Fire Protection Defensible Space
We help make you, your home, property and loved ones safer from fire danger. We also help you comply with state and local fire department regulations and insurance requirements. These projects include mastication of underbrush.
Creating and maintaining fire protection defensible space around your home, building or structure greatly improves your chances of your property surviving a wildfire. Basically, it means you are creating a safety zone around your home that reduces the fuel load and keeps a fire away from your home. This protects the house or building from catching fire directly and also reduces the radiant heat.
For Lake Tahoe area defensible space rules, you can go to CAL FIRE or the North Lake Tahoe Fire District website depending on your location. Always be sure to check your local area regulations and recommendations from your fire department.
In most areas, zone 1 requires you remove any live brush, dead plants, weeds, leaves, pine needles (including roof and gutters) from within 30 feet of your building. You also want to remove any branches that hang over your roof or are within 10 feet of your structure or chimney. Also, no wood piles (these can be in zone 2). Remove any flammable plants that are near windows, decking, wooden furniture.
Zone 2 extends from zone 1 out to 100 feet from the building. In this area, you will want to mow any weeds or grass to maximum 4 inches height. It is important to clear out small or adult trees and maintain at least 10 feet of space between all the trees you want to keep. This also creates a nice, open, clean yard environment for you. It is a very good idea to have a professional arborist do this for you. We have decades of experience and know what to remove and what to keep to maximize fire protection and have your yard looking its best.
If you prefer more vegetation on your property near your home, another option is to plant “fire resistant” or non-volatile plants near your home or building to replace the ones you remove. This doesn’t take a lot of money and will help you relax and sleep better at night, knowing you and your family are safer.
We happily create defensible space and decrease forest fire danger in the Tahoe City, Truckee, Reno, Incline Village, Kings Beach, North Lake Tahoe areas with high-quality, safe tree work. We are licensed, bonded, qualified and experienced. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or job requests, by calling us at (530) 581-1945.