Insurance Companies Want "defensible space"

The Firewise© Landscape, a system designed to protect your property, has always insisted that you have a "defensible space" of at least 30 feet around homes. Now State Farm Insurance will not write insurance without it in wildfire-prone areas of many Western states.

A State Farm official emphasizes that this does not mean clearcutting yard trees. Thinning down the number of trees, pruning low-hanging limbs and raking up dry pine needles are things they will consider in the final analysis.

• Fire-prone properties could lose coverage - Casper Star Tribune