One Hot Subject

Those of us that live and own homes here in the foothills and Sierra Mountains have at least one major concern that involves all of us to one degree or another. That is wildfires and the threat they pose to our homes and our well being. In recent years, many new regulations have been instituted by Cal Fire and local fire departments to try to reduce the threat of wildfires taking out homes that have been built in the rural areas. But, this has become a contentious subject in many cases due to the stringent requirements involving vegetation removal and thinning necessary in a 100’ radius around structures in order to meet the requirements. The whole thrust of the requirements is to eliminate “ladder fuels” (low growing brush and tree branches) that allow the flames of a fire to have an easy path to the tops of the trees where a “crown fire” can occur.

Crown fires are especially dangerous and destructive as they move quickly through a wooded area showering hot embers like a firestorm down wind, some times as much as a mile or so ahead of the actual flame front. This causes new spot fires and creates an inferno that is not only difficult for the Firefighters to stop, but becomes very dangerous to the firefighters themselves as they may find that they have been over run and trapped by the fire. The concept of “Defensible Space”, which is the term used to describe the 100’ radius of prepared area around a home or other structure, is a good one, but the “look” of it does not fit in with everyone’s idea of how they want their surroundings to look like. Those that support the thought of leaving natural habitat alone for the sake of resident wild animals, birds, etc. also have a difficult time embracing this defensible space practice.

The huge fires that have raged in both southern and now northern California over the past several years that have caused catastrophic losses in homes and personal property has created a new awareness of the vulnerability of homes being caught on fire by neighboring homes that are burning, and how a fire can sweep through whole neighborhoods almost unchecked. This new awareness has focused fire prevention officials and other experts on prevailing building practices and materials that seem to promote the possibility of these types of horrible fires. Today’s building codes and requirements are changing at a rapid pace as new methods and materials are found that minimize the chance for fires to get started in a home or spread to neighboring homes. Again, some of these building requirements and materials can become controversial due to their cost, esthetics or impact on other building construction concerns. This is where a Home Inspector today that is inspecting in this area is going to need to be fairly well versed on the subject in order to provide his/her client with pertinent information they need concerning the property they are involved with. This subject is far too complex and large to go into any further here at this time. However, thanks to technology, you can learn much more about this subject and even take a short quiz that will rate the fire worthiness of your home/property. Go to: http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/homeassessment/# to take this online quiz. If you want more information, just hold your mouse over each question for explanations and photos. After submitting your answers, you will immediately receive a summary that groups your answers into high, moderate and low categories, and gives possible solutions for each. This awesome resource was developed by the Center for Fire Research and Outreach in the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley.