- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Sweat Equity column in the San Francisco Chronicle today steered readers to a UC PowerPoint presentation on the Web that provides details on fire-resistance ratings for roofs.
Produced by UC Cooperative Extension wood durability advisor Steven Quarles, the 18-slide presentation gives viewers an understanding of how roof coverings get their fire rating.
The information in Sweat Equity, a regular home improvement column written by brothers Bill and Kevin Burnett, was prompted by a reader question about whether an existing shake roof can be treated for...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
It may seem like a wildfire would be easy to detect, but vast, rugged wilderness can permit a small blaze to develop into a firestorm before firefighters are deployed.
Reeling from the enormous losses sustained by last year's devastating Station Fire in Los Angeles County -- which took two firefighters' lives, destroyed dozens of structures and cost more than $95 million to fight -- Supervisor Mike Antonovich is asking the county to allocate money to study a high-tech early detection system.
"The Station fire graphically spotlights the need to study and identify solutions for establishing an automated early detection system," Antonovich said in his motion to allocate the funding, according to the
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Distribution of more than $5 million in federal funds for wildfire hazard abatement in the Oakland Hills has been delayed to allow time for a more intensive environmental impact review, according to an article in the Oakland Tribune.
The news was a setback for UC Berkeley, the city of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Park District, which are relying on the grants to remove eucalyptus, pine and acacia trees from steep, wooded canyons and ridges.
UC Berkeley fire science professor Scott Stephens told reporter Cecily Burt that the university's plans for...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A $52,000 state grant paid for the firebreak. Compared to $1.5 million per-day cost of fighting a wildfire, it appears the firebreak was a sound investment.
“Even when you know the science, you doubt yourself,” UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor Glenn Nader told reporter Ben van der Meer. “You see this, and you know with the right kind of fire, the right kind of wind, this will work.”
Middlebrook said...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
According to the story, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn more than 1,700 acres of Southern California's Angeles National Forest months ago. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time the fire broke out.
The Forest Service said weather, wind and environmental rules limit how often they can conduct prescribed burns.
AP reporter Michael Blood turned to the co-director of the UC...
