DEFENSIBLE SPACE
A Guide to Fire Safety
fire.lacounty.gov
Hardening Your Home
Addressing ornamental vegetation adjacent to your structure is a critical element in structure survivability. Defensible space requirements are outlined in the Fire Code, but there is more to defensible space than clearing or maintaining native brush. Many homeowners have increased their fire risk by planting or not maintaining their ornamental landscape.
Creating and maintaining defensible space is essential for increasing your home’s chance of surviving a wildfire. It’s the buffer homeowners are required to create on their property between a structure and the plants, brush, trees, or other items surrounding it that could catch fire. This space slows the spread of wildfire and improves firefighter safety when defending homes. In high fire hazard areas, the maintenance requirements may extend to 200 feet from structures.
Preventing conditions where fire can travel from adjacent fuels through an ornamental landscape to your structure is the key to creating defensible space. Fire spreads through convection, conduction, radiation, and embers. Proper maintenance of ornamental vegetation reduces ember production, fire propagation, intensity, and the duration of approaching flames.
This brochure visually details the most critical landscape conditions and clarifies what should be done to prepare your home for the greatest chance of survival. Follow these guidelines to properly prepare and pass your next wildfire safety inspection (Annual Defensible Space Inspection).
Your Home Is Your Castle!
The Los Angeles County Fire Department takes great measures to protect you and your property from wildfire. Yet, we need your help in preparing your home and landscape to be wildfire-ready.
Vegetation Conditions:
- Trees touching/overhanging structure: Remove limbs within five feet of any structure and 10 feet from any chimney outlet. Trim trees up to six feet or one-third their height.
- Vines and climbing plants: Remove from all structures.
- Hedges and screens between homes: Reduce and maintain to a height of no greater than eight feet.
- Large shrubs under windows: Maintain 12-inch separation under windows.
- Ground cover: Maintain at 18-inch maximum height.
- Dead vegetation: Remove all dead material within 100 feet of structures.
Specific Plants:
- Italian Cypress: Remove if center of trunk is within 10 feet of any structure.
- Junipers: Remove within 10 feet of any structure.
- Bougainvillea: Remove from all structures.
- Wisteria/Trumpet Vines/Creeping Fig: Remove from all structures.
- Palms: All palm trees should be free of dead or dying fronds. Consider removing unmaintained trees.
- Pines: Maintain all pines free of dead material.
Additional Resources:
- Ready! Set! Go!
https://www.fire.lacounty.gov/rsg - Fuel Modification Guidelines
http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/forestry-division/forestry-fuel-modification/ - Brush Clearance Inspection Video
http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/forestry-division/fire-hazard-reduction-programs/ - Wildfire in the West Video
http://www.denverpost.com/fireline/ci_24638312/watch-fire-line/ - Safe Landscapes Resources
https://ucanr.edu/sites/safelandscapes/
Ornamental Landscaping Recommendations:
- Trees touching or overhanging structures: Must be pruned back to provide a five-foot minimum separation from the roof. Chimneys require a 10-foot separation.
- Vines and climbing plants: Must be removed from any structure.
- Hedges and screens: Reduce to a maximum height of eight feet. A five-foot-wide walking path must be provided around the entire structure.
- Maintain shrubs free of dead wood: Provide 12-inch space under windows.
- Trees and shrubs between homes: Prevent overhang onto any structure. Provide five-foot breaks in horizontal continuity.
- Maintain ground cover: Keep at a maximum height of 18 inches, free of dead material.
- Remove Junipers: Clear within 10 feet of any structure.
- Remove Italian Cypress: If within 10 feet of a structure.
- Palm fronds: Remove dead or dying fronds and consider tree removal.
- Maintain trees within 100 feet of structures: Remove all dead wood, especially from pine and eucalyptus trees.
- Fire access streets or driveways: Maintain a minimum of 16 feet of vertical clearance. Oak trees may be maintained at 13.5 feet.
Landscaping Best Management Practices:
- Fuel Ladders: Provide adequate separation between ground covers, shrubs, and trees. Avoid large shrubs beneath trees.
- Native Plants: Use low-growing varieties within 20 feet of structures. Introduce small grasses, succulents, and herbaceous plants closest to structures.
- Plant Density: Focus on mature plant size, form, and density. Use high-moisture succulents and small grassesto break up woody elements.
- Xeriscape: Utilize garden accents, pathways, and dry streambeds to create vegetation breaks and enhance landscape maintenance accessibility.
Fire safety starts with you! Maintain your landscape, remove fire hazards, and protect your home from wildfires.
For more information: fire.lacounty.gov