The story
A major component in fire-safe home rebuilding is "defensible space" -- a specially planned and designed area around your home that provides maneuvering space for firefighters, serves as a barrier to impede raging wildfires from getting to your doorstep, and prevents house fires from spreading to the wild.
In contrast to the traditionally lush American yard, a defensible space uses the judicious selection and placement of plantings as a strategy to decrease the spread of fires.
Since many homeowners neglect to incorporate defensible space into their landscaping -- fire-safe designs have a reputation of diminishing curb appeal -- California has initiated the "Why 100 feet?" campaign, complete with billboards lining the interstate. 
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