Wildfire

Whether your home is located in a woodland setting, rural area, or remote mountain site, you may be familiar with the threat of a wildfire. While they often begin quietly, they can spread quickly, igniting brush, trees, and homes in their path.

What to do before a wildfire

To limit damage to your home, follow these steps if your area may be susceptible to wildfires:

Install fire-resistant window treatments, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers throughout your home.
Store a ladder, shovel, rake, axe, water bucket, and garden hose that is long enough to reach your house and structures.
Keep leaves, needles, hanging branches, dead trees, firewood, flammable plants and other debris away from your home and structures.
Keep tree crowns 5 metres apart, trim tree limbs to 5 metres off the round and separate shrubs by a distance of at least twice their height.
Maintain at least 30 metres of adequately watered space on level ground and 60 metres on sloped terrain around your home. Keep grass cut short.
Clear a 3-metre area around propane tanks or barbeque areas.

What to do during a wildfire

Your main concern will be to keep yourself and your family safe. Therefore, if conditions become too dangerous, leave your home immediately and go to a safe area. Your Chubb Homeowners policy will respond to any covered loss in these cases.

If you have time to act, below are a few tips to help mitigate damage:

Turn on a light in each room to increase the visibility of your home in heavy smoke.
Remove lightweight or non-fire-resistant window treatments and materials around windows.
Close windows, vents, and doors.
Seal off exterior windows, glass doors, attic and ground vents with precut plywood or commercial seals.
Open the fireplace damper and close fireplace screens.
Shut off propane and natural gas and turn off pilot lights.
Connect garden hoses to outside taps, place lawn sprinklers on the roof or near above-ground fuel tanks and wet the roof and shrubs within 5 metres of your home.

What to do after a wildfire

Once the fire is completely out and authorities say it is safe to return to your home, consider these tips to stay safe:

Call a professional electrician to check your household wiring before the current is turned back on.
Wear sturdy shoes and long pants and be on the lookout for signs of heat, smoke, or sparks throughout your home, including the attic or crawl space, for several hours.
Discard food, beverages or medicine that has been exposed to heat, smoke or soot.
Avoid damaged or fallen trees, power poles or lines and downed wires.
Watch for ash pits, which are holes full of hot ash, created by burned trees or stumps.

Related Resources

Disclaimer: This information is descriptive only. All products may not be available in all jurisdictions. Coverage is subject to the language of the policies as issued.

Chubb is the marketing name used to refer to subsidiaries of Chubb Limited providing insurance and related services. For a list of these subsidiaries, please visit our website at www.chubb.com. Insurance provided by Chubb Insurance Company of Canada or Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada (collectively, “Chubb Canada”). All products may not be available in all provinces or territories. This communication contains product summaries only. Coverage is subject to the language of the policies as actually issued. This document is advisory in nature and is offered as a resource to be used together with your professional insurance advisors in maintaining a loss prevention program. No liabilities or warranties are assumed or provided by the information contained in this document. Chubb Canada, Suite 2500, 199 Bay Street, Toronto ON M5L 1E2.