Wildfires like the one this summer that killed 19 elite firefighters in a blaze near Yarnell, Ariz., can't be stopped. But there's plenty homeowners can do to protect their properties.

If you don't think you should take remedial action, think again. One-third of all houses are located in what fire safety officials call wildland urban districts, which are near or among areas prone to wildfires.

Worse, perhaps, wildfires have ravaged houses in three-fourths of the 50 states. And with more and more people choosing to live in rural areas closer to nature, the chances are greater than ever that someone you know -- maybe even you -- will lose a house to a fire.

Indeed, on most days, a wildfire is burning somewhere in America. Nearly 30,000 fires have burned 2.5 million acres already this year, according to the latest count by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. And the state with the most fires isn't California, Arizona or another place in the West. It's Georgia.

Fortunately, wildfires are covered by standard homeowner insurance policies. But the best insurance is prevention. Here, gathered from a number of sources, are some steps you can take to protect your house, improve its fire resistance and shield it from indirect exposure:

-- Choose a firewise location. Canyons may offer a beautiful view, but they tend to act as chimneys, drawing the fire and accelerating the speed at which it spreads. A level site is better than a sloped one. A grass fire moves up a slope four times faster with flames twice as high as fire on level ground because hot gases rising in front of the fire preheat the up-slope vegetation.

If you're building new, you can avoid this kind of topography. Also, find out about prevailing winds, seasonal weather conditions and the local fire history, so you can plan your landscape design accordingly.

-- Implement landscape safety zones. Work on your surroundings so the landscape will not bring a fire to your door. Do this by creating three safety zones, the combined extent of which will depend on your property lines and your risk. In high-risk areas, even a zone reaching 200 feet from the house may not be enough.

The first zone should be a well-irrigated area that circles the structure for at least 30 feet on all sides. If your house is on a slope, though, a clearance of between 50 and 100 feet may be necessary, especially on the downhill side of the lot.

Plantings in this area should be limited to carefully spaced indigenous species. Beware of "ladder fuels," or vegetation that serves as a link between the grass and treetops and enables the fire to climb into trees or onto your house.

Trees and shrubs are fine in the first zone, as long as dead or low-hanging branches are removed and the height of ground vegetation is controlled. But the more grass, the better, because a wide lawn can serve as a fuel break just as much as a driveway. Ditto plants with a high moisture content.

Your irrigation system should also reach the second zone, which can contain a limited number of low-growing plants and trees spaced at least 10 feet apart. Dead or dying limbs should be trimmed away, and no live limbs should come within 10 feet of the structure. On trees taller than 18 feet, prune away branches that are less than six feet from the ground.

In zone three, thin selected trees and remove highly flammable vegetation such as dead or dying shrubs and trees.

-- Consider your roof, walls and windows. The landscape zones you construct around your house should keep all but the most ferocious wildfires at bay. But if one does happen to break through this protective zone -- usually from wind-blown embers or firebrands, sometimes more than a mile away -- ignition is most likely to occur on the roof.

Fire officials say eye-catching, untreated wood-shake roofs are the No. 1 cause of home losses in wildland areas because they can catch wind-blown sparks. If local rules allow, a better choice is factory-treated shakes. But consider using such noncombustible or fire-resistant roofing materials as Class A shingles, metal, cement and concrete products, or tile made from slate or terra cotta.

Fire-resistant subroofing also can improve survivability. But don't be fooled into thinking an expensive roof sprinkling system will stop a fire. You need a large volume of water to make a roof safe, yet water pressure is generally at its lowest during a fire. Also, the electricity needed to run the system is likely to fail, and the high winds that usually accompany a wildfire often divert the spray away from the roof.

Walls, too, should be made of fire-resistant materials such as stucco or masonry. Vinyl can soften and melt during a fire, offering little or no protection.

If you're building a new house, minimize the number and size of windows on the downhill side, the side most likely to be exposed to a fire. Smaller windows perform better than larger panes, according to the National Association of Homebuilders Research Center, and double-pane or tempered glass are more effective than single-pane glass. For greater protection, windows, sliding glass doors and skylights should have nonflammable screening shutters.

To prevent sparks from entering your house, screen your chimney with noncombustible wire mesh. Also cover exterior attic and under-floor vents with mire mesh -- plastic or nylon screening will melt -- no larger than an eighth of an inch. Screen under your porch, too, as well as any other areas below the ground line.

Also, locate your under-eave roof vents near the roofline rather than near the wall to prevent heat or flames from becoming trapped inside. For the same reason, the eaves themselves should be boxed or designed with minimal overhang.

Finally, inspect your house occasionally, looking for breaks and spaces between roof tiles, warping wood or cracks and crevices in the structure where fire or sparks could enter.

Lil Miller-Fox's individual retirement account has three bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage.

Better yet, the rental house in a gated community in Sebastian, Fla., not far from the Atlantic isn't run by an advisor that charges exorbitant monthly fees. Rather, Miller-Fox makes all the decisions, and she doesn't have to pay anyone to execute them.

Her IRA is called a "checkbook IRA," an investment vehicle created nearly 20 years ago in a landmark court ruling that essentially said, it's your money, so you can run the show -- as long as you follow the rules.

Let's step back a moment: Not many people even know you can invest your retirement savings in real estate. But under Section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code, as long as you don't benefit directly, you are allowed to put some or even all the funds you set aside in a tax-sheltered IRA into real estate.

They're called self-directed IRAs because you can move your funds around. But until a 1996 court case, every step you wanted to make had to be carried out through a costly custodian. You could not take direct control. Every time you wanted to mow the grass or pay the bills, you had to pay a trustee to do it.

In the 1996 case of Swanson v. Commissioner, the tax court gave its blessing to a new type of self-directed IRA structure -- the checkbook IRA -- that is much simpler than investing through a regular custodial account.

Under the checkbook format, the IRA is set up as a self-directed account that's capitalized by funds rolled over from your current retirement account. Then, a limited liability company is created in which your new IRA purchases all the membership units. Now, your money is held in an LLC and you are ready to invest at your discretion.

That's what appealed to Miller-Fox. She's a self-proclaimed "real estate nut" who operates PrivateCommunities.com, a website that compiles information about many of the country's master-planned properites.

"I love real estate," she says. "I feel much more comfortable investing in tangible real estate than stock and bonds and that sort of thing. And this puts me absolutely in full control."

Under the rules, savvy real estate investors like Miller-Fox can buy, sell and manage domestic, foreign, commercial, residential and rental properties using money invested in their tax-deferred retirement account. The funds are held in a normal business account, and as the account's manager, you can sign contracts and write checks on the account, just like any other business.

The speed at which you can move opens up a slew of investment opportunities, such as snapping up foreclosures or tax liens -- or even a house that has just come on the market in a prime spot near the ocean or in the mountains. And, says Miller-Fox, "it's a great way for people to finance their retirement homes long before they are ready to use them."

There still are restrictions, of course. You can't use the property as your own residence or vacation home, and that applies not only to you but also to anyone in your family. And you can't take money out of your IRA account until you are 59 1/2 without incurring a big tax bite, just like if you took money out of a regular IRA.

Otherwise, rental income is tax-deferred because it is held in a tax-deferred IRA. And there is no capital gains tax when you sell an IRA-owned property.

A few other ground rules:

-- You can sell a house and purchase another one, and you can buy more than one property at a time. But any property purchased by your IRA is owned by your IRA, not you individually.

-- You can invest in raw land, real estate contracts or the trust deeds that back mortgages. And if you don't have enough money to invest or your own, you can pool your resources with others in the same boat.

-- Any money used to buy a property with your IRA has to come directly from your IRA, not you personally, and you can't be reimbursed by your IRA. This includes earnest money and closing costs, say Lorraine and Richard Walls, a couple from Midlothian, Va. who use their retirement accounts to buy investment properties in southwest Florida.

-- Similarly, costs associated with remodeling and carrying real estate need to be paid directly from your account. And any income from your properties has to flow back to your IRA.

-- You cannot do business with family members, including spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

There are still fees, too. There's a charge to set up the LLC, and you still must have a custodian. But you don't have to pay the custodian to execute each and every move you want to make, or to collect the rent and pay the bills. Consequently, the fees are far less than investing in real estate via a typical self-directed IRA.

How much less? Charges vary, but according to Guidant Financial, a self-directed IRA custodial firm based in Bellevue, Wash., you can save thousands in traditional transaction and asset-based fees by acting as your own IRA broker/custodian.

Be patient. Hang in there. Keep trying.

In one form or another, that's the advice some real estate experts give buyers in dealing with this overheated housing market.

Yes, it is a good time to buy in terms of house prices and mortgage rates. If you find a good house at a good price and a loan at a good rate, go for it.

But the inventory of available homes for sale is extremely low, for any number of reasons.

In many markets, regular buyers are competing with investors who are willing to pay cash to turn properties into rentals. At the same time, some home builders are "metering" or constraining sales to take advantage of rising prices. That's one reason the inventory of new homes is at a 30-year low.

Even the number of distressed properties has shrunk because lenders are slow at processing foreclosures. And on top of all this, the expected rush of pent-up sellers who were thought to be waiting, waiting, waiting to put their places on the market has never materialized.

Yes, this is, indeed, a seller's market and the typical buyer is at a disadvantage. Some are being rushed to make decisions, which can quickly lead to remorse over paying too much for a house. Or the place may not be in as good of condition as expected.

Hence the admonition: Take your time.

"It is important to stay patient," advises Svenia Gudell, senior economist at Zillow.

And don't get "over-invested" or obsessed with just one house, "because a lot of times," Gudell said, "you'll get involved in a bidding war. It gets so crazy that (some buyers) end up at a price they aren't comfortable with."

Six months to a year from now, as the market shakes out, the inventory of unsold homes should improve markedly. Investors probably will have left the market at that point. Financing may be a little more expensive, but it should be somewhat easier to qualify. And appraisals may not be the deal-breakers they are now.

For now, the housing sages say, leave the market to local and Wall Street-backed investors, who are driving prices up in many places because they are willing to pay more than list price.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but that may actually help buyers in the longer term, according to Rick Sharga, executive vice president at Auction.com.

While investors are accelerating the housing recovery, Sharga pointed out that appraisals generally trail rising values, a fact borrowers discover when the valuation on the property they intend to purchase comes in too low.

At the same time, cash buyers are resetting property values every time they buy a house. And as comparable property values reset, borrowers will be able to obtain a higher-value loan on subsequent sales. "It will make it easier for them to compete," Sharga said of patient purchasers.

Once prices reach a point where it doesn't make sense for the big investors, they will move on to other markets. But "they are not causing a bubble," the longtime mortgage industry executive added. "The (higher) prices are sticking after they leave the market."

In the midst of this strange market, buyers need to be patient for one more reason: It is going to take some time for the inventory of homes for sale to reach more normal levels. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at National Association of Realtors, said it may take two years before that happens.

Currently, according to many sales indices, prices are rising at an annual rate of 10 percent or so. But next year, Yun expects sales and prices to moderate.

"It will be less hectic," the economist ventured, noting that buyers should not be hurried into undertaking such a large financial transaction as buying a house.

"This time next year, there will still be a shortage in inventory but not the degree of tightness we have been experiencing. It will provide consumers with additional time to make that decision," he offered.

That doesn't mean you should stop looking. If you are not turned off by the current state of things, Joan Patterson of Keller Williams Realty in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is one of many realty pros who suggest that you need to be persistent. "Be ready, willing and available to look at homes" as soon as they hit the market, she says.

Noting that it has become the norm for buyers to make several offers on different properties before one is accepted, Steve Bachman of RE/MAX Gateway in Chantilly, Va., agrees. "Buyer patience combined with a willingness to act decisively when the right home becomes available is critical in today's challenging market," he says.

Lastly, there's this reminder from Don Kanare of RE/MAX Premier Properties in Reno, Nev.: From time to time, a peach of a listing comes on the market -- perhaps due to a divorce, death or job change.

"Every year, buyers who are patient and monitor the market will find a certain amount of new listings in each price range that are superb values," Kanare says. "Being patient and waiting for the rare gem to come on the market is only half the battle. Equally critical is being decisive."