Home Fireproof Home

Warm temperatures and reduced rainfall have combined to produce an early fire season. A look at protecting your house and yard:

* Avoid flammable landscaping including pines, palms, cedar, cypress, juniper, spruce, Bougainvillea and pampas grass

* Choose fire-resistant plants such as succulents, California fuchsia, coyote bush, Mexican evening primrose, native oaks and sycamores

* Trim or remove tree limbs near house and remove leaves from roof and gutters

* Cover chimney with spark arrester or steel mesh to prevent sparks from igniting roof or * Clear brush, tall grasses and weeds 30 feet in all directions from any structure

* Plant trees on slopes 10 to 20 feet apart

* Stack firewood away from house

* Scatter wood chips beneath shrubs to cool soil and prevent grasses and weeds from growing

* Replace wood shake roof or have it treated with fire-proof material

* Attach house address where numbers are clearly visible

* Install smoke detectors on every level, especially outside bedrooms; test detectors regularly and replace batteries annually

Plan Ahead

* Establish predetermined, practiced escape routes and meeting place outside the house

* Agree that no one will return inside house for any reason

* Purchase pet carriers; decide who will be responsible for gathering animals

* Store valuable documents in fire-proof lockbox

* Roll up car windows, pull it onto driveway for safe escape

Source: Times files and Orange County Fire Authority; Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times