If you have worked hard to wildfire-proof your residential property, it will lessen the risk. But only a little.

That's because if your neighbours don't do the same thing, and their houses go up in flames, it's likely that yours will too. That's despite your diligent fire smarting work removing dry plant debris, moving your woodpile away from your house, cleaning dry leaves out of your gutters, removing flammable patio cushions, cutting down conifers and creating a 1.5-metre non-flammable zone around your house.

The alarmingly rapid wave of flame that vaporized houses in the Fort McMurray, Alta., wildfire in 2016 illustrates this .

Because the safety of your house does not depend on your actions alone, it is unlikely that your insurance company will reward your individual fire smart

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