How PRECEDE works

It watches the conditions around your home

Most wildfire tools tell you about a fire that's already burning. PRECEDE looks at the conditions that make a day dangerous, when the brush has dried out and the humidity has crashed. Those are the conditions that turn an ordinary spark into a fast, hard-to-stop fire. PRECEDE reads them continuously and turns them into a single risk score for a location.

What goes into the score

For your address, EmberCheck shows two things side by side. The first is the live conditions score: how dry the fuels are, how hot and windy it is, and whether a fire is already burning nearby, read from the monitored point nearest your address, on a 0–100 scale that moves with the weather through the day. It describes conditions; it is not a prediction that a specific fire will occur.

The second is the standing characteristics of your site, listed separately: its fire-hazard-zone rating, the vegetation around it, and how steep and which way the land faces. These do not change day to day, so they are not added to the score. We show them because they are what a fire would meet if it reached your address.

Where it works

EmberCheck monitors wildfire conditions across 11 western states: California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Coverage describes where we monitor; it is not, on its own, a promise of detection or accuracy for any specific place or fire.

How it was tested

PRECEDE's approach has been tested most rigorously in California, where the historical fire record is richest. The test asks whether the score had already flagged a location on the day a destructive fire started there, using the damage records for past fires. Our testing so far has focused on historical California fires; outside California the score has had less testing. We don't claim the same for other states or for every location within a state; coverage and accuracy are different things, and we keep them separate on purpose.

What it is, and isn't

EmberCheck is a condition watch for your address, to help you prepare: clear brush, pack a bag, or make a plan. It is supplemental, not an evacuation or emergency-response system of record. Always follow official orders from CAL FIRE, local authorities, and emergency services.

For government & enterprise

The full PRECEDE platform for counties, utilities, and insurers lives on our parent-company site. PRECEDE for government & enterprise → precedefire.com