Fire Safety Resources

The PDFs on this page will help you protect your home in the event of a canyon fire as well as provide important information regarding safely evacuating and what you can do to be alert and ready to go in the event of a fire.


Red Flag Warnings and What They Mean

Red Flag Warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when weather events may result in extreme fire behavior. Red Flag Warnings typically are triggered when there are any of the following weather conditions:

  • low relative humidity

  • high heat

  • strong winds

  • dry fuels

You can read more about Red Flag Warnings here.


Fire Prevention Tips

  1. Create a 5-ft. Zone around all structures of NO FLAMMABLE MATERIALS, especially bark, mulch, dead leaves, wood, and other debris. Remove coco-fiber door mats, brooms, etc. No wooden fences should lead to the house. Roofs and gutters must be cleared of pine needles and dead leaves regularly, since even an A-rated roof can ignite otherwise. Gutters should be of metal (not plastic). Use a 5-ft. rope to clear the appropriate distance from all sides of your home. Rock and gravel, concrete paths, brick, pavers and dirt are ideal ground covers near the structure.

  2. Within a 30-ft. Zone, there should only be green vegetation and widely- spaced fire-resistant plants (cacti and succulents are best).

  3. Within a 100 ft. Zone, widely-spaced plants and trees are acceptable, as long as their branches are trimmed 5ft. above the ground and dead branches and leaves are removed. The ground should be cleared of flammable grasses and weeds.

  4. Examine your home for any openings, crevices, eaves and niches where embers could enter the structure. Seal all openings (chimney, roof and wall vents) with 1/8” metal mesh.

Because of the unique properties of our canyon with a single-lane evacuation road (Glenoaks Blvd.), the Fire Dept. warns us that if we cannot leave the canyon in time, we may have to shelter in place within our homes. This fact makes taking the above-mentioned steps even more urgent, since your and your family’s lives could depend on the ability of your home to survive a fire. A few of the preparations may require you to spend some money, but 75% of preparations can be made and repeated by each homeowner.

 

Fire Safe Landscaping Tips

One of the main things you can do to make your home as safe as possible from a wild fire is to properly landscape. The attached guide from the LA County Fire Dept. provides some tips on fire safe landscaping. You can read the guide and get valuable information here: Fire Safe Landscaping.


In Case You Need to Evacuate

Because we live in a one-way canyon, it is always better to evacuate early. The canyon will quickly fill up with cars trying to exit and emergency vehicles trying to extinguish the fire. Please review the attached document to learn about when you should evacuate, how you should evacuate, and what you should do if evacuation is not possible. Read more here: Evacuating from a Wildfire.