WILDFIRE

RISK

Serrano homes can be directly exposed to wildfire from adjacent wildland vegetation or indirectly from embers and home-to-home ignition.

Serrano's ability to survive a wildfire is driven primarily by construction materials and vegetation management.

Fire hazards in Serrano increase our risk of loss from nearby wildfires.

Serrano Fire Hazards

There are three critical fire hazards we need to address as a community:

1. Vegetation and combustible material fire paths to homes within 100 feet but not beyond the property line.

2. Hazardous vegetation within 100 feet of homes beyond the property line.

2. Houses that cannot withstand flames and radiant heat because they fail to meet the current building code in our area and have attached wood fences and gates.

The photo shows a Serrano house fire that started when smoldering bark ignited the shared side yard fence and flames traveled to the attached gate and vegetation, allowing flames to enter the house.

1,000 acres of unmanaged wildland vegetation in the natural public open space could be ignited by lightning or spot fires from burning embers and spread fire into our villages.

4,500 homes have combustible bark and vegetation within 5 feet of the house, ignitable by embers that could start a house fire.

3,500 homes have wood fences and gates, a fire path to connected yards and their houses.

3,000 homes were built before the 2008 WUI building code set minimum standards to increase the ability of homes to resist the intrusion of flames or burning embers.

Serrano Statistics

Serrano Vulnerabilities

While we are distant from recent catastrophic wildfires like Paradise and Caldor, we live among wildlands identified by Cal Fire as high fire hazard severity zones.

Our community is vulnerable to the following possible events:

Under the right wind conditions, burning embers from a nearby wildfire can travel as far away as 5 miles across Serrano. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), flying embers cause up to 90 percent of homes destroyed by wildfire.
Burning embers from a nearby wildfire can cause spotfires in the wildlands surrounding Serrano villages, which become a secondary source of flames and embers.
Because wood fences connect production homes, a single-house fire started by wildland embers could spread flames and radiant heat to other houses in a village, causing multiple house fires.
Embers that accumulate within 5 feet of the house can ignite vegetation, bark, fences, and decks, causing a house fire (IBHS).

Serrano Risk Mitigation

The County's Hazardous Vegetation and Defensible Space Ordinance and the El Dorado Hills Fire Department's Fire Protection Standard require the Serrano Owners' Association and Serrano Country Club to treat hazardous vegetation on the natural open space and golf course fairways within 100 feet of adjacent homes.

Adjacent Wildlands

Wood Fences

The Fire Department recommends replacing five feet of attached wood fence and gates with metal to break a fence fire's path to the house.

The photo shows a Serrano house that burned when a fence fire reached the home.

Bark

Organic mulch fire studies dating back to 2011 (Quarles and Smith) concluded that bark and other combustible ground covers should be moved at least 5 feet away from houses and other combustible structures, which the Fire Department recommends.

Vents

3,000 Serrano homes were built before 2008, when the California Building Code Chapter 7 A was issued. It established minimum standards that increase a building's ability to resist the intrusion of flames or burning embers and significantly reduce conflagration losses.

Old-style vents should be replaced with commercially available ember-resistant vents or covered with 1/6 to 1/8 inch wire mesh.

Landscaping

The first five feet around your house and deck are, without question, the most crucial landscaping area in your yard. Defensible space landscaping can save your home.

The Fire Department considers bark within 5 feet of the house and decks, shrubs under and near windows, tree branches close to windows and roofs, and vegetation under open eaves a fire hazard.

Learn More

Direct flames, radiant heat, and flying embers from miles away can threaten our homes. To increase your home's chances of survival when wildfire strikes, click here.