Defensible space
The maintained buffer of cleared and spaced vegetation around a home that slows a wildfire and gives firefighters room to work.
Defensible space is the landscaped buffer — typically the first 100 feet around a structure in fire country — that you keep cleared, pruned, and spaced so a wildfire loses fuel as it approaches. Fire agencies split it into zones: an ember-resistant Zone 0 (0–5 ft) right against the house, a 'lean, clean, and green' Zone 1 (5–30 ft), and a reduced-fuel Zone 2 (30–100 ft). The goal isn't a moonscape; it's breaking up the continuous fuel and ladder fuels that let a surface fire climb into tree crowns and reach your walls. Firefighters may decline to defend a home that lacks it. See [wildfire home preparation](/guides/wildfire-home-preparation).