How can Irrigation Systems Help with Fire Protection and Restoration

If you live in a wildfire-prone region, you must take a few crucial steps to protect your home and landscape. It is terrifying to see a wildfire spreading close to your home, threatening your property and possibly your life. When you design your landscape into a firewise landscaping with an irrigation system, your home's chances of surviving wildfires increase significantly.

In this article, our experts talk about firewise landscaping, wildfire protection, restoration after a fire, and how irrigation systems will protect your home during a wildfire season.

What is Firewise Landscaping and Zoning

Firewise landscaping involves dividing your property into four zones or a minimum of two (depending on the size) to protect it from fire. The primary goal of this landscaping is fuel reduction, such as reducing the amount of flammable plant materials and vegetation around the home and increasing the moisture content of vegetation to lower fire risk.

Zone 1: This zone is a defensible space in which an irrigation system is necessary to keep your landscape plants and mulch well-maintained and consistently moist. This zone is the first 30' area from your home. In Zone 1, try to reduce large amounts of plants, remove dead plants, and consider adding hard surfaces like stone, concrete, or brick.

Zone 2: This includes the 30'-60' area away from your home. In this zone, replace flammable plants such as pines and cedars with native, fire-resistant plants and vegetation. Some plants are fire-resistant, such as aloe vera, lavender, agave, stone plants, sage, and California fuchsia. They contain high moisture content and are more resistant to ignition. Keep vegetation height to 4" or less and regularly trim the plants in this zone.

Zone 3: This area is known as the transition zone and is 60'-100' away from your home. In Zone 3, clean up areas where there's a lot of brush and overgrown vegetation to avoid feeding wildfires. If plant debris is left ignored, it can become fuel for wildfires.

Zone 4: This is known as the perimeter zone, and it is a 100' and up area away from the home. Like Zone 3, this area also needs to be consistently maintained and cleaned up to keep vegetation under control. However, you don't need to water it as this area is not part of your landscape or home. If you are in a developed community, you usually don't have control over this area. You can keep it clean so as not to add fuel to wildfire.

Irrigation Systems as Wildfire Prevention and Protection

Irrigation systems help keep your home and life safe from fire by keeping the area well-irrigated the whole year. Mulch retains moisture in the soil, but it is a flammable product. Therefore, an irrigation system should include a dripline or sprinkler nozzle aimed at mulched areas. Homeowners should water the plants and grass early in the morning. It is recommended to invest in automatic, smart irrigation systems that include timers and sensors. The soil moisture sensors stop the irrigation when the soil is wet enough or turn it off during rain. You can also control the smart irrigation system from your mobile phone.

Healthy and hydrated plants can resist flying embers because the moisture they carry helps prevent them from igniting. On the other hand, dry and dead landscaping can fuel a fire. Here are the irrigation products to irrigate your landscape.

• Rotor sprinklers
• Impact sprinklers
• Micro sprinklers
• Sprayers
• Driplines

A drip irrigation system is perfect for watering shrubs, flower beds, planters, container plants, landscaped trees, and mulched areas. It delivers water directly to plants' roots and uses 50% less water than a garden hose.

Wildfire Prevention Tips- How to Prevent Wildfire from Starting

Here are the steps to prevent wildfires from starting and harming your property.

• Trim and remove dead or dry grass and vegetation as soon as possible. Dry and overgrown plant debris can ignite if a flying ember lands on it.
• Keep the firewood 30-100' away from home.
• Maintain the plants and trees around the home, which includes pruning overhanging branches, removing debris from the roof, and removing dead leaves.
• Use quality irrigation products to water plants, trees, and grass regularly. A well-maintained and watered landscape serves as a buffer in wildfire.
• Carefully space the plants and trees. Trees should be spaced 30 feet apart.
• Regularly mow the lawn.
• Use fire-resistant material for landscape furniture, swings, etc.
• Plant high-moisture content annuals and perennials within the 5-feet area of the home.

Ideal Plant Spacing in Firewise Landscaping

It is crucial to space shrubs, bushes, and trees apart while landscaping your yard. Cut the plants and grass to about 4 inches or less. Trees should also be properly spaced apart. Measure the distance between trees from the tops, not between trunks. Here is a recommended spacing between trees in different zones.

• 0' - 5' area from home: No trees in this zone.
• 5' - 30' area from home: Minimum of 18 feet spacing between treetops.
• 30' - 60' area from home: Minimum of 12 feet spacing between treetops.
• 60' - 100' area from home: Minimum of 6 feet spacing between treetops.

Wildfire Protection Tips- How to Protect Your Property During a Wildfire

Here are ways to protect your property during a wildfire in your area.

• Use lawn sprinklers or sprayers to extinguish embers. Sprinklers create a protective environment by hydrating potential fuel for the fire, increasing humidity, and cooling the climate around your home.
• Use drip lines to hydrate mulched areas and plants to protect your landscape.
• Consider installing rooftop sprinklers to protect a home from wildfires. Sprinklers soak the property and reduce the risk of catching fire.

Wildfire Restoration Tips- How to Restore Your Property After a Wildfire

After a wildfire, your first reaction may be to visit your property and revive it as soon as possible. However, this is too early after a fire. Here are some restoration tips on restoring your land after a fire.

• Wait to start the restoration process. It is preferable to allow natural land recovery to begin within the first few years following a wildfire.
• When returning to your home immediately after a fire, examine the property during the first 1-2 days to ensure there are no embers left in the area that can pose a flare-up risk.
• Coals can stay hot for days after the fire has been stopped. If a burning coal or ember goes unnoticed, it can cause the fire to ignite again.
• Wildfire also causes soil erosion, in which the land degrades and loses its ability to grow. Look for areas with possible soil erosion to assess the severity of damage. The common signs of soil erosion include exposed soil, severely burned soil that repels water, bare spots with no vegetation, and steep slopes.
• Spread wood chips, mulch, or weed-free straw to provide cover for soil and protect it.
• Many tree species can withstand wildfires and recover from fire damage. To assess the damage and repair areas with damaged trees, look for burnt leaves, damage to the trunk, damage to the roots, and the extent of damage to inner tissue.
• Use native plants to speed up the natural revival of ecosystems and vegetation. However, maintaining recovering vegetation is crucial to ensure fire safety.

For more information, visit the official NFPA website.

Plan a Firewise Landscape

Wildfires can have devastating, long-lasting impacts on communities. Homes surrounded by natural landscapes are more vulnerable to wildfires. Fires that start in brush, grass, or forest can quickly move into developed areas. Therefore, homeowners must build firewise landscaping and learn the most effective strategies for reducing the risk of wildfire damage to their homes and landscapes.

DripWorks provides high-performing and water-efficient sprinklers, sprayers, drip irrigation systems, irrigation controllers, and valves of leading brands to help you protect your landscape from fire. Our superior-quality irrigation products will help you save water, irrigate your landscape efficiently, protect your property, and save money on water bills.