Go into wildfire season prepared

By Emma Peterson. 

From specialty products to spring cleaning, learn how to better protect your home and family from fires. 

In this episode of the AskARoofer podcast, Megan Ellsworth and Lauren White got all the tips and tricks on staying safe this fire season from Lee Lipniskis, CEO and founder of Levello Construction, and Wendy Marvin, CEO and founder of Matrix Roofing and Home Solutions. In the past few years, we have seen the summertime become synonymous with wildfire season. But there are actually quite a few things homeowners can do to help prevent damages during this season!  

Wendy explained, “One of the main things we’re seeing is the power of using specialized intake vents that have a mesh inside of them that don't allow sparks to come in.” She elaborated that this is not something that will help if the fire is at your front door, but it has been proven to help slow or stop the spread of a fire. Wendy described a personal experience, “There was a wildfire across the river, and nobody thought it would cross the river, and it did because we found out that sparks can fly up to three miles.” 

Lee chimed in about some maintenance tasks that homeowners can do to work in tandem with the installation of specialized intake vents, “If a cinder travels three miles and you have stuff in your gutters, and it's up there, it could light up like that. So, definitely cleaning out your gutters, making sure that they work properly is huge.” In a similar vein, make sure the area surrounding your house is cleaned up, things like underbrush and dry landscaping can catch fire very easily.  

The two also touched on the aftermath of an event like this, and what steps a homeowner should take. Lee explained, “It’s frightening for a homeowner who's never been through that, where it's their first time filing a claim. So, it's important to hire a contractor who not only knows what they're doing but has a calming presence, and will be there for you, walk you through it, and have your back.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the full podcast to learn more about what to do in the aftermath of a fire.