How You Can Create a Fire Risk Management Plan:
A Step-by-Step Guide for Homeowners

Wildfire season is no longer a remote concern; it’s a reality for millions of homeowners each year. In states like California, Colorado, and Oregon, fires are becoming more intense, more destructive, and more personal. If you live near grasslands, forests, or even in suburban developments with open space, having a fire risk management plan is no longer optional. It’s essential.

This guide walks you through how to create one, step-by-step, with tips that improve safety, protect your investment, and support insurance eligibility.

Why Fire Risk Planning Matters

According to FEMA, over 2 million acres burned across the U.S. in 2023 alone. Thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged. Many of these losses occurred in areas previously not considered high-risk. This trend is shifting how homeowners think about fire preparedness.

A fire risk management plan isn’t just for people in the woods. Fires start in open lots, along highways, and in residential neighborhoods. Planning can reduce your property’s exposure, improve your chances of recovery, and in some cases, make your home easier to insure.

What Fire Risk Management Includes

At the homeowner level, fire risk management includes evaluating your property’s wildfire exposure, making structural improvements, and having an emergency response plan. Many communities also have what’s called a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)—a shared roadmap outlining local risks, evacuation routes, and defensible space zones.

When your plan aligns with your community’s CWPP, it increases the odds your home is accessible and defensible for emergency responders, and can help qualify your community for grant money to spend on community-wide mitigation work.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Wildfire Risk

Start with your property's fire risk profile. Tools like Guidewire’s HazardHub quiz or your local fire authority’s zone map can show you if you’re in a Moderate, High, or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Location matters, but so does slope, vegetation, and nearby ignition sources.

Homes in wildfire-prone areas are more likely to face insurance restrictions, so understanding your designation is the foundation of every other step.

Step 2: Create Defensible Space

Defensible space [Link to: Wildfire Home Protection: Your Yard as the First Line of Defense] is a buffer between your home and potential wildfire fuels. Experts recommend thinking in zones:

• Zone 0 (0–5 feet): Remove all flammable materials [Link to: Flammable vs. Combustible] like mulch, wood piles, or dry vegetation next to your house.
• Zone 1 (5–30 feet): Trim shrubs, clear debris, and maintain spacing between trees and structures.
• Zone 2+ (30–100 feet): Thin out trees, mow dry grass, and remove ladder fuels like stacked branches.

This zoning model helps reduce fire intensity and gives firefighters a safer space to work.

Step 3: Harden Your Home

Wildfires don’t just burn through trees; they attack homes with embers, radiant heat, and direct flame contact. Hardening your home means making targeted upgrades that reduce ignition points, delay fire spread, and improve survivability during a wildfire event.

• Enclose eaves so embers don’t churn underneath and ignite the roof from below.
• Install ⅛” mesh screens behind all vents to prevent embers from entering attics or crawlspaces.
• Replace combustible siding with fire-resistant materials. Tempered glass withstands heat and helps prevent interior ignition.
• Use non-combustible materials for decks, fencing, and trim. Metal and fire-rated wood reduce the risk of flame spread.
• Install ember-resistant soffits to minimize points of ember intrusion under rooflines.
• Replace wood mulch with gravel or stone within 5 feet of the home. This eliminates surface-level ignition sources.
• Seal gaps where roofs meet walls or around penetrations. Fire-rated caulking and flashing can close off vulnerable seams.

Step 4: Build an Evacuation Plan

A fire risk plan isn’t complete without a strategy for getting out safely. When evacuation notices come, they can arrive with little warning. Best practices from Ready.gov recommend having:

• Two escape routes from every room
• A designated meeting place away from your home
• A contact list with emergency numbers
• A ready-to-go emergency kit with medication, clothes, chargers, and important documents
• A list or video of valuables for potential insurance claims\
• A backup meeting point outside your neighborhood in case primary routes are blocked.

Practice the plan at least once a year and don’t forget to include children and pets.

Step 5: Stay Current with Seasonal Updates

Wildfire risk fluctuates with the seasons. Update your plan at least twice a year. Spring is a good time to refresh defensible space, while fall is a key moment to check vents, clean gutters, and stock go-bags.

On high-risk days, stay alert. Red Flag Warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when fire weather conditions are critical: dry winds, heat, and low humidity. On these days, move combustible yard items at least five feet from your home and ensure hoses and tools are accessible.

Step 6: Review Your Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)

If your community has a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, read it. These documents often outline evacuation procedures, fire suppression resources, and local fuel reduction strategies. You can usually find your CWPP online with other community resources or through your county fire department or emergency services office.

If your area lacks one, talk to your local fire safe council or city planner about starting the process. CAL FIRE’s CWPP Guidance can help get the conversation started.

Step 7: Understand the Insurance Angle

Insurance companies are increasingly looking for proof of mitigation. If you live in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone [Link to: Fire Hazard Severity Zones], your provider may require home hardening upgrades to renew or issue your policy. Showing defensible space and an active CWPP for the community can strengthen your position.

Some carriers use tools like HazardHub wildfire scores to evaluate individual properties  that may need mitigation. Taking action now may improve your odds of keeping coverage, avoiding last minute appeals with the underwriter—or getting your coverage back if you've been dropped in error.

Step 8: Work With Fire Crews in Mind

Firefighters need room to operate. Help them help you by:

• Clearing driveways and private roads
• Labeling your home with reflective address signs
• Ensuring hydrants and hose bibs are visible and unobstructed

These small adjustments can make all the difference in a crisis. When access is clear and your home is easy to locate, firefighters are more likely to prioritize it for defense.  

A Real-World Reminder: When Plans aren’t Implemented

Even when a Community Wildfire Protection Plan exists, it only works if homeowners follow through. In some California neighborhoods, fire crews have flagged communities as difficult or dangerous to defend—not because of location, but because access routes are blocked, vegetation remains unmanaged, or CWPP recommendations were never acted on. These are the homes fire responders may be forced to drive past.

Tammy Schwartz, Senior Director of Analytics at Guidewire, notes:

“Firefighters look for homes they can actually defend. If brush is overgrown or driveways are inaccessible, they may have to prioritize other properties.”

This underscores why your plan needs to move from paper to action. Fire risk management isn’t about checking a box—it’s about making sure your home is truly ready before flames appear.

Take the Next Step

Your fire risk management plan should grow with your home and your family. It’s a living document that reflects the realities of a changing climate, increasing wildfire risk, and evolving insurance requirements.

Start today by checking your HazardHub wildfire score and building your plan around it. Talk to your neighbors. You aren’t in this alone. You don’t need to do it all at once, but every step you take makes your home, your street, and your future safer.