Defensible Space Placarding Program

Purpose

The defensible space placard allows the homeowner to visually notify firefighters responding to a vegetation fire in their area that they currently have a certified defensible space and home. Firefighters can quickly and confidently choose the home or homes that they will try to protect by utilizing the current and certified information on the placard.

The defensible space placard allows firefighters to make an objective decision based on certified information about a home’s defensible space rather than guessing, which may result in them choosing to protect another home instead of yours. To see the Defensible Space Placard Features and a list of abbreviations used on them please click on the link.

How to Get Your Own Defensible Space Placard

1. Call Firescape to setup an initial evaluation (707) 894-2008.
2. Firescape will complete the initial evaluation using the form shown above.
3. Once the Firescape Evaluation form has been completed the homeowner will be able to immediately start work on complying with the evaluation form.
4. The homeowner may choose to have Firescape complete the list of defensible space work. Usually, Firescape will include an estimated cost for the work to be done in order to comply with the evaluation form.
5. As soon as the homeowner believes that his or her property conforms to the standards and recommendations of the Firescape Evaluation Form then the homeowner should immediately call Firescape to schedule a re-evaluation of the property.
6. The Firescape Inspector will complete the follow up evaluation to confirm that the property meets all critical criteria spelled out in the Evaluation.
7. When the final evaluation is satisfactorily completed and the home meets the defensible space critical criteria then the homeowner will be able TO ORDER AND PURCHASE A DEFENSIBLE SPACE PLACARD.
8. As soon as the placard is completed, a Firescape technician will install the placard in a strategic location at the base of your driveway.
9. Your property will then be certified and posted as “Defensible”. Firescape will notify your local firefighting jurisdiction that your home meets our stringent criteria and has been placarded as such.
10. Your defensible space placard shall be considered certified for a period of three years after which time you will need to have a simple Firescape re-evaluation of your defensible space. If you choose not to have the re-evaluation done and/or do not respond to Firescape’s notification of renewal then the Firescape Placard will be removed by one of our technicians and disposed of.
11. **All annual grasses within 300 feet of the home shall be cut to a height of less than 3” and maintained throughout the fire season in order to retain the defensible space certification.**

Defensible Space Terminology and Definitions

I-Zone: Also known as the urban interface zone. This is a label given by the fire service to an area where homes and the existing wildlands have become mixed together.
Structure triage: Means to sort. Structure triage is a term used by the fire service to describe the process of sorting through the many homes in an area of a wildfire that may be exposed to fire and thus be in need of protection. The sorting process allows firefighters to deploy a limited amount of firefighting resources to homes that have a chance of being saved with firefighters help (Defendable). The other homes (Not Defendable) are given a lesser priority for firefighting resources because of a variety of reasons: Poor fire safe construction features, no defensible space, long inaccessible driveways and a lack of an external water source to name just a few.

Structure Protection in the Fire Service

Firefighters conducting structure protection on homes in the wildland urban interface zone (I-Zone), is no easy task and it is only getting harder. More and more homes are being built in the I-Zone, or rural areas, that were previously free to burn naturally while being only slightly impeded by fire suppression efforts. Large housing developments are being built farther into the I-Zone than ever before and there seems to be no limit as to how far into that zone people will build. With populations on the rise in urban interface areas and with more and more homes being built into the wildland interface zone, firefighters are left with the awesome tasks of trying to protect those homes and all of the lives represented by their presence.

Conducting structure protection is not done until structure triage has been completed. Structure triage is a method used by firefighters to evaluate a home’s defensible space work and to see if the home has any built in fire resistive features that would aid in it’s protection against the wildfire. In addition, during the structure triage mode, a fire crew will also factor in the ease of ingress and egress, slope of the area and note any major topographical features that will exacerbate the effects of fire. On small wildfires triage is usually done by the Engine Company Captain in just a few moments. On large campaign fires they are generally done by Division Supervisors, Field Observers and Strike Team Leaders. There are many reasons why the Engine Company Captain may elect to pass by your home to defend another one. Some of those reasons are listed below:

1. Overgrown or impassable driveway
2. Cannot see the home from the roadway
3. No defensible space work has been done
4. Inadequate defensible space
5. No turn-around at the end of the driveway
6. Shake roof and/or shake siding on the home
7. Leaf litter and/or needle cast on the roof and in the gutters
8. No extra water supply on site
9. No address posted at base of driveway or on the home
10. Home adjacent to yours can be seen from your driveway. It has some of the following desirable characteristics: A proper defensible space, no shake siding or roofing materials, water supply in some sort of tank accessible to the fire department, accessible driveway with the brush cut back at least 30 feet on either side, with a nice turn-around near the end of the driveway or at the home.

The Firescape evaluation form, pictured below, covers all of the triage areas that firefighters look for as well as checks most of the California PRC 4291 regulations. This list is basically everything that a first arriving fire crew boss or engine company officer must evaluate in just a few seconds.

A Great Offense...

Is a 100 foot defense! Does your home have a 100 foot defensible space?

Get Certified!
Find out about our Defensible Space Placarding Program.

State of California Wildfire News, Regulations and Defensible Space Information:

Please click on the CAL FIRE logo above.

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