Fire Safety can be a challenge in wooded or other areas where lots of brush and debris accumulates. This is especially true along the wildland urban interface (WUI) zone of cities and suburbs where homes and other property are located in close to or within heavily wooded area where there is lots of vegetation and brush that accumulates throughout the year.

There are several pre-fire avoidance strategies that can be implemented. The most basic defensive strategy is to provide defensible space between plants and houses. This is most easily done when landscaping is being designed so that proper clearance between structures and vegetation can be created.

Proper maintenance is also important. If plants near houses or important infrastructure are well maintained, properly hydrated, and not directly under or adjacent to eaves the risk of creating a fire ladder during brush fires is significantly lessened. It should be added that highly flammable plants (those with high oil content in their leaves) should be avoided, or sited a distance away from structures.

Coordination between neighbors and agencies is also a significant tool to prevent the spread of fire. Neighborhood or city level brush clearance policies reduce the fuel load within an area. Streets are a natural fire break; plans can also be formed at the local level to increase the effective width of the fire break through landscape planting and hardscape selections.