Wildfire Sprinklers: How Frontline Protects Your Home After You Evacuate

Can Wildfire Sprinklers Save Your Home? Inside Frontline Wildfire Defense You have evacuated. Your family is somewhere safe. But what is still working to protect your home?

That question drives this episode of All Things Wildfire, as host O.P. Almaraz welcomes Harry Statter, founder and CEO of Frontline Wildfire Defense.

Their conversation goes beyond whether sprinklers can spray water on a house. It examines how homes become vulnerable to ignition, what happens when power and water systems are disrupted, and why protecting a property requires more than one product or precaution.

From ember-resistant vents to automated exterior sprinklers, the central message is consistent: there is no silver bullet. The goal is to understand a property's vulnerabilities and combine measures that address them.

Why Frontline focuses on preventing ignition Harry's background is in landscape ecology, forestry, and defensible-space work. He explains that studying structure losses—including commercial buildings surrounded by large parking lots—pushed him to look more closely at the role of embers.

His focus is not limited to vegetation. Patio furniture, decking, vehicles, garbage cans, and other combustible materials around a home can become part of the fire exposure.

Frontline's approach, as Harry describes it, is to wet vulnerable materials before embers ignite them. Rather than waiting for a fire to develop beside a structure, the system is intended to reduce the opportunity for that ignition to happen.

As Harry puts it:

"We're not suppressing a fire, we're avoiding a fire."

Wildfire sprinklers do not replace home hardening One of the most important moments comes when O.P. asks about homeowners who want sprinklers without addressing other vulnerabilities.

Harry's answer is direct: a comprehensive approach still matters. Open windows and unprotected vents remain pathways for embers, regardless of what is happening outside.

In fact, Harry says ember-resistant vents would be his first improvement at his own home.