Nicholai Allen has seen firsthand what happens when wildfire sweeps into a neighborhood.
For almost five years, he’s answered the call as a wildland firefighter, traveling wherever the flames demand. But it was the Palisades fire in 2025 that drove home a lesson he wishes every homeowner in wildfire country could take to heart.
“Preparation is everything, and they should prepare as soon as possible,” Nicholai said.
The threat homeowners might not see coming
When people picture a wildfire threatening a home, they might imagine flames racing toward the property. But Nicholai says some of the danger can arrive ahead of the fire front: windborne embers.
Those tiny embers can find their way into attic vents, crawl spaces and gaps around garage or exterior doors.
Nicholai saw the danger up close during the Palisades fire, where he witnessed what can happen when fire reaches a densely packed neighborhood.
“The Palisades fire really showed me the power of what an urban conflagration can look like if you have a bunch of homes that are not protected from embers and if they’re close to each other,” he said.
It also showed him that wildfire preparedness can extend beyond one property.
“You become kind of as safe as your neighbor,” Nicholai said. “It needs to be a group or a community effort.”
A new idea from the front line
Nicholai’s search for better ways to protect homes actually began before he became a firefighter.
After the Woolsey fire, he started researching ways to protect his own home in Ventura County, California. One question stuck with him: If water can put out a fire, could something help stop one from starting?
Over the next five years, that question grew into SAFE SOSS, a three-part wildfire safety system sold exclusively at Lowe’s. His experience fighting fires helped shape the system along the way.
Still, Nicholai is the first to say there is no single solution for wildfire risk. “No one single product can save your home,” he said.
Instead, he developed three tools intended to address potential pathways for embers: a carbon filter for vents, high-heat tape for gaps and openings, and a fire-retardant spray for a home’s exterior.
The system is intended as an additional layer of protection after homeowners have taken established steps such as creating defensible space and hardening their homes.
Preparing your home so you can leave it
For Nicholai, preparation isn’t only about protecting property. It’s also about being ready to leave it behind.
He hopes homeowners who understand their home’s vulnerabilities and take reasonable steps to address them will feel more comfortable evacuating when authorities tell them to go instead of staying behind to defend their property.
“I hope this enables people to identify those ember entry points, do something about it, do something as much as they can reasonably do right now, and then safely evacuate and not try to stay behind and defend their own home and put their life at risk,” he said.
That mission eventually brought SAFE SOSS to Lowe’s, whose distribution network helped Nicholai make the products available in areas vulnerable to wildfire.
But for him, putting products on shelves is only part of the work. Helping homeowners understand the risk before smoke is in the air matters just as much.
“It’s not just a matter of making something available,” he said. “You have to take responsibility for educating the consumer on what it is, how it fits into fire safety and what it can do for them.”
His message after nearly five years on the fire line is simple: Prepare before you need to. And when authorities say it’s time to go, go.
