With the growth of the wildland/urban interface, the once-clear distinction between areas of wildland and structural firefighting has begun to blur. Fire departments in these rapidly growing wildland\urban interface areas face tremendous challenges and are devising effective prevention strategies for meeting them.
In California, where fire problems along the wildland/urban interface are not new, a state law mandates certain fire prevention measures for residents in and around wildland areas. The law governs areas where the state has fire suppression responsibility, which includes all state- and privately-held forests and wildlands.
The California law requires homeowners to provide 30 feet of ‘defensible space” separating their homes and other structures from wooded areas. This area must be kept clear of brush and undergrowth. The law also allows fire officials the option of increasing that requirement to 100. Homeowners are also required to clear pine needles off roofs and to install screens over chimney openings.
Following the 1988 “49er fire,” Ranger Bob Paulus of the California Department of Natural Resources and Fire Protection reported that where the state requirements were observed, they appeared to effectively limit fire damages. In the Lake Wildwood subdivision, Paulus noted, most of the homes destroyed abutted the wildland area. While the fire did skip through the area, it did not seem to randomly spare some houses and gut others. Shake roofs were the biggest offenders, Paulus said. Houses with metal or composition roofs and Lake Wildwood subdivision homes that complied with the “defensible space” requirements in California state law were generally spared?
Paulus said that while the provisions in the state law were generally sufficient, enforcement of those laws is often impossible. People continue to build without regard to fire safety, despite repeated warnings about the dangers involved. ‘There isn’t one person out there who lost a house that hasn’t received word from us about what to do, ” Paulus said. “They chose not to do anything about it.”
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