The Individual Home Wildfire Hazard Assessment is a checklist designed for you to determine the hazard rating of your home. There are twelve questions, with two or three possible answers. Select the answer that best describes your situation. Each answer has a number associated with it – this is the point rating. Upon completion, add up the points achieved for each question to give a grand total. At the bottom of the assessment, you will find a series of hazard rating classes. By placing your total into the appropriate class, you can determine the hazard rating of your home and throughout these web pages, you will find numerous tips on how to reduce the risk associated with your home in the event of a wildfire.
| INDIVIDUAL HOUSE WILDFIRE HAZARD ASSESSMENT | ||||
| This assessment form is to be used to determine the wildfire hazard to individual homes present in areas with recognized wildfire hazards. | ||||
| Circle the number that applies to your home. | ||||
| 1. Location of Home | Flat Ground, <5% slope below house | Slope 5-20% below house | Crest of hill, upper slope, > 2% below house | |
| 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2. Roofing Material | Tile, steel, non-combustible | Treated wood shakes | Untreated wood shakes | |
| soffits or open soffits | soffits or open soffits | |||
| 0 or 3 | 3 or 15 | 24 | ||
| 3. Roof Cleanliness | No combustible material | Scattered combustible material | Clogged gutters, roof accumulation | |
| < 1 cm in depth | > 1 cm in depth | |||
| 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4. Siding Material | Stucco, vinyl | Steel, Aluminum, Logs | Wood or shingle siding | |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 5. Decks and Porches | None or completely built of non-combustible materials | Wood materials, underside enclosed | Wood material, not closed in | |
| 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 6. Wood piles, combustible materials | None or >15 m away from house | 3 m to 10 m away from house | <3 m or against house or under porches | |
| 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 7. Services – Gas or Electricity | Underground wires | Overhead wires | < 3m vegetation from wires or propane tanks | |
| 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 8. Coniferous Forest Cover | > 10 m from house | 3 m – 10 m from house | None | |
| spaced/pruned or not spaced/pruned | spaced/pruned or not spaced/pruned | spaced/pruned or not spaced/pruned | ||
| 1 or 2 | 3 or 6 | 6 or 12 | ||
| 9. Surface Vegetation | Non-combustible material; green lawn all around house | Greenbelt 3 m – 10 m in width | Greenbelt < 3 m in width | |
| 1 | 6 | 12 | ||
| 10. Access | > 4 m wide, > 10 m long driveway to house | < 4 m wide, > 10 m long driveway to house | Narrow, long driveway to house, no turnaround, slope > 10% | |
| 1 | 3 | 6 | 11. Home protection capabilities | Pressurized water, fire tools available | Other water sources, fire tools available | No tools and/or No water |
| 0 | 2 | 3 or 6 | ||
| 12. Special Factors | Extreme fuel load +3 | Roof sprinkler -3 | High | |
| Poor house & street signage +3 | ||||
| Poor, steep, winding access +3 | ||||
| Bridges-unable to hold 40,000 lbs +3 | ||||
| Large windows facing forest +3 | ||||
| TOTAL: _________________ | points = Hazard Rating | |||
| less than 18 points….. | Low (safe) | |||
| Hazard | 18-28 points….. | Moderate | ||
| Rating | 29-37 points….. | High | ||
| Class | greater than 37 points….. | Extreme | ||