LOS ANGELES — Over the last two months, there have been so many stories of loss and survival coming from the areas affected by the Palisades Fire.

For Vardaan Vasisht, a roof-mounted sprinkler system helped save his home during the Palisades Fire. 

What You Need To Know

  • Forty homes with Frontline Wildfire Defense were saved in the Palisades Fire
  • The roof-mounted system sprays a combination of water and biodegradable foam on the property when the fire threat is real

  • The cost of the sprinkler protection starts at around $500 a month

“I was certainly hoping that it wouldn’t get to us, but we started working on the sprinkler system and making sure we were testing it,” said Vasisht.

It’s called Frontline Wildfire Defense and Vasisht invested in the system back in 2019 after living through the Woolsey Fire.

“To experience something like that so close, it really got myself and my wife interested and, at the same time, aware of the situation,” said Vasisht.

He said he was confident leaving his home with his family on Jan. 7 and activated the system through the app on his phone.

“If I had to put a percent, I would say I was in my heart hoping that 90 plus percent we’d come back. But then after seeing the news, it got down to like close to 50%, but that 50% would have been like 10 if we didn’t have our sprinkler system running,” Vasisht said.

Frontline founder and CEO Harry Statter said Vasisht’s home was one of 40 with Frontline Wildfire Defense that were saved in the Palisades Fire.

“By having Frontline protection on your home, on the business, it’s like having a fire department on your roof,” Statter said.

When the fire threat is real, the roof-mounted system sprays a combination of water and biodegradable foam on the property.

“With Frontline, our software platform will detect a fire and track the fire using all the same sources firefighters use and then will activate the system in advance of embers landing on and around the home,” Statter said.

The sprinkler protection costs around $500 a month, but Vasisht said his family’s peace of mind is priceless.

“I can say one thing for sure, testing the system for years and now finally seeing it work, I would say it’s more than 100% making an investment where you can have some kind of a defense system for your home,” Vasisht said.

Even without the system, you can take steps to fortify your home against fires. One way is to hose down your property before embers land.