 Brittany Lemon, Fire Captain of Fire Prevention at Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue, says that creating a defensible space is your first line of protection against wildfires. It's creating space between that home or that structure and the wildland so that if a fire starts in the wildland, your residence is protected and vice versa. If a fire starts on your residence, you're protecting it from spreading into the wildland and potentially threatening other homes.