Preparing Property for Wildfire

Residents should remove fire-prone materials within at least five feet of their home to help stop wildfires from spreading and give firefighters space to defend the property. 

Use City resources and programs to help you self-inspect your property, update your landscaping, dispose of excess vegetation, or create a community with your neighbors dedicated to wildfire preparedness. 

Get wildfire risk information specific to your home's location. You can also understand your local risk by looking at information on how certain factors create wildfire risk in the hills. 

Protect your property by creating defensible space 

Create buffer zones, or defensible space, at least five feet around a home anywhere in Berkeley to help stop wildfires from spreading and give firefighters space to defend your property. 

Limit the amount of flammable materials within the first five feet around your home, including: 

• Dead plants
• Leaves
• Woodpiles
• Propane tanks
• Wooden fences
• Live plants and bushes
• Combustible furniture

If you live in the Grizzly Peak and Panoramic Mitigation areas – which extend from Piedmont east to the city boundary and from Grizzly Peak east to the city boundary – state and local mandates require you to keep buffer space around your home, with the first five feet being a priority. Those who live next to these hillside areas are also required to create defensible space around their home. Enter your address on Berkeley FireSafe  to find out your wildfire risk area.

Get help disposing of excess vegetation 

Use our self-inspection checklist to help identify steps you can make to your property to make it wildfire resilient. Making changes to your home and the surrounding landscaping can also help protect your property. 

One of the easiest first steps is to dispose of excess vegetation around your home. You can do this in several ways:  

• Schedule an appointment with the Chipper Day program for curbside pickup of vegetation such as: shrubs, brush, tree limbs, wood and bushes from residential properties.  
• Order a vegetation debris bin if you live in a higher-risk neighborhood that qualifies for this service funded by your property tax surcharge.   
• Rent a dumpster for yourself or your neighborhood for a one-time pick up of large amounts of waste.  

Drop off various forms of trash at the Transfer Station or purchase pre-paid trash bags to dispose of trash next to your home bins on your trash pickup day. 

Reduce wildfire risk while working with your neighbors 

Anyone in Berkeley can team up with neighbors to increase their neighborhood’s wildfire resistance by organizing a Firewise community of at least eight single-family dwelling units, focusing on vegetation management and home hardening practices that may help you qualify for lower insurance rates. 

Any community that meets a set of voluntary criteria on an annual basis and retains an “In Good Standing Status” may identify itself as being a Firewise® Site. 

To get started, contact the Berkeley Fire Department’s Firewise Coordinator:  
(510) 981-5620 
wildfire@berkeleyca.gov.