It’s never too early to prepare for wildfires

Saturday, May 7 is National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day.

With wildfire season already underway, it’s not too early to get ready. Consider these tips to get started:

• Work with your insurance agent or company to review your insurance coverage. Do you have the right coverage and enough to rebuild?
• If you’re renting, consider buying renters insurance to protect your personal belongings. Many policies cost around $15 a month.
• Create a home inventory. Take photos or videos of your belongings in each room of your home. Store the inventory in the cloud or in a location away from your home.
• Make copies of important identifying and financial documents, including identification and Social Security cards, titles, insurance policy information, tax records, and pet records.
• Build an emergency kit.

Learn more about preparing your home for a wildfire — www.dnr.wa.gov

Preparing the outside of your home and creating defensible space is important before wildfire season hits. There are many actions you can take to protect your home from being a total loss including:

• Clean out gutters
• Rake and remove pine needles and dry leaves to a minimum of three to five feet from your home’s foundation
• Sweep porches and decks
• Prune low-hanging tree branches to a height of four feet from the ground
• Add screens to your home’s vents to keep embers from entering

Learn more about wildfire insurance and disaster preparedness today.