Los Angeles Fire Captain Erik Scott gives Aliya Jasmine 5 tips for homeowners who live in areas impacted by wildfires. Preparing in advance by using ‘defensive landscaping’ helps firefighters save your home during a fire.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is encouraging residents to help make firefighters' duties a little easier during a wildfire by using defensive landscaping, and potentially save a home.
"We would love to put a fire engine in every driveway of every home when there's a fire burning, but that's simply not possible," says LAFD Captain Erik Scott.
Here are five landscaping tips Scott said everyone should utilize to slow the spread of flames in the event of a fire, and possibly give firefighters more time to save a home:
- Remove all (non-ornamental) vegetation 200 feet around your home.
- Bring your grass and weeds down to 3 inches.
- Trim the bottom third of all your bushes.
- Trim the bottom 6 feet of trees.
- Keep a 5-foot clearance around the roof line of your house, and 10 feet around your chimney.
Find more tips on protecting your home and readying yourself in an emergency here.
