What Firefighters Know About Protecting Your Home From Wildfires!

The air vents, all over your house, are an open invitation to fire!     Here is the secret that most of us don’t know: The majority of homes that burn in a wildfire do not burn as a result of direct contact with the big wall of fire! The majority of homes during fires are a direct result of red hot flying embers entering into your home through air vents located all over the house!  Flying embers are the biggest problem! Embers carried by wind from up to a mile from your home can drop like fiery, charcoal briquettes onto your roof, into leaf filled gutters, and onto plants and wooden mulch around your house and start these items on fire! The worst invaders, however, are the small flying embers that the air vents suck into your attic and set the house on fire from the inside. Savable Homes Firefighting resources are stretched thin, especially when there are multiple fires going on. Firefighters are forced to make decisions quickly when fighting fires as to what can be saved. When they see smoke coming out of the vents of your home it is already too late to save the house. The house will be consumed by fire before firefighters can set up their equipment and begin fighting the fire.  It is “un-savable.” How to Strengthen Your Home Against Fires.      

 

A savable home has a stucco exterior (or other fire resistance material). A class “A” or better (metal) roof. The home owner has practiced the “No Touch Rule” of Defensible Space. No branches over or touching the roof or walls. No vines or plants attached to or rubbing against the walls. No wooden mulch leading like a candle wick up to the bottom of the walls. Adding vent protection, such as the Ember Deflector System, that covers vents protecting them from embers, fire and smoke intrusion. Homeowners that take these steps give their home a fighting chance against wildfires, smoke and other destructive forces. You never know when fire will strike, so you must be prepared. Why Vents on Homes? During the housing boom after World War Two, Civil Engineers working for city municipalities wrestled with the best idea to ventilate the attic space that’s created when you build a roof that has a peak (or multiple peaks). They knew that if you did not allow this area to breathe that temperature and moisture extremes, in the enclosed space, would cause wooden beams holding up the roof to prematurely, and often, catastrophically fail. It was decided that, because hot air rises, if you cut some holes in one low spot (the eave area) and put some holes higher on the roof, the hot air would flow out. Cool, fresh air would get sucked in thru the eave or soffit vents. All of this without fan motors. Free! Or so they thought. A Price to Pay The cost paid for this idea is measured in the amount of homes lost to fiery embers sucked into attics and destroying the home. Until recently, most people thought it was the big wall of fire staring in all of the video feeds we see of wildfires.  The majority of homes are lost due to embers penetrating vents into the attic and start fires that destroy the home. Compare these pictures with your house to see which style of vents you have: (Got pictures of vents (or, what you think are vents, but aren’t sure) not shown here? We can help. Send photos to: info.EmberDeflector@gmail.com) The first three photos above are examples of eave ventilation and the fourth is soffit ventilation, also located in the eaves of the home. These vents are the “Inhale” side of the attic breathing. The primary purpose of vents is to regulate temperature and moisture in the attic space. The next group of vent photos belongs on the “Exhale” side of attic breathing. They are located higher on the roof. From left to right: A gable end vent, an “eyebrow” dormer vent, a flat dormer vent and a style of ridge vents. How to Know if You Need Vent Protection?

1. Do you live in an area that is suffering from drought and there are lots of trees, shrubs and grasses around?
2. Did your insurance company charge you more for your insurance based on the fire severity zone you live in?
3. Do you know what fire severity zone you live in?
4. Do you live at the top of a slope?
5. Do you live along the ridge of a canyon?
6. The last time there was fire nearby you could you smell smoke in your home with the windows closed and the A/C on?

If you answered “Yes” to any one of these questions and, you have some combination of the vents shown above, you need vent protection. Why do We Say that “We Protect the Environment” The smoke released by grasses, shrubs and trees is quite dangerous, especially for the elderly, the young, and folks with respiratory issues. As bad as it is, the smoke release by a home fire can be hundreds of times worse. Homes contain chemicals, plastics and a considerate amount of lumber in a small space. Once of fire, these things combine in the smoke plume and are deposited down-wind. These oily deposits land on materials making it easier to start additional fires. Stopping homes from burning interrupts this chain of events. Video Testimonial : This video is a moving testimonial by a close friend, Zac Sestina. The 2007 Ramona fire, near San Diego, totally consumed his home and is believed to have been started by flying embers. He and his family thought they were safe from a wildfire that was burning in the canyons far from their home.  Thinking that the fire wouldn’t affect them, Zac and his family went to bed. Fortunately, Zac’s three year old daughter woke him in the middle of the night saying: “Daddy, there is a noise in the back yard”. Getting up, Zac saw light outside and thinking it was morning he opened the drapes. In horror, he saw a 20 foot wall of fire behind his home! He and his wife grabbed the children, the pets and a valuable document file folder and escaped their home with only the clothes on their backs. They were the only ones left on their block…all the neighbors had long since evacuated. “If it hadn’t been for my daughter’s warning we could have all been a horrible fire statistic.” Always be prepared You never know when fire will strike! We deeply appreciate our friend recalling and sharing his painful story. His message, like ours is that preparation goes a long way in protecting lives, property, and the environment. Indiegogo Campaign with VIDEO of ZAC Please visit our Crowd Funding campaign on Indiegogo.com at:   igg.me/at/emberdeflector and contribute to this worthy cause. Don’t know what Crowd Funding is? Check out our “What The Heck Is Crowd Funding” blog at: Like us on Facebook at: