Is Your Home Wildfire-Ready?
A plain checklist for getting a Sedona home ready for wildfire — tick what you've done and see what to do next, the highest-impact steps first, from the first five feet to the way out.
Getting a home ready for wildfire isn't one big project — it's a list of small ones, and they aren't all equal. Tick off what you've already done and this shows what's worth doing next, starting with the few things that protect a house the most.
Why this matters in Sedona
Your home, zone by zone
Start here
You've done 0 of 7 highest-impact steps.
These are the highest-impact steps first. Tick off what you've already done and the list updates.
- Keep the first 5 feet around the house clear of anything that burns — no bark mulch, dead leaves, firewood, or shrubs against the walls. — This strip decides more homes than anything else; gravel or bare soil here is ideal.
- Move firewood, propane tanks, and anything stored against the house at least 30 feet away. — Stacked fuel against a wall turns a passing ember into a house fire.
- Clear leaves and needles from under decks, porches, and stairs, and screen the gaps with metal mesh. — The space under a deck is a classic ember trap.
- Clear the roof and gutters of leaves and needles, and keep them clear through fire season. — A gutter full of dry needles is the most common place a home catches.
- Cover every vent and opening with 1/8-inch metal mesh so embers can't reach the attic or crawlspace. — Most homes that burn are lost to embers getting inside, not flames outside.
Your home, zone by zone
The first 5 feet
0–5 ft from the houseThe most important zone. Embers collect right against the walls, and a flame here goes straight into the house.
This strip decides more homes than anything else; gravel or bare soil here is ideal.
Stacked fuel against a wall turns a passing ember into a house fire.
The space under a deck is a classic ember trap.
The house itself
Embers find the weak points — the roof, the gutters, the vents. Close them.
A gutter full of dry needles is the most common place a home catches.
Most homes that burn are lost to embers getting inside, not flames outside.
A bigger project, but the roof is the largest target a home presents.
5 to 30 feet
5–30 ft from the houseBreak up the fuel so a fire on the ground can't climb its way to the house.
Low branches are a ladder that takes a grass fire up into the canopy.
30 to 100 feet
30–100 ft from the houseFurther out, thin the fuel so a fire arrives smaller and slower.
Getting out
In a wildfire, Sedona's two state routes are the only way out — plan for that before a fire starts.
Sedona straddles two counties; an evacuation order can come from either one.
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