Spring and summer are wonderful seasons to take stock of the condition of your home ignition zone---the 100 to 200 feet around your home and any attachment it may have, like a deck or an attached wood fence. Do you see that you need to work on the five feet closest in when you walk around your house? This area should contain only non-flammable items like lawn, low-growing flowers and stone walkways. Are there things you can do to improve the area 30 feet out from the structure, on all sides? For starters, dead vegetation should be removed including leaves and pine needles on your roof and in your gutters, and firewood should not be located there. When you are happy, move on to 100 feet out---200 feet if you are on a steep slope.

For helpful ideas about making your home safer, play the interactive Firewise Hints and Preparing a Home for Wildfire Season games. And to see examples of home ignition zones that are prepared for wildfire, browse the Mitigated Home Ignition Zones category in the Firewise photo gallery. You can link to it from What's New.