Checklists, maps, plans and answers.
Everything we hand out at evaluations and events, in one place.
Print these and keep them handy.
Materials and maintenance predict how your home fares.
The materials used to construct your home or other structures are accurate predictors of their vulnerability to a wildland fire. Non-combustible options like metal, brick and stucco are wise choices for siding. Vinyl siding doesn't burn, but it quickly melts and exposes the combustible wood beneath it.
Use metal or tile for roofing. Wood shakes and shingles burn easily, especially when dry; sparks and embers, sometimes travelling miles from a fire, can easily ignite them.
Easy measures that reduce vulnerability and help responders find you
- Post a visible address marker
- Skirt decks and openings
- Enclose any eaves
- Clean roof and gutters regularly
- Mow and rake near the home to disrupt fuel continuity
- Trim tree limbs up to 6 feet
- Cut back vegetation along driveways
- Improve driveway or access roads
- Clear all fuels within 15 feet of propane tanks
- Store firewood away from the house
Request a free home and lot evaluation
Fuels reduction contractors
If you don't have time to do the fuels reduction your evaluation recommends, local contractors can do the work. We keep a current list; ask us for it. In providing that list IPSFC does not endorse, recommend or favor any contractor, and makes no warranty about the accuracy of the list or the quality of work completed.
Common questions
What is defensible space?
The area surrounding a house or other structure where the vegetation and fuels have been modified, thinned or removed to slow or stop fire from reaching the buildings, giving firefighters a better opportunity to safely and effectively defend the property. It rarely means removing all vegetation, but it does require reducing flammable vegetation. Done properly, it helps protect you and your property from fire and flying embers.
What is slash?
Branches, treetops, bushes and other woody material less than 7″ in diameter that remains after thinning or other fuels treatments. Slash does not include dirt, household garbage, chemicals, plastics, appliances, tree stumps, large roots, rocks or construction material such as 2x4s and plywood.
Why is slash hazardous?
Once it is no longer living, slash dries out and becomes very combustible. Piled together it is a large, highly flammable concentration of fuel, especially dangerous next to structures or standing trees, where it becomes the ladder fuel that carries fire into tree crowns.
I have a pile of slash. How do I get rid of it?
Take it to an approved dump site (Meadow Creek Pit accepts slash Wednesday to Saturday, 10 to 3, mid-May to October), burn it only under very specific controlled conditions and permits, or participate in the annual IPSFC slash pickup. See how the pickup works.
Prevention: the number that matters
The national average of human-caused wildfires is 87 percent of all wildfire occurrences every year. Most of these fires can be prevented. Preventable wildfires threaten lives, property and our natural resources.
Presentations worth an evening.
Partners and programs we point people to.
- Idaho Firewise — statewide resources for living with wildfire
- Ready for Wildfire — build your own wildfire action plan
- Ready, Set, Go! — the fire service's evacuation preparedness program (PDF)
- Fremont County Emergency Management — the county CWPP and alerts
- Engaging Landowners
- Fire Learning Network — The Nature Conservancy
- Headwaters Economics — research on wildfire and communities
- Unsung heroes of the 1988 Yellowstone fires — Fire Adapted Communities Network
- Protecting your space — a visual walk-through from the Washington Post
- AirNow — air quality forecasts and the fire & smoke map