Zone 0 Starts Is The First 5 Feet From your Home
Make the area closest to your home ember-resistant. Keeping the area closest to buildings, structures, and decks clear will prevent embers from igniting materials that can spread the fire to your home.
Why? The majority of homes lost to wildfire are ignited by flying embers. Embers can travel miles ahead of the active front of wildfires.
What does this mean for you specifically?
Homes in Truckee will begin to receive defensible space compliance reports in the next couple of months, once snow conditions allow.
The report will list any violations on your property that must be addressed during the 2024 Spring and Summer seasons. As the homeowner, you will need to correct these violations, either by completing the work yourself or hiring a professional.
Violation reports will vary dramatically by each property inspected. A few may pass the initial inspection without any additional work. Others can range in cost from a couple hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, based on the number of trees marked for removal.
Why hire Elements? We know the zones!
As one of the area’s main D-49 licensed contractors and 45 years of servicing Truckee, our crews will ensure that your home complies with the defensible space requirements of all applicable agencies.
Being a licensed contractor means that we hold our work and our crews to a higher standard. This means that every member of our team has been equipped with OTIA-compliant safety clothing and equipment, we keep our machines serviced, we have monthly safety meetings to ensure our protocols are up to date, and we guarantee compliance.
We guarantee that your home will satisfy all inspections or we’ll return at no cost to you!
WE SPECIALIZE IN DEFENSIBLE SPACE
Elements is equipped to handle all your defensible space and compliance zone reports. Schedule a free consultation with the area’s most equipped tree service company.
Home hardening tips:
- Use hardscapes like gravel, pavers, or concrete. No combustible bark or mulch.
- Remove all dead and dying plants, weeds, and debris (leaves, needles, etc.) from your roof, gutter, deck, porch, stairways, and under any areas of your home.
- Remove all branches within 10 feet of any chimney or stovepipe outlet.
- Limit combustible items (like outdoor furniture and planters) on top of decks.
- Relocate firewood and lumber to Zone 2 (see image above)
- Replace combustible fencing, gates, and arbors attached to the home with noncombustible alternatives.
- Consider relocating garbage and recycling containers outside this zone.
