What can the Lahaina wildfires teach about protecting your home? Here’s some advice

A 100-year-old wooden home was left untouched in a devastated Lahaina neighborhood, surviving with little to no damage, after the August wildfires on Maui, NPR reported. A Pierce County wildfire expert says it wasn’t luck.

“That house was the perfect example to educate and show people that your home can be defensible,” said Jessica Hogan, manager of the Pierce County Conservation District’s wildfire preparedness program.

Wildfires caused over $81.6 billion in damage to homes, businesses and public buildings from 2017 to 2021, according to NOAA. The cost is nearly a 1000% increase since the same study was done for 2012-16.

With the destruction in Lahaina and recent fires across Washington, wildfires have flooded this summer’s headlines and affected thousands of lives.

Urban homeowners might think wildfires are not something they need to worry about. But, the Pierce County Conservation District says otherwise.

The district created Hogan’s role after witnessing a rise in wildfires, she said. Before assuming her managerial role in May, Hogan spent more than 10 years as a firefighter on McNeil Island and in Thurston County.

Now, she spends her days visiting homes around Pierce County and evaluating their safety while reaching out to people about wildfire awareness.

You can take an online wildfire hazard risk assessment at the district website to see if your home is in a high-risk area and whether you’ve taken the proper precautions to defend your home from wildfires.

After taking the assessment, Hogan might contact you. If your home is in an area of higher risk, a planned visit will be made, and she can assess your property.

Areas that aren’t deep within the heart of Tacoma, like Spanaway, Sumner, South Tacoma, among many others, are at a higher risk.

“It’s where the wilderness and land being developed by human activity interconnect,” Hogan said.

The Wildland Urban Interface map shows where Washington residential areas mix with natural vegetation, causing a higher risk. Hogan uses the interface to determine where she does home visits.

The danger doesn’t come from your backyard

Wildfire embers can travel many miles before they lose their ignition, Hogan says. Embers can fly into or around your home and ignite a fire quickly.

You can help defend your home by keeping plants away from your house, Hogan said. Try to remove plants within five feet of your siding.

Plants outside five fee should be of a type that is non-combustible or holds more moisture. Information on those can be found at the Western Fire Chiefs Association website.

“If you take these steps, your home is defensible,” Hogan said.

Gutters can be a safety hazard as well. Gutters filled with dried leaves can be the perfect home for an ember to grow into a blaze.

Also check the vents inside your home, which could combust should an ember fly into them.

“One of the big things on every house that I recommend is replacing (your vents) to 8-inch mesh or smaller because the smaller the space that an ember can fly through the better,” Hogan said.

Wildfire season started later this year and will go into mid-October, Hogan said. Usually, it starts in July and ends in September. Spring is the best time to evaluate your house.

The Pierce County Conservation District plans on expanding the wildfire preparedness program, Hogan said. By next spring, they hope for new funding to finance some of the changes people make to their properties.

“I spoke with a woman whose home burned down,” Hogan said referring to when she was at a Fourth of July event with East Pierce Fire. “She just never thought it would happen to her.”

You can find more information on how to protect your home in a guide by the National Fire Protection Association.

“That house (in Lahaina) had the right siding, roofing, plants, zoning with zero to five feet with noncombustible plants,” Hogan said. “It was the perfect house for what my job is trying to do.”