Wildfire Protection That Starts in the Yard | SERVPRO® of North Fort Worth

8/1/2021 (Permalink)

If your home is damaged by fire or any other reason, SERVPRO of North Fort Worth is ready and able to repair any damage.

One of any Texan’s greatest fears, especially if you have land or livestock, is seeing your property go up in a wildfire, and wildfires are a more frequent perpetrator of property loss than you might imagine. They’re seemingly inexhaustible, and with so much of our world being made of combustible and organic material, it’s a small miracle that we are able to get them contained at all.

But there are ways by which we can shield our homes from wildfire, aside from the simplest and most impactful, which would be simply being more careful.

Today, let’s learn about “defensible space.”

What Is Defensible Space?

It’s not a new Star Trek thing—“defensible space” is a series of buffer zones you can create around your home by getting rid of dry fuel like brush and dead trees, adding gravel, concrete or treated plants near your house, pruning your trees to prevent fire from spreading easily, and keeping plants and trees at safe distances from one another.

Think of it as turning your land into a protective labyrinth (aka defense), designed to shelter your home during a wildfire by minimizing a fire’s fuel sources. Defensible space also gives firefighters their best chance of stopping a wildfire before it reaches your home’s perimeter.

Defensible space isn’t required by law in Texas, but it’s a good fire safety principle all the same.

Why Defensible Space Matters

Wildfires happen more frequently in our area and westward, but there’s a surprising number of wildfires across the country: There were over 59,000 wildfires across the United States in 2020, and even without California’s 10,000+ fires, that’s an average per state of almost a thousand fires.

Texas had the second highest total in 2020, with over 6,700 fires burning up over 256,000 acres of land. And 2021 is shaping up in similar fashion—the number of fires nationwide has increased 25% over the first half of the year.

Anything we can do to shield or protect our property from the scourge of wildfire is a good idea, and defensible space is a simple, practical solution that can yield significant results.

If your home is damaged by fire of any sort, wild or not, SERVPRO is ready and able to repair the damage caused. Get in touch today to get the pros on your team.