / urban interface are particularly susceptible to the destructive effects of wild fire.
Proper design firewise planning and design includes creating several landscape zones to create a defensible space around buildings and other structures.
Four basic zones are recommended for creating and planning a firewise landscape design:
Zone 1
- Provide at least a 30’ buffer where tall plants are not grown on all sides of buildings and other structures
- Mow tall dry grass
- Provide enough space for fire suppression equipment to access the entire site
- Use fire resistant plant species
- Use proper irrigation close to building and structures
Zone 2
- Use low growing fire resistant plant species
- Use irrigation in this zone
Zone 3
- Plant low growing fire resistant plants
- Properly place trees away from structure and space them far apart
- Fuel load (vegetation volume) should be low
Zone 4
- Furthest zone from the building structure
- Use natural plantings
- Thin out highly flammable species
Although using fire resistant plants is important, appropriate planning and design is a large part of fire prevention.
Additional Resources:
Videos
Firewise Landscaping Part 1: Overview
Firewise Landscaping Part 2: Design and Installation
Firewise Landscaping Part 3: Maintenance
Firewise Foundation Plantings (Oklahoma)
Sites
Extension Disaster Education Network – Fire (Wildfire)
Wildfires – Utah State University Extension
West
Colorado – FireWise Plant Materials
Idaho – Firewise.org (Facebook)
Firewise Plants for Utah Landscapes
Fire Safety
Fire Safety/Wildland Urban Interface
Selecting Firewise Plants
Midwest
Great Plains – Firescape – Firewise Landscape Design
Southeast
Florida-Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting and Maintaining Firewise Plants for Landscaping
Wildfire risk assessment guide for homeowners in the Southern United States