Make Your Surroundings a Defense Against Wildfire | SERVPRO of East Cobb

7/26/2021 (Permalink)

If your home is damaged by fire or water loss event, SERVPRO of Marietta West is ready and able to repair any damage.

One of the nightmare scenarios for any homeowner is seeing their home consumed by a wildfire, and while it’s not exactly likely, it’s more common than you might realize. Wildfires can happen in any area, and all they need is fuel to continue to grow and spread. A quick look out the window will likely show you that there’s plenty of fuel around for a hungry fire. But there are things we can do to combat wildfires, beyond the biggest difference we could make by simply being more careful.

Let’s talk about one of those concepts: defensible space

| What Is Defensible Space? |

It’s not about fending off UFOs—“defensible space” is a wildfire defense method using a series of buffer zones you manage around your home. By planting and pruning with defense in mind, removing potential sources of fuel (like dead trees and brush piles which combust quickly), and installing areas of gravel or hardscape that won’t burn near your home’s perimeter, you can make your home less vulnerable to the spread of a fire.

Think of it as a safety threshold (aka defense), designed to protect your home by choking out a fire’s fuel supply as it comes near. It also gives firefighters a better chance of stopping a wildfire before it reaches your home. Defensible space isn’t required by law in Georgia, but it’s a good practice to consider all the same.

| Why Defensible Space Matters |

When you think of wildfires, you may think of the West Coast, but the truth is wildfires can and do occur everywhere. There were over 59,000 wildfires across the United States in 2020, and almost 1,700 of them were in Georgia. Even if you remove California’s 10,000+ fires from that national stat, that’s still an average of almost a thousand fires per state. What’s more, the first six months of 2021 have seen a 25% increase in national fires over 2020.

Any method we can employ to stop the spread of wildfire, we should; defensible space is one more way we can make a difference.

*If your home is damaged by fire of any sort, wild or not, SERVPRO of East Cobb is ready and able to repair the damage caused. Get in touch today at (770) 424-0400 to get the SERVPRO of East Cobb pros on your team.