What is Defensible Space? 

Defensible Space is the area between a house and an oncoming wildfire where the vegetation has been modified to reduce the wildfire threat. It provides an opportunity for firefighters to effectively defend and potentially save a home from burning to the ground. Sometimes Defensible Space is simply a homeowner's properly maintained backyard. While in other situations it involves removing trees and substantial amounts of brush and shrubs. So what can you do to create Defensible Space around your home? Create a 100 foot "Defensible Space" safety zone around your home. 

Within 30 feet:

- All dead trees removed?
- All branches, bark chunks, scrap lumber removed?
- All limbs within 10 feet of chimney removed and wire mesh chimney cap (spark arrester) in place?
- All combustible materials removed from beneath decks, stairways and overhangs?
- All pine needles removed from roof and gutter?
- Weeds and dead grasses cut two inches or shorter.
- Firewood, lumber, and large woody materials removed to at least 30 feet from structures and preferably covered?
- Is your address clearly visible to emergency response personnel?
- Are fallen pine needles removed in this area, prior to fire season each year and not allowed to accumulate in any manner that creates a fire hazard?

Within 100 feet:

- All dry, flammable vegetation within 100 feet of structure removed?
- All trees limbed six feet from the ground?
- Excessively dense tree cover removed/break up continuous vegetation?
- Is the vegetation within the recommended Defensible Space area maintained on a regular basis?

To set up a Defensible Space Evaluation or request Chipping service, you can call our Defensible Space & Chipping request phone line at 775/831-0351, ext. 8118. These services are available spring through fall months. Please reference our Defensible Space Evaluation Form.

For more information on Defensible Space, please reference "Living With Fire" website. For an enlarged view of the Halo Map, please click Here.

To review the California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission Final Report - May 2008, please click on the following links by section.

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Table of Contents

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Action Plan

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Appendix a - c

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Appendix d

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Appendix e - h

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Findings

Tahoe Basin Fire Report - Recommendation