Research on home ignitability consistently shows the first few metres around a home matter a lot, especially when embers land in the yard. Most people only think about wildfire when the smoke shows up. This FireSmart checklist is designed to be short enough that you will actually use it, and it focuses on vegetation management, meaning grass, shrubs, trees, and the debris they drop.
The 7 Big Wins
If you do nothing else, do these. They cover the highest-risk, most common yard issues.
- Keep the first 1.5 metres (5 feet) beside the house clean. No needles, leaves, dead plants, or branch piles.
- Keep grass short once it starts curing. Tall, dry grass spreads fire fast.
- Remove dead material promptly. Dead shrubs, dead branches, and trapped debris inside hedges.
- Break up continuous fuel. Do not let grass connect straight into shrubs, and shrubs connect into low branches.
- Trim ladder fuels. Ladder fuels are vegetation that lets fire climb from grass into shrubs and up into tree crowns. Prune low conifer branches where safe so fire cannot climb from the ground into the canopy.
- Do not stockpile trimmings. Bag, haul, chip, or dispose of them right away.
- Clean up after wind events. Needles and small branches build up quickly.
Where To Focus
FireSmart calls the 30 metres (100 ft) around your home the Home Ignition Zone. You do not need to memorize a lot, just where effort matters most.
- 0 to 1.5 m (0 to 5 ft): keep it clean and low-combustible.
- 1.5 to 10 m (5 to 33 ft): reduce fuel continuity and ladder fuels.
- 10 to 30 m (33 to 100 ft): thin and prune over time to lower intensity.
10-Minute Checks Year-Round
Do these after wind events, before a hot, windy weekend, or any time you notice debris building up.
- Walk the foundation and decks, rake or blow off needles and leaves.
- Look for plants touching the house and trim them back.
- Scan for new piles of branches, cones, or clippings and remove them.
- Check for dry grass touching shrubs and mow or trim the edge.
Spring Reset
This is your best return on effort. It prevents the big clean-up in early summer.
- Rake needles and leaves from corners, beds, and under decks.
- Pull last year’s dry stems from planters and garden beds.
- First mow early so grass does not get ahead of you.
- Prune obvious deadwood and thin shrubs that have become packed and woody.
- Identify ladder fuel spots, especially shrubs under conifers, and plan pruning.
Early Summer Tune-Up
This is the part that actually keeps the yard FireSmart during peak season.
- Mow and edge regularly.
- Trim ornamental grasses before they dry into dense clumps.
- Keep shrub beds spaced so they are not one continuous line to the house.
- Prune low conifer branches where feasible and safe. FireSmart commonly references pruning up to about 2 metres (6.5 feet) in priority areas.
- Deal with trimmings immediately, do not let them sit.
Research testing vegetation arrangements supports the idea that spacing and maintenance near homes can reduce exposure and potential fire behaviour.
Fall Wrap-Up
If you do one thing in fall, make it this. It keeps next spring easy.
- Remove leaf and needle build-up in the first 10 metres (33 feet).
- Pick up storm-dropped branches before they dry out.
- Do not leave garden cutbacks piled beside the house.
Common Red Flags
- Needle drifts against foundations, rocks, patios, and fence lines.
- Dry grass running into shrub beds.
- Hedges tight to the house with dead material trapped inside.
- Shrubs under conifers with low branches above them.
- A “temporary” pile of branches that is still there weeks later.
When To Call A Pro
Pruning and thinning can get risky fast, especially if it involves ladders, overhead deadwood, saw work above shoulder height, or anything close to hazards. In those cases, it makes sense to hire a qualified arborist. Microbe Tree Service offers wildfire risk reduction, including vegetation clean-up, pruning, and fuel reduction.
Summary
Use this FireSmart checklist to keep the first 1.5 metres (5 feet) clean, keep grass short, remove dead material, and break up fuel continuity so fire cannot run along the ground and climb into trees. A quick spring reset plus a monthly early-summer tune-up is usually enough to keep your yard in good shape for wildfire season.
