Fuels Reduction
Maintaining defensible space is the law within 100 feet of a home in wildfire-prone areas, and highly recommended
elsewhere. If a garage, shed, your neighbor’s house, or the
property line is closer than 100 feet, it is especially important to harden your home to reduce vulnerability to radiant heat and to work together with your neighbors to reduce risk—a great way to build community while protecting assets.
What is Fuels Reduction
Fuels reduction is a fire management process that alters vegetation and changes the composition of fuels. Fuels reduction projects favor keeping larger, more fire-resistant trees, reduce or rearrange surface fuels (dead and downed vegetation), and remove ladder fuels, which can cause fire to move from the ground into the crowns of trees.
shaded Fuel Breaks
Shaded fuelbreaks are strips of land in which vegetation has been modified rather than removed. The purpose is to reduce the amount of combustible material so that when a fire hits the shaded fuelbreak it will decrease in intensity, cool down, and drop from the canopy to the ground.
Thinning
Thinning is conducted in young stands with small-diameter trees or in stands with larger trees. In both cases the purpose is to reduce the number of trees, leaving a healthier, more vigorous stand in which trees have much less competition for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Combustible material is removed and the effect can be similar to that of a shaded fuelbreak.
Pruning
Pruning, removing the lower (live and dead) limbs of a tree, reduces ladder fuels. This is frequently done alongside roads, thus increasing the effectiveness of the road as an existing fuelbreak.
Forest Health
Whether you live near a forested area or a bustling city, our everyday lives are affected by forests. Forests affect the quality of air we breathe and water we drink. Healthy forests are also less likely to have devastating, catastrophic wildfires.
Our Forest Are Struggling
- Lack of Fire Use: Over 100 years of fire suppression and exclusion has led to overcrowded forests and increased vegetation.
- Climate Change: Warmer temperatures and more rain than snow affects forest structure and health.
- Wildfire Risk: Wildfires are burning hotter and faster, damaging our forests and communities.
- Drought: Recurring drought stresses our forests, increasing the impact of wildfires and other damage such as pests.
- Invasive Pests: Since 2010, over 147 million drought-stricken trees have been killed by bark beetles. Stressed trees are even more susceptible to pests.
Drought And Beetles
More than 147 million trees have already died from drought and bark beetles in California. In some communities, up to 85 percent of the forest trees have been killed. These dead trees dry out and become quick-burning fuel for wildfire.
A tree’s only defense against bark beetles is sap (pitch), which is produced by a healthy tree. But when a tree is diseased or stressed by drought, it may not be able to produce enough sap to protect it from being overrun by bark beetles. Healthy trees best withstand drought and resist bark beetle attacks.
Improving Forest Health
Keeping our forests healthy means more than making sure they stay beautiful. CAL FIRE and other agencies practice forest management methods such as prescribed fires and tree clearing in order to reduce the likelihood of destructive wildfires.
Active forest management is:
- Reforestation to help grow a new generation of healthy forests
- Prescribed Fires to reduce the likelihood and impacts of uncontrolled wildfires
- Timber harvesting to reduce overcrowding of vegetation which is fuel for wildfire
- Weed and pest control to improve tree health
We Need Healthy Forest
- CLEAN AIR AND WATER: Forests provide oxygen and increase the quantity and quality of water from our watersheds.
- CARBON STORAGE: Forests serve as the state’s largest land-based carbon sink, which means the trees, shrubs and soil soak up carbon, keeping it from rising and trapping heat in the atmosphere.
- CLIMATE CHANGE: Active forest management will help create healthier, more resilient forests that are better suited for a changing climate.
- WILDLIFE HABITAT: Animals use different parts of the forest for food, shelter and protection and thrive in a healthy forest.
- RECREATION: Forests are great for hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, and photography.
- ECONOMIC BENEFITS: Well-managed forests can provide jobs to rural and urban communities.
- REDUCES WILDFIRE RISK: Actively managing forests helps slow wildfires and reduce severity.
Our Additional
Services
- Remove all portions of trees within ten feet (10 feet) of chimney and/or stovepipe outlets
- Maintain trees adjacent to or overhanging a structure free of dead/dying wood
- Climbing vines must be maintained to be free of dead and dying materials or removed from trees and structures
- Remove dead and dying vegetation from the property within zone
- Maintain shrubs to be free from dead and dying materials
- Prune trees to 6 feet from ground. (or 1/3 the height of the tree, recommended)
- Cut grasses to 6 inches or less. To prevent erosion, do not cut to bare mineral soil
- Clearing around propane and fuel tanks
- Move firewood & lumber out of Zone 1, or cover in a fire-resistant enclosure
- Cut or mow annual grass down to a maximum height of 4 inches
- Create horizontal space between shrubs and trees
- Create vertical space between grass, shrubs and trees
- Remove fallen leaves, needles, twigs, bark, cones, and small branches. However, they may be permitted to a depth of 3 inches
- All exposed wood piles must have a minimum of 10 feet of clearance, down to bare mineral soil, in all directions
start your project now
contact us today
Andrew @1stdefensehomehardening.com
We reply within 24 hours
Have any questions?
(707) 955-4740
Working hours
Mon-Fri, 9am until 6pm
