NIST Offers First-of-a-Kind Guidance for Holistic Home and Community Wildfire Protection

NIST Offers First-of-a-Kind Guidance for Holistic Home and Community Wildfire Protection

NIST's new guidance for home and community wildfire protection advises placing combustible objects, such as sheds or woodpiles, a safe distance from not only your home but your neighbor's as well. The scenario depicted is limited to two properties; however, all adjacent properties should be considered to prevent fires from spreading through communities. If the available area doesn't allow for ideal spacing, then using fire resistant materials is the next line of defense.


Credit: N. Hanacek/NIST


Once they have a foothold, severe wildfires can quickly overwhelm a community, particularly one that is densely packed. To shield houses against such a fierce threat, a thorough defense is key. 


Establishing a deep and multifaceted defense in and around homes is the basis of a new report that offers direction for safeguarding residences from external fire threats. Developed by fire safety experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the guidance provides dozens of protective actions — and the context in which each should be taken — all backed by the latest fire science. 


This new approach, which is already being implemented in California by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and CAL FIRE through a pilot program called the California Wildfire Mitigation Program, could spare homes and lives from the intensifying threat of wildfires.


“We've seen all these destructive wildfires come through and burn thousands of homes. The way we aim to reduce those losses is to upgrade structures and then create defensible space arou ..

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