WASP Wildfire Protection Full Kit

How it works

Plastic sprinkler heads clip over the lip of your eavestrough and throw a low arc of water back across the roof deck and down the wall. The point is not to soak the shingles — it is to keep the roof, the fascia and the first metre of wall wet enough that an arriving ember goes out instead of taking hold, and to raise humidity in the air immediately around the house. You run it for the hours either side of a fire front passing, then shut it off.

What the market looks like

Gutter-mount ember-defense kits are a small market with maybe a dozen serious players, most of them Canadian and most founded after the 2016 Fort McMurray fire. They cluster into three tiers. At the bottom, generic tripod and impact sprinklers repurposed from irrigation — cheap, no roof coverage. In the middle, clip-on kits like WASP, Platypus and Flash: purpose-built heads, garden-hose fed, $600–$2,500 depending on head count. At the top, permanently plumbed systems like Frontline with dedicated pumps, tanks and remote activation, at $15,000–$40,000 installed. WASP sits squarely in the middle tier and competes mostly on being tool-free and Canadian-stocked rather than on throw distance or build quality, where Platypus arguably edges it.

Features that actually matter

Gutter-clip mounting

Heads hook over a standard 5 in K-style eavestrough. No drilling, no roof penetration, no ladder work beyond reaching the gutter line.

Garden-hose supply

Standard 3/4 in GHT fittings. Kit includes splitters and hose so the whole roofline runs off one or two outdoor taps.

Modular head count

Kits are sold by head count — typically 4, 6, 8 or 12 — so you scale to roofline length rather than buying a fixed package.

Low-pressure operation

Designed to give useful coverage at 30–40 psi, which is what a residential tap actually delivers with several heads open.

Dry storage

Heads come off in seconds and live in a bin the rest of the year, so nothing sits on the house degrading in UV.

What it really costs

Up front

CAD $700–$2,400 / USD $550–$1,900 depending on head count and hose length

Consumables

None. Water is the only running cost — roughly 1,200–2,500 L per hour for a full roofline, which matters if you are on a well or a cistern.

What else you'll need

Budget CAD $150–$400 for extra hose and a Y-splitter or two if your taps are badly placed. If you want it to work when the hydrants drop, add a pump and tank — that is CAD $2,000–$8,000 and is the real cost of this category.

Over five years

Effectively the purchase price. Heads are plastic and replaceable individually at CAD $60–$120 each.

Figures are typical street prices in Canadian and US dollars as of September 2026, gathered from public retail listings. They move with the season and with the exchange rate — treat them as a planning band, not a quote.

How it differs from the alternatives

Versus Platypus

WASP installs faster and is stocked more widely in Canada. Platypus throws further per head and is better on steep or complex rooflines, and costs a little more.

Versus a tripod sprinkler

A $60 tripod wets the yard and a bit of wall. It does not put water on the roof deck, which is where embers land. Different job, tenth the price.

Versus Frontline

Frontline is permanent, pump-fed and can be triggered from your phone from 400 km away. WASP requires you to be home with time to spare. That is the whole difference, and it is a big one.

What it is not

This is not a fire-suppression system and no insurer will discount your premium for it. It is ember mitigation.

If not this, then what

• Platypus Roof SprinklerBetter throw, better on steep roofs, slightly fiddlier to mount.
• Tripod impact sprinklersA tenth the cost, a fraction of the protection. Worth owning as a supplement for the yard and fence line regardless.
• Frontline or a local installer's permanent systemTen to twenty times the price, and the only option if you may not be home when it matters.