Getty Images The new UC publication includes recommendations for roofs, gutters, vents, siding, windows, decks and fences.
A team of California and Nevada fire scientists have produced a booklet with step-by-step guidance on retrofitting an existing home to be more resilient to fire.
Susie Kocher, UC Cooperative Extension forestry and natural resources advisor and co-author of the new guide, said some homeowners feel powerless to protect their homes against California s increasing wildfire threat.
“I m happy to tell them that s not true. There are specific actions that we can all take to reduce the likelihood of our homes being burned in wildfire,” said Kocher, who lives in a forested area near Lake Tahoe. “We need to educate ourselves on the details of home construction that make homes less vulnerable to ignition.”
The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities, along with many other amazing authors and contributors, helped produce the Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide: How to Harden Homes for Wildfire.
The guide includes detailed recommendations on how to retrofit homes to withstand wildfire. Each section contains an explanation of how every home component is vulnerable to wildfire and what can be done to improve that component. It can be downloaded for free HERE.
In conjunction with the release of the guide are three virtual Wildfire Home Retrofit workshops to educate the public, building professionals, and fire professionals and educators about retrofitting homes to withstand wildfire.