Fire Safe People TV

Think Like an Ember

What if preparing your home for wildfire didn’t mean turning it into a bunker?

In this episode of Fire Safe People TV, Iris Harrell takes us on a quick walkthrough of one of the most thoughtfully retrofitted wildfire-prepared homes we’ve seen.

After evacuating during the 2017 North Bay Fires, Iris — a former contractor, designer, and educator — began looking at her home through a completely different lens:

“Everything about fire wise is in small details. And where can the embers go?”

This episode is about learning to think like an ember.

From vents and thresholds to mulch, trellises, fences, decks, shutters, and landscaping, Iris shows how wildfire preparation is really about understanding how embers move through neighborhoods — and removing the small vulnerabilities that allow homes to ignite.

Along the way, Iris demonstrates:

metal trellises disguised as wood ember-resistant vents and thresholds rolling metal shutters for windows rock mulch and the five-foot zone gutter guards and ember traps replacing combustible materials with smarter alternatives practical retrofits that preserve beauty and curb appeal

“People think if you do fire wise mitigation, that your place is going to look ugly… I want to show that a home can look good and still be fire safe.”

This isn’t fear-based messaging. It’s practical adaptation. Design with reality in mind. Preparation before fire comes.

Topics covered: Home hardening Ember exposure Home Ignition Zone Wildfire retrofit ideas Firewise landscaping Defensible space Zone Zero Wildfire evacuation lessons IBHS concepts Living with wildfire

Wildfire preparedness rarely comes down to one dramatic project. It is built through small, practical choices: what touches the house, what collects beneath a deck, how vents are screened, and how neighbors work together. In Nevada City, California, David Fallside and Pam Esmon share how a small roadside fire changed the way they understood wildfire risk. After learning how wind-driven embers can find tiny, vulnerable places around a home, they began reducing that risk one project at a time—removing ladder fuels, replacing combustible materials with metal and concrete, creating a rock buffer near the house, tightening vent screens and seals, and keeping the space beneath their deck clear. Their home is not invulnerable, and that is the point. Home hardening is about improving the odds, building confidence, and giving a house a better chance when wildfire comes. Through the Deer Creek South Side Firewise community, David and Pam also show how individual actions become more powerful when an entire neighborhood participates. Small things matter. Start with the details closest to home. #WildfirePreparedness #HomeHardening #Firewise #NevadaCity

Want to see the team behind the stories? Visit for wildfire documentaries, field reporting, and films on our website: https://www.elementalfilm.com/

🔗 Stay Connected With Us. Instagram:   / firesafepeopletv  

🔔𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 our 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.    / @firesafepeopletv  

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Channel About:

#TheGroundWeKeep#JohnMills#WildfirePreparedness

Fire is not a question of if. It’s when.

In The Ground We Keep, John Mills shows what it means to live with wildfire, not run from it. Preparedness, land stewardship, and survival start at home.

Want to see the team behind the stories? Visit for wildfire documentaries, field reporting, and films on our website: https://www.elementalfilm.com/

Stay Connected With Us.

Instagram:   / firesafepeopletv