[Click Here] This page includes a Low-Cost Retrofit List, a Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide, and a Wildfire Survey to provide residents with a custom home hardening checklist.

[Click Here] This page provides lots of good information and helpful videos that illustrate each component of home hardening.

[Download Here] Structural losses in wildfires have been attributed to exposures from embers (firebrands) and fire (radiation and/or convection). As structural losses continue to increase, there is a need for a comprehensive hazard assessment and mitigation methodology to harden appropriate structures and parcels effectively and efficiently against ember and fire exposures.

The science-based methodology in this report uses the knowledge collected from post-fire field observations spanning over a dozen years and tens of thousands of hours of field data integration and analysis, and utilizes the latest technical knowledge gained from laboratory and large-scale research in fire propagation and hazard mitigation in the WUI.

The study is the result of a sixteen-month collaborative effort between NIST, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), and the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS).

[Download Here] A series of field experiments were conducted to examine the effects of fire spread toward a structure with combustible fences and mulch under conditions that may be encountered in a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fire.

The fire behavior of a variety of materials, designs, and configurations were studied under various wind conditions in 187 experiments.

A small structure was located between 0 m and 1.83 m (0 ft to 6 ft) downwind of the fence or mulch bed as a target for flames and firebrands. A target mulch bed at the base of the structure tested the ability of firebrands produced by the burning fence and mulch bed to ignite spot fires that threatened the structure.

[Download Here] Wildfire Prepared Home™ was developed to help you protect your home from wildfire. The requirements described here are based on years of scientific research by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Science has demonstrated that, when applied together, the specific actions that we recommend reduce the wildfire risk to your home and property.

[Click Here] The key to preventing wildfires from becoming disasters is to keep them from entering and spreading into the built environment. IBHS has identified key vulnerabilities for suburban neighborhoods and communities; these insights build on findings published by the fire protection community and the best experimental and field research to date.

{Download Here] Wind-blown embers are the principal cause of building ignitions. Although the importance of embers (also called brands or firebrands) has been understood for a number of years, the ability to evaluate them in a laboratory setting has been a relatively recent development.

The objective of this study was to clarify the relative importance of vents, including style, type and location of the entry of wind-blown embers. At the time this project was conducted, three vents had been accepted for use by the California OFSM. These vents were incorporated into the experimental design.

[Download Here] Fences and mulch contribute to the spread of wildlfires. They act as both ignition targets and as sources that may themselves ignite nearby objects through direct flame contact and firebrand generation. The linear nature of fences gives them the capability of spreading fire over long distances.

This paper presents the findings from outdoor experiments that investigated the spread of fire through firebrand spotting from fences and mulch beds near a structure in a wind field. A variety of fence and mulch types and materials were tested. Fence type, proximity to the structure, wind speed, and type of ground cover beneath the fence all affect firebrand spotting.

[Download Here] Climate change, increased wildland fuels, and residential development patterns in fire-prone areas have combined to make wildfire-risk mitigation an important public policy issue. One approach to wildfire-risk mitigation is to encourage homeowners to use fire-resistant building materials and to create defensible spaces around their homes. We develop a theoretical model of interdependent household wildfire risk and examine its implications for a hypothetical fire-prone community. Results indicate that homeowners wildfire risk reduction actions can have significant, positive spillover effects on the wildfire risk of neighboring houses. In such cases, individual homeowners will engage in inefficient levels of wildfire-risk mitigation. We also demonstrate that wildfire risk reduction is most effective when concentrated in houses at the interface of communities and wildlands.

[Click Here] In this video, Sam Manzello (NIST) presents firebrand research targeted on quantifying structure vulnerabilities to wind-driven firebrand showers. This type of firebrand research was never possible prior to the development of the NIST Firebrand Generator, also referred to as the NIST Dragon.