Palisades fire @LATimes Twitter/X 1-7-25
Suzanne Potter, producer/reporter, California News Service, a bureau of Public News Service.
As Los Angeles starts to recover from the firestorm, people are looking for ways to harden their homes against future mega-blazes.
Experts said the massive destruction from the Palisades and Eaton fires has some people discouraged, thinking there is nothing they can do to defend their homes.
Michele Steinberg, wildfire division director for the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association, said in fact, homeowners can significantly reduce their risk.
“Home survival is down to making sure that the exterior of the home cannot carry ignition,” Steinberg explained. “By that we mean non-combustible roofing, siding, good windows that aren’t going to crack under heat.”
The home ignition zone is the five-foot area around your structure, so anything within the perimeter, including decks, porches, and fences, needs to be made of non-combustible material. Screens on vents work to prevent embers from being sucked up into the home.
California’s statewide building code is considered one of the strongest in the country. It specifies how buildings should be designed and maintained and how they should be sited with appropriate defensible space. Steinberg added the state helps people find fire-safe materials.
“They actually list products that meet those standards,” Steinberg pointed out. “You can actually find manufacturers and people that have provided those products on the California State Fire Marshal’s website.”
Experts also cautioned against putting dry wood mulch or climbing vegetation up against the house.
