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. That distinction matters throughout the conversation. Exterior sprinklers are discussed as an additional layer of protection—not permission to ignore vents, combustible materials, or other weak points around the structure. How automated wildfire sprinklers work Harry explains that Frontline's platform combines satellite, camera, sensor, weather, and fire-service data to track threats. Customers can opt into automated activation. When the platform identifies a threat, Harry says it sends a notification that the system will activate in 10 minutes, with an opportunity to accept or decline. The system mixes water with Class A foam, which Harry describes as biodegradable, to improve wetting and reduce the amount of water needed. The objective is to build moisture in vulnerable materials around the home before embers arrive. The accompanying app also communicates with homeowners during the event, helping them understand the threat and prepare to leave. The protection strategy is designed to operate while people get out of harm's way. What happens when wind, water, or power becomes a problem? O.P. asks the practical questions homeowners are likely to have: What happens when strong winds push the spray? What happens if municipal water pressure drops? And how does the system keep operating during a power outage? Harry describes overlapping sprinkler coverage and targeted spray patterns intended to account for wind-driven exposure. <p dir="auto" data-start="5329" data-end="5588"