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.
Loading the latest information…
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
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.
The 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.
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.
Break 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.
Further out, thin the fuel so a fire arrives smaller and slower.
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.
Nothing here is saved or sent — it's just for you, on this page.
These steps follow the Home Ignition Zone guidance that fire agencies share — NFPA's Firewise USA, the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home standard, and Arizona's Ready, Set, Go! programme. They are the widely agreed basics; your fire district can tell you what your specific property needs.
This restates the wildfire-preparedness guidance fire agencies share — it's general information, not a professional defensible-space assessment, and it can't promise a home will survive a fire or that an insurer will reinstate cover. Your fire authority's requirements come first; the channels above are where to confirm what your property needs.
Source: NFPA Firewise USA, IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home, and Ready, Set, Go! — published defensible-space and home-hardening guidance, checked June 21, 2026 (2 months ago).
Town Tools builds free, public tools for Sedona and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.