The Pebble Beach Community Services District has an ordinance
requiring class B or better roofing on all new construction and on new
roofs in the Pebble Beach area, but this ordinance had been in effect for
only approximately 14 months prior to the fire. There was some new
construction in the area of the fire, but most of the homes were several
years old and were built prior to ordinances requiring the class B
roofing. Many of the homes had wood shingles or shakes, and this may even
have been required at one time for housing in the area. The Carmel Hill
fire station itself has a wooden shake roof that was required at the time
it was built.
A Monterey County ordinance requires use of fire retardant roofing
materials in the north county area. Other parts of the county's
unincorporated areas may not have specific codes requiring roofing
materials; however, permits to build are subject to fire district approval
in these areas, and fire resistive roofing materials may be required as a
condition for obtaining a permit.
State law also requires vegetation to be cleared at least 30 feet from
buildings in wildland areas. This is Public Resources Code (PRC) #4291.
Information obtained indicates that in the Pebble Beach area, the
regulation is enforced only when a complaint is registered. House to house
annual inspection for compliance has been discontinued due to lack of
manpower.
No codes requiring residential sprinklers were in effect in the area,
and none of the homes destroyed had sprinklers. The majority of them
burned from the top down. The effect that residential sprinklers would
have in such a situation was undetermined.
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