- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
An insurance industry study of the 2007 Witch Creek wildfire, which destroyed 1,700 structures in San Diego County, reached the same conclusion as UCCE's wood durability specialist Steve Quarles: wind-blown embers cause most home fires.
The report, released by the Institute for Business & Home Safety, was covered in a 1,000-word Stockton Record article written by Bruce Spence.
In addition to danger posed by flying embers, the study found that combustible fences and decks connected to houses were so effective in drawing a wildfire into structures that they "might as well be called wicks,"...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension forestry advisor Greg Giusti was an important source of information for a story in today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat about repercussions of recent forest fires. Reporter Glenda Anderson also spoke to officials from CalFire and the Mendocino Redwood Company, but the majority of the story relayed information from Giusti.
Giusti was credited in the story for the following information:
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Douglas fir trees are more susceptible to fire
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Redwood trees are more resistant and may benefit from the burning of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Most posts on this blog refer to stories in traditional press outlets, but here's one that might be considered "new media." Gus Joyce of Rancho Bernardo produced a nearly 10-minute video (which he posted on YouTube) about conflicts he found in recommendations to protect homes from fire and California building code.
In a folksy, non-combative tone, Joyce says he learned that California codes require home vent screening no smaller than a quarter-inch, but at the same time fire experts say quarter-inch mesh does not offer adequate protection from flying embers during wildfire.
One of the documents he found on the Internet, and described in his video, was...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Cooler weather in California is helping firefighters begin to get a handle on fires that have raged in the state for weeks. But concerns over the fires' consequences are sure to continue for months. Two articles over the weekend touched on such issues.
The Wine Spectator magazine raised the spector of 2008 vintage wines being imparted with a smoky character due to the fires.
"There are examples of smokiness from forest fires showing up in wines," the story quoted Roger Boulton, a viticulture and enology professor at UC Davis.
The article, by Augustus Weed, said chemicals in the smoke can coat grapes and be...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
As 323 active fires in California threaten more than 10,000 homes, commercial buildings and other structures, the Sacramento Bee today offered a small consolation. Even though air quality is poor and the state has already spent more than $100 million fighting blazes, the situation isn't really anything abnormal.
The Bee story, citing research by UC Berkeley environmental scientists that was led by Scott Stephens, said the amount of land burning pales compared to acreage consumed historically, before Europeans settled in California.
"The scientists estimated that an average 4.4 million acres burned annually in California before 1800,...