Protecting our community from wildfire starts with every homeowner.
Here's what you need to know.
Saddlewood sits in a high-risk wildfire zone in Elbert County, Colorado. The combination of dry grasslands, ponderosa pine, and seasonal winds means fire can spread rapidly. The good news: defensible space and simple property maintenance dramatically improve your home's chances of surviving a wildfire — and protect your neighbors too.
0–5 feet from your home
Your highest-priority zone. Use hardscape or noncombustible mulch right against the house, keep roofs and gutters clear of debris, and store firewood far away. Prune back branches overhanging the roof, screen or enclose decks, and skip flammable mulch underneath them. Limit plants to CSU's Firewise list, keep them low and well-pruned, and treat any Ponderosa pine, aspen, or blue spruce here as part of your home's structure.
5–30 feet from your home
A fuel-reduction buffer between your home and the wild. Break up continuous vegetation into separated islands, remove ladder fuels so fire can't climb into tree canopies, and clear leaf and needle litter regularly. Keep grass and wildflowers under 4–8 inches, store firewood away from sheds and outbuildings, and move trailers or RVs out of this zone (or defend them like your hous
30–200 feet from your home
Thinning, not clearing. Keep at least 10 feet between treetops, remove ladder fuels up to 10 feet high while preserving most of the canopy, and clear out dead trees and shrubs. Store firewood a safe distance from structures, space out shrubs to break up ground-level fuel, and thin along shared property lines — your trees can pose more risk to a neighbor's home than your own.
Ensure your roof carries a Class A fire rating, screen vents with 1/8-inch metal mesh, install tempered glass windows, and maintain 6 inches of clearance between the ground and siding
Remove leaves, needles, and debris from roofs, gutters, and decks. This zone nearest your home needs the most vigilant, ongoing upkeep to resist ignition.
Store woodpiles and propane tanks at least 30 feet from your home, never underneath decks, and clear flammable vegetation within 10 feet of both.
Maintain 10 feet between tree crowns, remove ladder fuels up to 10-12 feet high, and space shrubs at least 2.5 times their mature height apart.
Keep grass and weeds under 4 inches, and clear pine needles and flammable debris within a 5-foot radius of your home's foundation and deck.
Keep roadside grass trimmed low and sightlines to signs clear. In an emergency, these roads are also your evacuation route and firefighters' access.
Saddlewood Foundation, Inc
4301 Saddlewood Road, Elizabeth, CO 80107, US