Quote:
Originally Posted by MS Fowler
I admit that I am in the engineering field, so I am a problem-solver. Wife complains about something, and I am ready to "fix" it for her--In that case its the wrong approach, but generally its what I do.
OK, "California Wild Fires destroy XXX homes."
I think I've seen/ heard that headline evry year, this time for decades.
The problem-solver in me says. "There must be a way to fix this" Either change the environment, or cut more firebreaks, or prohibit houses in wild fire areas.
Yet it goes on year after year.
(sort of the same as people rebuilding in a flood plain)
Someone has to 'plain this to me. "Why?"
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Because of the rapid population growth (until recently) in California houses are being built in areas that were previously not considered.
A good portion of the people who move to the "country" don't understand the threat of fire until it is too late. Add to this that you can no longer just change the environment or cut a firebreak on your property without an EIR (environmental impact report). In certain places the brush has even been declared an "endangered species"!
The best thing you can do is keep brush, dry grass, etc at least 100 feet or more from your structure. Don't stack firewood, lumber piles, etc against the side of the house. Make sure you have a clear ingress, egress, and turnaround for a fire engine. The more likely you can make it for firefighters to be able to save your house, the better your chances are. Unfortunately resources are limited during wildland fires, and it just doesn't make sense to waste resources and endanger firefighters on what we call a "Loser". (no vegetation clearance, deadend with no turnaround, wood siding, shingle roof, etc.). I remember 1 house that had all of these
things and the homeowner said "thats why I have fire insurance!". That attitude kind of sums up the reason why so many structures are destroyed.
There are a lot of new building codes that address the wildland fire problem- no wooden decks, no vents, no wood siding or roofs,and others
I dont know yet, but it remains to be seen how effective they will be.