Posts Tagged: fire safety

Chronicle op-ed questions fire prevention tactics

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 Berkeley wildfire researcher Max Moritz told the writer that in Nothern California, scotch broom, pampas grass and other more flammable nonnatives tend to move into cleared areas where some variety of chaparral once stood.

Preston suggests the best fire management alternatives are:

• Creating defensible space around homes and other buildings. UC Cooperative Extension has a publication, Home Landscaping for Fire, with guidelines for creating defensible space that doesn't suggest eliminating all plants on the land.
• Investing in roof sprinklers and fire-retardant gels.
• Organizing citizen emergency response teams to deal with spot fires.

For more information, see UC's two-page publication Invasive Plants and Wildfires in Southern California.

Wildfire threatening a California subdivision.

Modifying the lay of the land for fire resistence

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 comes up short in appearance, erosion control and wildlife habitat. Besides, Nakamura said, many homes that succumb to wildland fire are ignited by embers that drifted a long way from the fire line.

"It's usually not this wall of wildfire coming to the house. That's people's cartoon vision of what happens," Nakamura was quoted.

The strategy of defensible space is to have an area around the house where embers are less likely to ignite plants or structures. Or, if an ember does start a fire, the fire will smolder or burn slowly so it can be extinguished. Homeowners need to create conditions so that firefighters can "safely get in there and fight the fire," Nakamura advised.

The story noted that UC's Home Landscaping for Fire publication recommends thinning brush and trees 70 feet beyond the "lean and green zone," a 30-foot band around the home. Trees shouldn't have limbs any closer than 10 feet from each other and spacing should be farther on hillsides, where fire picks up speed and intensity.

UC has collected research-based information about protecting homes from fire in a wildfire online media kit. The resource contains links to stories, video and UC Web sites dedicated to helping Californians minimize fire damage and stay safe.

One of many UC publications on wildfire resistence.

Chron helps distribute UC fire information

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 improved fire resistance. In short, the answer is no.

Roofing systems are fire-rated either A, B, C or not ratable, with A the highest rating, or most fire resistant, according to the article.

If homeowners wish to preserve the woodsy and casual appearance of a wood shake roof, the Burnetts said the existing shakes should be replaced with new fire-retardant pressure-treated wood shakes. Alone, the pressure-treated shakes result in a class-B roof covering; in conjunction with an underlying fire barrier material, such as this gypsum or fiberglass, the roof is class A.

For more information on improving homes' fire resistance, see Quarles' Homeowners Wildfire Mitigation Guide online.

When new, an asphalt composition roof has a class A rating.

FEMA changes course on wildfire hazards

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 reducing the fire hazard were "reasonable." He said that native trees and plants eventually take root in areas where eucalyptus are removed, and the proposed work plan leaves eucalyptus intact in less vulnerable areas.

"When the eucalyptus burn under an east wind, they can throw embers a half-mile or more," Stephens was quoted. "From a fire standpoint, what is being done to remove the eucalyptus is in line with what we want to do (to reduce fire hazards)."

A group called the "Hills Conservation Network" challenged the university's methods for reducing fire hazards by clear-cutting trees and leaving layers of wood chips on the ridges.

The delay, however, leaves the fire hazard unabated for another two years while FEMA studies the environmental impact of the plan.

"Inevitably we will get another east wind and we will have another disaster," Stephens was quoted in the story. "When you look at an area that has already been treated versus what hasn't, the risk is 10 percent greater.  The physics haven't changed. We still have east winds, we have the topography, we have the trees. There will be a disaster."

UC Cooperative Extension has posted extensive information on wildfire hazard abatement on the Web.

A NASA photo of 1991 Oakland Hills fire.

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