FEMA Media Library
This Recovery Advisory, focused on one- and two-family dwellings, presents important fire safety recommendations for design professionals, including architects, engineers, installation professionals and contractors to reduce the likelihood of ignition and structure-to-structure fire spread in single family homes during a wildfire, where building setbacks and defensible space may be limited.
This summary report focuses on the performance of one- and two-family residential buildings impacted by the August 2023 wildfires on Maui. The performance of residential buildings varied depending on their design, construction type and quality, geographic location, siting, development density, landscape vegetation, distance to other surrounding flammable materials, and maintenance history. Several homes sustained damage from wind as well as fire, including wind damage to roof coverings, windows, and doors.
Defensible space is an area with limited combustibles surrounding your home that helps to reduce the chance that your home will catch fire during a wildfire event. Defensible space is up to 100 feet from your home and slows or stops the progression of wildfire. Defensible space, coupled with structural hardening, is critical to increasing your home’s likelihood of surviving a wildfire.
As the recovery efforts continue on Maui, this is a current list of resources available at the one-year anniversary of the Maui wildfires. Homeowners, business owners, public officials, as well as design and construction professionals can benefit from using the following wildfire resources in recovery efforts.
Homeowners, business owners, design professionals and builders in wildfire-prone regions can benefit from understanding general fire resistance characteristics of common construction materials and building products. This Recovery Advisory aims to provide a list of materials that can withstand higher exposure and help slow the spread of fire, but it is important to remember that fire-resistant does not mean fire-proof.