10 Common Items Around Your House That Could Feed a Wildfire

Aug 25

6 min read

Follow the ember. Find the fuel. Break the chain.

When we think about wildfire preparation, we tend to look at the obvious things: dry grass, brush, trees, and woodpiles.

But during an ember storm, ordinary objects around your house can become fuel. An ember doesn't care about an object’s intended use, it only cares whether it can ignite.

Here are 10 surprisingly common things to pay attention to before a wildfire threatens your neighborhood.

1. Your Trash Can A plastic trash can has the ability to cause a surprisingly intense fire.

In NIST laboratory testing, a 32-gallon plastic trash container containing ordinary household materials reached a peak heat-release rate of approximately 300 kilowatts and released about 150 megajoules of energy in one experiment—roughly equivalent to burning three to three and a half gallons of gasoline. That's a significant fire from something most of us think of as simply a place to put garbage.

Follow the ember: Embers land in the trash and start a fire in the plastic container. The trash can fire produces radiant heat under the eaves of the structure, which can cause an attic fire.

What to do: Move trash and recycling carts away from the house and other combustible structures when a wildfire threatens. If safely possible, store them in a garage or other protected location.

2. Your Doormat

That welcoming little mat at the front door may be made from coconut fiber, rubber, plastic, or other combustible materials.

And where does it live?

Immediately next to your house.

The first five feet around a building are particularly important because embers can accumulate there and ignite combustible materials against the structure. IBHS recommends a 0–5-foot noncombustible zone around buildings, including the footprint of attached decks. Follow the ember: Embers collect on your doormat, which can cause the mat to burn next to the front door.

What to do: Bring combustible doormats inside during periods of elevated fire danger. Keep the area immediately outside doors clear of leaves, debris, and other combustible materials.

3. A Broom Leaning Against the Garage

A broom or a rake doesn't look like wildfire fuel.

But dry natural-fiber bristles, plastic components, and wooden handles are all combustible—and they're often stored directly against the house.

Follow the ember: Embers accumulate around the bristles of the broom, which causes it to ignite next to the siding.

What to do: Store yard tools inside a garage, shed, or other protected location rather than leaning them against the house.

4. Outdoor Furniture and Cushions

Patio furniture is often made from flammable plastic, wood, foam, fabric, and synthetic materials.

These lightweight objects have another problem: wind can move them. During an ember storm, an outdoor cushion may not stay where you left it.

Follow the ember: Embers land on cushions, causing the furniture to burn under a window or on a wooden deck.

What to do: Bring cushions, umbrellas, and lightweight outdoor furnishings inside when a wildfire threatens. Keep heavier furniture away from walls and windows.

5. Plastic Pots and Planters

A beautiful container garden can conceal several potential fuel sources.

Plastic pots can melt or burn. Wooden planters can burn. And the dead leaves, dried stems, and mulch inside a container can provide exactly the kind of fine fuel that embers can ignite.

Follow the ember: Embers land on dry plant material or collect around the base of the planter, causing it to ignite next to the house.

What to do: Keep combustible planters away from the structure and remove dead vegetation and accumulated debris. Consider noncombustible containers within the immediate zone around the house.

6. The Fence

During a wildfire, a fence can become more than a fence.

It can be a fire pathway.

NIST conducted 187 full-scale experiments involving residential fences, mulch, and combinations of the two. Researchers found that combustible fences can carry fire along their length and generate embers capable of igniting other fuels. In one series of experiments, two combustible fences placed back-to-back became engulfed in flames in less than four minutes. Follow the ember: Embers build up on mulch or debris at the base of wooden fences, causing them to burn right up to the house.

What to do: Keep combustible vegetation, mulch, and accumulated debris away from fences—especially where the fence attaches to the house. Where feasible, consider creating a noncombustible break where a fence approaches the structure.

7. The Garden Hose

That garden hose coiled beside the house may not be something you think about during wildfire preparation.

Many conventional hoses contain plastic or rubber materials that can burn or melt when exposed to intense heat.

Consider replacing conventional plastic or rubber hoses with a stainless-steel hose, particularly if your garden hose is stored next to the house. Stainless-steel construction can reduce the amount of combustible material in the hose itself.

Follow the ember: Embers build up in and around the hose, causing it to melt and burn nearby vegetation or combustible materials adjacent to the structure.

What to do: Store hoses away from the house when a wildfire threatens, regardless of material. If you're replacing a hose, consider a stainless-steel hose with metal fittings and a metal or otherwise noncombustible reel.

Remember: A stainless-steel hose isn't fireproof. Think of it as one small way to reduce combustible materials in the immediate area around your home.

8. Your Deck

A deck may look perfectly safe, while still containing several wildfire pathways.

IBHS research found that embers can accumulate between deck boards—particularly where the boards meet the underlying joists—and ignite the fine vegetative debris that collects there. Once a deck ignites, it can expose the house to direct flames and sustained radiant heat.

And the space underneath the deck matters, too.

Follow the ember: Embers can ignite debris between deck boards, causing the deck to burn. This can cause the siding to burn or a window to break.

Or:

Embers burn vegetation beneath the deck, causing the underside of the deck to burn next to the house.

What to do: Keep the top and underside of decks free of leaves and combustible debris. Keep the area beneath the deck free of storage, such as firewood, cardboard, furniture, or other combustible materials.

9. Cardboard, Paper, and Packages

The cardboard box sitting outside the front door is easy to overlook.

So is the stack of newspapers.

So are paper grocery bags, shipping materials, and packing paper waiting for recycling day.

They're all fine, lightweight fuels—exactly the kind of material an ember can ignite quickly.

Follow the ember: Embers accumulate on a cardboard surface, igniting the trash can, which burns the siding or breaks the window.

What to do: Don't leave cardboard, paper, or packaging near the structure. Bring deliveries inside promptly and keep recycling contained and away from the house.

10. The Plant You Forgot Was Touching the House

Sometimes the overlooked fuel isn't an object at all.

It's the shrub beneath the window.

The vine next to the eaves.

The dried plant material inside a planter.

The dead branches underneath a tree.

Wildfire resilience isn't about removing every plant from your property. It's about breaking the continuity that allows fire to move from one fuel to another.

IBHS describes the first five feet around a building as a critical noncombustible zone because it helps prevent embers from becoming flames immediately adjacent to the structure. Follow the ember: Embers collect in dry plant material, which ignites the wooden fence or deck, leading to a structure fire.

What to do: Maintain separation between vegetation and the house, remove dead material, and avoid creating continuous pathways from ground-level fuels into shrubs, trees, and structures.

Finally, Do the Ember Walk

You don't need special equipment to start. Walk slowly around your house and imagine thousands of burning embers arriving on a windy afternoon.

Look down. Look under things. Look behind things. Look at the corners.

Then ask three questions:

1. Where could an ember land?

2. What could it ignite?

3. What would that fire ignite next?

That's the ember chain.

Your job isn't necessarily to remove every combustible thing on your property. Your job is to break the connections:

Trash can next to the house
Doormat next to the door
Fence next to the deck
Hose next to vegetation
Deck next to the window
Vegetation under the eaves

Remember, it’s not where you live, it’s how you live. Break the chain, and you give your home a better chance of surviving an ember storm.