Small changes that will help protect your house from wildfires

During the January wildfires in Southern California, 80 mile per hour winds and flames igniting were ideal conditions for embers to travel. Embers, it turns out, are location scouts for flammable spaces.

Robert Villa has spent 25 years as a Southern California firefighter and now works with homeowners who want to reduce their risks. One hazard he sees all the time is trash bins being too close to the home.

He said a simple way to reduce the risk is to keep them at a distance from the home or any other structure.

Anything flammable touching your house has the potential to ignite it; among the most hazardous items are paints, solvents and propane tanks.

"You can throw them in your pool, but the biggest thing is to get them at least 30 feet from your home," Villa said.

Next on his list of things to move is door mats.

"Take this mat, move it away from the house. This is definitely ignitable, which is going to get your threshold going, which is going to get your door going," Villa said.

From there, look for any dry or dead vegetation. It most commonly gathers in rain gutters and near crawl space entry points.

"Just go around and blow all the debris away from your property," Villa said.

In a wind-driven fire, home protection relies largely on keeping embers out. Embers and flying particles of burning debris can be as small as a snowflake and they can enter your home through any opening bigger than they are.  

Villa said one of the most common entry points is through the roof vents.   

"That's about 90% of where the embers penetrate the house," Villa said.

The gable vent is one of several that can draw embers into your attic if one flies in. Foundation vents at the base of homes have the same problem. The pores on the screens keep bugs and rodents out, but they're too big for a tiny ember. If an ember enters under your house, the fire can start under your feet.

"One of the simplest things is covering your vents," Villa said.

Ember-proof vent screens allow air in without the fire risk. They're custom-made and installation can cost hundreds to a couple of thousand dollars for an entire house. For do-it-yourselfers on a budget, aluminum tape or a $9 roll of aluminum screening can be a temporary fix.

Villa also said a wooden gate attached to a home can be a fire risk.

Once an evacuation order has been issued, Villa said it's best to go.

"If you don't know what it's like to inhale smoke and be overcome by it, you're going to spiral and that's when you make poor decisions," Villa said. "My advice is, follow the advice of the local authorities. If they say evacuate, evacuate.