Terms of Use

Effective date: June 17, 2026.

Important safety notice. Prefire provides general informational estimates only. It does not predict whether your property will burn and is not a substitute for professional risk assessment, insurance underwriting, or emergency services. In a wildfire emergency, call 911 and follow CAL FIRE and your local authorities. Do not rely on this website.

1. Who we are

Prefire is an independent, free, public-interest project operated by a sole individual. It is not affiliated with CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, FEMA, any insurance company, or any government agency. For questions about these terms, email prefire@prefire.online.

2. What this site is — and what it isn't

Prefire lets a property owner draw a polygon around their home, optionally answer a questionnaire, and receive an emailed report estimating defensible-space risk based on publicly available data. The report is informational. It is:

• not a guarantee that following its recommendations will prevent damage, injury, or loss;
• not a legal compliance assessment for any state or local fire code;
• not an insurance inspection, appraisal, or underwriting product;
• not real-time, and may be based on imagery and data several months or years old;
• not a substitute for direct guidance from CAL FIRE, your fire marshal, your insurer, or a licensed professional.

3. No warranty; "AS IS"

The site, the analysis, and any reports are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement.

4. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the operator of Prefire is not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary damages arising out of or relating to your use of, or inability to use, the site or any report it produces — including damages for loss of property, profits, data, or goodwill — even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Nothing in these terms attempts to limit liability that cannot be limited under California law (including liability for gross negligence, fraud, or willful misconduct under Civ. Code § 1668).

5. Your responsibilities

By using this site you agree that:

• You will only submit polygons for properties you own or for which you have permission to perform an analysis.
• You will not attempt to overload, scrape, reverse-engineer, or otherwise abuse the site or its API.
• You are 18 or older, or have permission from a parent or guardian.
• You will use the report as one input among many, not as the sole basis for any safety, financial, or legal decision.

6. Intellectual property

The site's code, design, and original written content are owned by the operator. Underlying geospatial data is sourced from public datasets including the USDA NAIP imagery program, USGS 3DEP, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Forest Service, OpenStreetMap, and Microsoft Building Footprints. Those datasets are subject to their own terms.

7. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The effective date at the top reflects the current version. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated terms.

9. Contact

Email prefire@prefire.online with questions about these terms.