What parts of a house and yard landscape are homeowners maintaining for wildfire safety?

Abstract

Homeownership can be a lot of work. Interior maintenance and housekeeping; outdoor maintenance and weekly yard work–all part of the drill. The investment of time and money can be substantial depending on the size and condition of the home and acreage, or the amount of vegetation, including deciduous trees and other woody matter in a yard. Homeowners in high fire risk areas of the United States have received extra attention in recent years from government fire officials encouraging them to take action on their property to reduce the fire risk. In some areas, homeowners may no longer have a choice about the level of maintenance performed on a house and yard as fire risk is so great that ordinances have been put in place that require individual homeowners to mitigate the risk or face the possibility of fines. What do residents of the wildland urban interface think about these responsibilities? What actions are homeowners taking to reduce risks? What is motivating them?

Citation

Vogt, Christine; McCaffrey, Sarah; Winter, Greg. 2010. What parts of a house and yard landscape are homeowners maintaining for wildfire safety? Wildfire Lessons Learned Center. 4 p. https://www.wildfirelessons.net/