Layers of Safety Can Protect Your Home From Wildfire; Even Low-Cost Fixes Can Prevent High-Cost Damage.

LOS ANGELES -- Second to last graph, second line should read: Institute for Business and Home Safety (sted Institute for Building and Home Safety).

The corrected release reads:

LAYERS OF SAFETY CAN PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM WILDFIRE; EVEN LOW-COST FIXES CAN PREVENT HIGH-COST DAMAGE

Protecting your home from wildfires doesn't have to be a major investment. Even small steps can make a big difference.

Whether you spend a day in the garden landscaping with fire-resistant plants or take on an extensive renovation project to replace a shake shingle roof, there is a wide range of opportunities available to make your home fire safe.

"We know from experience that brush clearance and fire-smart building can save lives and property," said Candysse Miller, executive director of the non-profit Insurance Information Network of California. "Homeowners need to stop thinking 'it can never happen to me' and prepare for the possibility that it can."

Last fall's firestorms destroyed more than 3,700 homes. Far less may have been destroyed had homeowners followed a layered approach to fire safety. This involves both low-cost changes and more involved fire-safe building retrofitting.

Low cost fixes include:

--Boxing in eaves, facias and soffits to prevent burning embers from entering attics and basements;

--Installing a spark arrestor on a chimney to prevent fireplace embers from being blown by the wind;

--Installing fire-resistant, highly visible street signs and address numbers to help firefighters identify your property in the thickest smoke; and

--Landscaping with fire-resistant plants, such as ice plants, which are both aesthetically appealing and native to California.

For more involved retrofitting, consider:

--Re-roofing with Class A fire-rated materials, including tile, metal or concrete shingles;

--Replacing exterior single-pane glass windows with insulated, tempered glass; and

--Renovating wooden siding with fire-resistant materials such as stucco or metal.

Common sense is still the best first line of defense. Keep flammable materials as far from the house as possible. This includes pruning trees, and removing brush or stacks of wood that may be too close to the home.

With more than 140,000 wildfires occurring each year in the United States, homeowners can help themselves, firefighters and their communities by following these simple steps.

Additional fire prevention tips, fire-resistant landscaping advice and a free brochure by the Institute for Business and Home Safety on protecting your home against a wildfire can be found on the IINC Web site at www.iinc.org.

IINC is a non-profit, non-lobbying insurance trade association dedicated to helping consumers understand insurance and safety issues. IINC has spokespeople in both Northern and Southern California to discuss this and other insurance topics. To schedule an interview, call media relations at [phone].