- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety announced last week that Stephen Quarles will join the IBHS research team as senior scientist - hurricane/high-wind building durability and fire protection.
He will also occupy the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association Hazard Resilience Chair at the IBHS Research Center.
Quarles has been a wood durability advisor for UC Cooperative Extension since 2000.
“Although my years with UC Cooperative Extension were very...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
There are many things homeowners can do to protect their homes from wildfire that cost $20 or less, said the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety in a news release distributed yesterday.
The article suggests undertaking low-cost, simple but important safety steps like clearing gutters, sealing around doors and covering vents.
Last month, the organization conducted the first-ever full-scale wildfire demonstration at its South Carolina research center. The demonstration was part of a building science initiative designed to illustrate how easily some commonly used materials and items near or on houses can ignite...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The "official" Wildfire Awareness Week falls in May, but this year the Lake Tahoe community marks the event in July, according to a story in the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor Susie Kocher told the newspaper that participation in the statewide springtime event has been low in the Tahoe Basin because many second-home owners are only there in the summer.
Because of the low participation rates, fire professionals, the Nevada Fire Safe Council, University of Nevada and University of California Cooperative...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Stripping plants from swaths of land to create fire breaks may not be the best way to prevent wildfire damage, according to an op-ed article published in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday. Writer Ben Preston said the long-practiced fire management strategy opens space for invasive weed invasion, which could burn even hotter.
Research by fire scientists at universities all over the Western United States has found that, despite extensive efforts to prevent large fires with prescribed burns and brush removal, fires continue to be a regular occurrence. And modifying the landscape, research indicates, has unintended impacts.
UC...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Creating defensible space around woodland homes is a legal requirement and common-sense habit. UC Cooperative Extension has developed extensive information that will help homeowners maximize safety while maintaining the greenery that makes rural living desirable, according to an article in the Redding Record Searchlight.
Defensible space, yes, but UC Cooperative Extension forestry advisor Gary Nakamura told reporter Laura Christman, "It doesn't mean you need to nuke the site and clear it."
Bare dirt would be the ultimate in fire defense, but such a landscape...