How do I make my roof fire-resistant?

Make your roof fire-resistant with Class A rated materials. Concrete tile, clay tile, metal, and Class A asphalt shingles meet the highest rating. Add ember-resistant venting, enclosed eaves, and gutter guards. Clear leaves and pine needles every season. California fire zones require Class A as code on all new roofs and major reroofs.

What is a Class A fire-rated roof?

Class A is the highest fire rating per ASTM E108 — the roof withstands severe fire exposure without spreading flame. Materials include concrete tile, clay tile, metal, and modern asphalt shingles with fire-resistant coatings. Untreated wood shake is non-rated and cannot meet the Class A requirement in California’s high fire hazard zones — only fire-retardant-treated shake assemblies rated Class A qualify. Class A is required code in WUI areas.

Are wood shake roofs legal in California?

Untreated wood shakes cannot meet the Class A fire rating California requires in high fire hazard zones — including the foothills of Merced and Madera County and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zones — so only fire-retardant-treated shake assemblies rated Class A remain permitted. In these zones, existing wood shake roofs must be brought up to a Class A rated assembly at the next reroof. We convert wood shake roofs to Class A asphalt or metal.

Econo Roofing Blog

Measures to Reduce the Risk of Fire Damage to the Roof

Last updated March 30, 2026

By Mario Espindola · Published March 4, 2026

The roof is a key part of the house because it protects the house from many risks, the risk of fire included. However, your roof might not resist fire damage if you don't take the following...

The roof is a key part of the house because it protects the house from many risks, the risk of fire included. However, your roof might not resist fire damage if you don't take the following measures.

Use Class A Materials

A roofing material can either be unrated or belong to one of the three categories of fire ratings. Unrated materials are often the worst as far as potential fire damage is concerned. Class A is the best, followed by Class B, and then Class C is the least fire resistant.

Avoid unrated materials at all costs if you want to cut the risk of roof fire damage. Choose the best-rated roofing material that your budget can fit.

Plug Gaps on the Roof

Even with fireproof roofing material, your roof can still catch fire if some sections of the roof have damage. For example, missing shingles or damaged flashing may allow a fire to reach the unprotected inner structures of the roof. Scheduling a free roof estimate before fire season is an easy way to catch these gaps early.

Keep the Roof Clean

Fire-resistant roofing materials may ignite and burn if you expose them to high heat for extended periods. If your roof is full of debris, the debris may catch fire and burn long enough that the roofing material might also ignite.

Clear the Area Around the House

Fire needs fuel to burn. Fuel can be anything like wood, leaves, grass, plastic, and many forms of windblown debris. The more of these things around your house and roof, the higher the risk that fire might leap onto the roof.

Trim trees around the house.
Clear an area around the house to create a buffer zone.
Don't stack firewood close to the house.
Cut attached structures that may spread fire.

Maintain Your Electrical System

Many roofs have electrical installs or wiring either on or near the roof. If these electrical systems malfunction, this might trigger an electrical fire that may ravage the roof.

Install a Lighting Arrestor

Lightning is a discharge of electricity from the sky that ionizes and heats up the air and climate around it. A bolt of lightning can trigger damage and fire even to the best roofs. The best way to reduce the risk of lightning-related fire is to install a lightning arrestor on the roof.

Keep the Chimney Clean

Lastly, you also probably need to keep your chimney clean if you don't want your roof to burn down. When you light a chimney fire, partially combusted materials form part of the debris and soot that go up the chimney.

Consult Econo Roofing for further ways to make your roof fire resistant. We can also help you repair your roof if it has suffered fire damage.

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California's fire codes and Class A roof requirements

California has the most stringent residential fire codes in the U.S. due to recurring catastrophic wildfire seasons. Chapter 7A of the California Building Code needs all new residential construction in designated Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zones to use Class A fire-rated roofing. Many existing homes in WUI zones, including parts of Merced and Madera County and the surrounding Central Valley foothills, face mandatory Class A upgrades when replacing roofs.

Class A is the highest fire rating, indicating the roof assembly passes the most severe exposures in the ASTM E108/UL 790 fire-test series, including the burning-brand and intermittent-flame tests. Materials achieving Class A include: most asphalt shingles (when installed over fire-resistant deck), all standing-seam metal, all clay and concrete tile, and Class A-rated synthetic slate or shake products.

Materials that fail California fire requirements

Wood shake and wood shingle roofing — once common in California — are heavily restricted for residential roofing in fire-prone areas. Untreated shakes cannot meet the Class A rating WUI zones require; fire-retardant-treated Class A shake assemblies remain permitted under state code, though some local jurisdictions restrict them further. Many existing wood-shake roofs are being converted to Class A alternatives during routine re-roofing cycles.

Untreated felt underlayment and asphalt-impregnated paper underlayment beneath Class A surface materials don't meet code in WUI zones. New installs require synthetic Class A-rated underlayment beneath the surface roofing material.

Beyond the roof: the full home fire-hardening checklist

Roof material is one factor among many in home fire resistance. The most overlooked elements: gutter cleanout (debris in gutters is a classic fire entry point. embers land in dry leaves, ignite, then spread to roof underlayment), roof-edge metal flashing (prevents ember intrusion at the eave), enclosed eaves (open eaves are a major fire-entry vulnerability), and ember-resistant venting (vents must be covered with corrosion-resistant, noncombustible metal mesh with openings between 1/16 and 1/8 inch to block wind-blown embers, per California's Chapter 7A/R337 wildfire code).

Insurance implications

California insurance carriers more often factor roof fire-rating into homeowners insurance pricing and availability. Some carriers won't write new policies in WUI zones unless the home has a Class A roof and basic fire-hardening measures (cleared defensible space, ember-resistant vents). Existing policies in WUI zones may face non-renewal if fire-hardening is inadequate. The 30%+ insurance premium reduction for upgrading to Class A roofing usually pays back the upgrade cost in 5-8 years.

Beyond roof material, the California FAIR Plan and the California Mitigation Insurance Program offer specific coverage and discount programs for fire-hardened homes. Homeowners should ask their carrier about Wildfire Prepared Home certification programs.

Measures to Reduce the Risk of Fire Damage to the Roof

Use Class A Materials

Plug Gaps on the Roof

Keep the Roof Clean

Clear the Area Around the House

Maintain Your Electrical System

Install a Lighting Arrestor

Keep the Chimney Clean

More in Storm Damage & Insurance Claims

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California's fire codes and Class A roof requirements

Materials that fail California fire requirements

Beyond the roof: the full home fire-hardening checklist

Insurance implications

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