No matter if you live in a rural or urban area there is always a danger of fire from an outside source spreading to your home
. The perimeter of your home is a great place to look at when it comes to fire prevention. There are a lot of things that can be done to help reduce the possibility of fire spreading to your home. Begin by removing any dead or dying shrubs. Dead foliage can ignite and spread within seconds. Trim all of the trees that you have on your property. Be sure to remove any dead limbs and prune any branches that are hanging over or touching the exterior of your home. Be sure to keep your lawn height at a minimum level. Wild grass tends to spark easily and burns aggressively. Another area that should be addressed is your alley. Keep all trash receptacles at least 5 feet from your back fence. This will keep any trash fires that may occur contained in the trash container and away from additional fuel like wooden fences. Refrain from using the alley as a place to dump grass trimmings, pruned branches or other discarded items. If you are trying to Go Green think about trading in some of your unused lawn areas into gravel or use rockscaping as a way to not only reduce your homes susceptibility to an exterior fire. Any external cooking areas should be closely monitored. Barbeque grills can be extremely dangerous if not properly maintained. Keep items like cleaning rags, hanging plants and any wood or plastic handled cooking tools several feet from the grill when it is in use. Remove any ignitable fluids that may have been used to start grill fires immediately. Be sure that when using the grill that you stay in the immediate area at all times. Also keep a fire extinguisher within a safe distance of the grill.