Southern California homeowners live with the constant threat of wildfires. Here’s what some are doing today, so they won’t have to worry tomorrow.

When most people think about Southern California, they think about the endless stretches of pristine coastline, the opulent mansions of Bel-Air, Malibu, and other elite neighborhoods, and the glamorous lives of the wealthy and famous who call this area home. 

Unfortunately, the area is also known for something far less glamorous and far more dangerous – wildfires that have already burnt more than two million acres of land… and that threaten to destroy many more. 

Southern California’s wildfire problem returned to the national spotlight in November 2018, when the Woolsey wildfire rampaged through Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, killing dozens and incinerating more than $6 billion in property. 

What frightens many Southern California residents is that the 2018 wildfires represented what could be just the beginning. 

Researchers have uncovered several factors that could increase the likelihood of more frequent wildfires in coming years, including: 

• Earlier spring snow melts and later autumn freezes, which extend the “dry season” in the already drought-ravaged California desert. Longer dry seasons mean more time and better circumstances for a blaze to ignite and spread. 
• Rising overall temperatures – scientific journal Earth’s Future notes that summer temperatures in Southern California have risen by 2.5 degrees Celsius in the past 50 years. Warmer temperatures, particularly during dry seasons, substantially increase the risk of ignition.
• Invasive pests – recent invasions of destructive pests are causing the weakening and death of trees and plant life, creating additional “fuel” that could help wildfires spread quickly. 

The bottom line is, there’s a good chance more wildfires are coming. One news outlet even called the wildfire threat “California’s new normal.”

What are your options if a wildfire threatens your home? 

You’ve probably spent a fair amount of time thinking about how you would deal with a wildfire threat. 

You have property insurance, of course – even though your rates could go up by 1000% or more in the next few years, you still have to maintain coverage on your home, exterior buildings, cars, personal possessions, and other items. 

But even if your insurance policy pays to restore or replace your home after a wildfire, the process is lengthy and frustrating. Depending on how severely your home is damaged, it could be between six months and three years before you can move back in.

You probably don’t want to spend that long living with family or friends. You don’t want your children to change school districts. You don’t want every aspect of your life turned upside down. 

So while insurance is a necessity, it only helps after disaster has already occurred.

Wouldn’t it be better if your home was never damaged in the first place?  

Of course it would! 

Unfortunately, your options until now have been pretty limited. You’ve probably seen videos of homeowners soaking their roof tiles with hoses and dousing their siding with buckets of water as a wildlife looms near. 

“If that’s what I have to do to save my house, that’s what I’ll do,” you might have thought. 

But once you’re in that situation, things look a little different. There are many reasons why trying to take on a wildfire with buckets and hoses should be your primary defense plan:

• Doing so requires actually being home, awake, and attentive in sufficient time to soak your property before wildfires reach it. 
• The ignition zone (the boundary beyond which your home is in immediate danger) extends 100 feet from the home’s exterior walls in each direction. If there are external buildings on your property, they would extend this zone. 
• Taking on a wildfire yourself puts you at risk of serious physical harm or even death. In the moment, you might feel like saving your home is worth putting yourself in danger. It doesn’t make sense, though, to risk leaving your family to mourn losing you.  

Does that mean there’s nothing you can do, though?

Not at all! In fact, the most effective thing you can do doesn’t even require you to leave your chair.

There’s a safe, easy way to help protect your home, family, and property against wildfire damage.

The best protection against wildfires starts long before they become an immediate threat. 

How? By applying a safe, non-toxic fire-blocking spray on outdoor flammable surfaces in and around your home’s ignition zone. 

Phos-Chek is a safe, reliable fire-blocker used by the U.S. Fire Service to protect homes, buildings, and other properties by rendering “fuel” (brush and other highly flammable items) within the home ignition zone inflammable.

You can give yourself peace of mind by applying Phos-Chek to these items within your home’s ignition zone, as well as near any areas emergency responders may need to access:

• Around the perimeter of your home
• Around the perimeter of any detached buildings
• On brush and cut wood. 

Once you apply Phos-Chek, it will provide protection for about 6 months or until ½ inch of rain falls. 

Let us do the work, so you can get back to  life – worry free. 

If you’re like most people, you don’t really want to spend your time fighting wildfires… or even preparing for them. That’s why our team of professionals is here to do the hard work for you. 

Our technicians will come to your property to conduct a 14-point inspection – we look for all potential wildfire risks and review our findings with you in detail so you know exactly how we can best protect you and your family from upheaval and loss. 

If you and our technicians agree, they’ll apply long-lasting Phos-Check fire block to all designated surfaces and create a “defensible space” to minimize the potential for damage. 

Finally, we’ll work proactively to help you further reduce risk – clearing away brush and other flammables can dramatically improve your odds of withstanding a wildfire unharmed. 

Meanwhile, you can get back to your day, knowing that you’ve taken the right step to protect yourself, your family, and your dreams from being destroyed by wildfires. 

Click here to learn more about Allied’s fire preventative Phos-Chek application services and schedule your private consultation and 14-point inspection.