University of California

Sustainable and Fire Safe Landscapes

Wildland Fire Safety Starts in the Home

Fire safety in the wildland-urban interface starts in the home, with the use of fire-resistant building materials and architectural features, good practices to avoid starting fires in and around the home, and a good fire response plan for your family. Beyond the home, develop a fire-resistant landscape where plants and hardscape are maintained so that they do not easily transmit fire. Establish your defensible space so that the risk of fire transmission to your property is reduced, and fire fighters can safely protect your home. Fire is a part of the natural environment in Southern California. There is no way to completely ensure that your home will not be exposed to wildfire. If you live in the wildland-urban interface, it is not a question of IF a fire will occur, but WHEN. Preparation for wildfire requires that YOU take responsibility for your safety, property, and pets in the event of a fire. Maintain your property to reduce the risk of damage during a wildfire, and be fully prepared to evacuate. The information in this guidebook can help you reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of fire.

What is the Wildland Urban Interface?

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where urban and suburban development meets undeveloped areas containing natural vegetation. It can be a beautiful, quiet place to live, but with the benefits of being near nature come risks. One of the most pressing is wildfire, but others include risky interactions with wildlife such as bears and mountain lions, as well as physical phenomena such as floods and landslides.

Within the greater WUI, areas are classified as to their relative fire hazard severity zones. These are areas in mountains, foothills, and canyons where adjacency to vegetated areas, difficulty of access, and weather patterns pose greater risk of wildfire. CAL FIRE and the fire response agency in each local jurisdiction have determined where these areas are, and require the management of vegetative fuels near buildings. To find out if your property is in a fire hazard severity zone, contact your local fire agency.

Sustainability

The United Nations defines sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In the wildland-urban interface areas of Southern California, living sustainably means protecting yourself, your family, and your property from risk, while also protecting natural habitat. Native plants are essential ecosystem components and provide habitat for native birds, butterflies and other wildlife. California is known as a global hotspot for its diversity of unique plants and animals. To preserve this natural heritage, it’s important to live responsibly in the wildland-urban interface. For more on our State’s threatened biodiversity, visit http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/

Good fire preparation in your landscape can help protect wildlands from damage, but sustainable and fire-safe gardeners also conserve water, limit the use of potentially harmful chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, and avoid invasive plant species. Sustainable fire-safe landscaping should be easy to care for. Many native and California-friendly plants grow slowly and maintain high levels of moisture in their leaves and stems with little irrigation. By choosing these plants, you can protect the health of neighboring habitat and create a beautiful low maintenance garden.

Learn more as you navigate this web site using the buttons on the left and right.

SAFE Landscapes Programs

Climate, Fire, and Habitat in Southern California

Invasive Plants and Wildland Health

Defensible space, fire safe landscaping, and fire hazard reduction

Fire resistant buildings

Fire resistant landscapes start at the structure.

Fall

Winter

Spring

Summer

Chronology of Wildfires in Southern California

Safe Landscape Blog

Save May 15th for the 2013 Fire Summit

The annual Fire Summit, put on by the Regional Area Safety Task Force, is coming May 15th in...

Posted on Friday, March 1, 2013 at 4:36 PM

Author: Sabrina L. Drill

New pests can increase fire danger

There's a new insect pest in Southern California, the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB). This...

Posted on Monday, February 25, 2013 at 5:08 PM

Author: Sabrina L. Drill

New video presentations to help you prepare for fire

The North Topanga Fire Safe Council has put together a great new set of video presentations about...

Posted on Friday, October 19, 2012 at 4:43 PM

Author: Sabrina L. Drill

SAFE Landscapes in Espanol

Recently our Spanish Language communication specialist, Alberto Haufenn, interviewed me about fire...

Posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:32 PM

Author: Sabrina L. Drill

UC ANR experts on fire and invasive species featured on the radio

UCANR experts on fire and invasive species were featured this week on the radio - Tim Paine,...

Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 1:37 PM

Author: Sabrina L. Drill

More Information

SAFE Landscapes is a project of the Natural Resources Program based in Los Angeles and Ventura County Cooperative Extension. Click for more about other CE programs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties

Click here to download the Southern California SAFE Landscapes Guidebook

Click here to download the enitre 2009 Los Angeles County SAFE Landscapes Calendar as a PDF

Click here to download the entire 2009 Ventura County SAFE Landscapes Calendar as a PDF

Click here for the SAFE Landscapes in the WUI Fact Sheet

Click here for the Making Your Property Fire Safe Fact Sheet

NEW: UCCE Collaborated on the Roadmap to Fire Safety in the Santa Monica Mountains

UC Fire Links:

UC Center for Fire Research and Outreach: http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/

UC Cooperative Extension's Homeowner's Wildfire Mitigation Guide: http://groups.ucanr.org/HWMG/

Wildlfire Zone, a collaborative project between UC Cooperative Extension and the County of San Diego: http://www.wildfirezone.org

UC Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, for information on fire recovery in oak wildlands: http://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/

UC Center for Forestry, with information on fire preparation and recovery for forest landowners: http://groups.ucanr.org/Forest/

UCANR Invasive Plants in Southern California: http://groups.ucanr.org/socalinvasives/

Outside Links for More Information about Fire and Invasive Plants:

Download the Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the Santa Monica Mountains

Los Angeles County Weed Management Area: http://www.lacountywma.org/

Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council's Weed Watch Program: http://weedwatch.lasgrwc.org/

National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/fire/

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: http://www.fire.ca.gov/

U.S. Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire

U.S. Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov/hazards/wildfires/

The California Fire Safe Council: http://www.firesafecouncil.org/

The California Fire Alliance: http://www.cafirealliance.org/grants/