Action sheet — Before the fire
Clean your gutters and roof before the fire season begins
Pine needles and leaves that have built up in your gutters are the perfect fuel for wind-borne sparks. Cleaning them out before summer — and then checking them monthly during the season — eliminates the number one point of entry for fire into a house.
Key points
- Before the summer, and then once a month during the growing season: ensure that gutters and drainage channels are free of any vegetation.
- Whilst you’re at it, check any displaced roof tiles and the roof-to-wall joints.
- A metal windbreak reduces the amount of maintenance required by a factor of four.
- Never clean in strong winds or during a heatwave — and ensure the ladder is secure.
Equipment: stable ladder · gloves · bucket + hook · garden hose · metal leaf guard (optional)
Why it’s important
During a forest fire, a house does not usually catch fire on contact with the flames: it is set alight by the brandons — glowing twigs and bark carried by the wind, sometimes more than 500 metres from the fire front. Their first flammable landing spot? The gutter filled with dry pine needles, which smoulders and then sets the battens and roof structure alight. Feedback from firefighters following major fires is consistent: Clean gutters = a house that lasts. Details of the mechanisms: protect my home.
How to do it, step by step
Ensure the operation is carried out safely
Ladder placed on stable ground, extending 1 m beyond the point of support, held by a third person or secured in place. Thick gloves (sharp debris, occasionally nests). In calm, cool weather — never in the heat of the day.
Remove the deposits by hand
Needles, leaves, moss: everything goes in the bucket (use a hook or gutter scoop to speed things up). Pay particular attention to the roof valleys and inside corners, where everything tends to build up.
Rinse with a hose
The water reveals any remaining deposits and checks that the water is draining into the downpipes. A blocked downpipe is unblocked using a drain snake or a reverse-flush jet.
Check the cover
Make the most of it: misaligned or broken tiles that need adjusting, roof-to-wall joints, the ridge. Every gap is a potential entry point for a flame.
Fit a leaf guard (recommended)
A metal grille or grating — never PVC — clipped onto the gutter: maintenance is reduced to a simple monthly visual check.
The mistakes that ruin everything
- Clean up in November and never again: it’s the condition in JULY that counts — pine trees shed their needles all year round.
- Leave the pile of needles at the foot of the wall: it’ll turn into a clump on the floor. Off to the recycling centre or a distant compost heap.
- Install a plastic windbreak, which melts and seals everything up.
- Climbing onto a scorching or gusty roof — no guttering is worth a fall.
The tip that makes all the difference
Take a dated photo of your clean gutters at the start of summer: in the event of a claim, it serves as proof of your maintenance to the insurer — and reminds you of the date of the last clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
The risk changes every day. So do your reflexes.
Check the fire alert status for your department, keep track of current fires and report a fire via the Feux de Forêt mobile app.