Window screens can help protect your house in two ways: First, window screens provide a “shading factor” of about 30 percent, which means they will shield the outer pane of the window from about 30 percent of the radiant heat from an approaching wildfire. Second, window screens help prevent the entry of burning embers through a broken or open window, thereby decreasing the potential for these embers to ignite furnishings within your house.
However, screens won't provide any protection against direct contact by flames. Window shutters would provide better protection, but they would need to be deployed. To prepare for the possibility that you are not at home when shutters need to be deployed, you could consider installing a remote-activation system, which is not readily available, or a heat-sensitive activation mechanism such as a fused-link device. Some questions remain in the case of a fused-link device as to whether it would deploy, activating the shutter before the window broke due to radiant heat.
