When a home is built may determine if it burns in a wildfire
"I thought, 'Oh, well, the house is done,'"
A few days later, they learned otherwise. The Carrells' home survived the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in
Most of their neighborhood was destroyed. A guest house in their backyard, where Donna's father lived, was reduced to ashes, along with a couple of sheds. Yet their beautifully restored 1940 Studebaker sat untouched in the garage.
The arc of destruction the
A landmark 2008 building code designed for
All told, about 51 percent of the 350 single-family homes built after 2008 in the path of the
"These are great standards; they work," said senior engineer
Yet despite this lesson,
Mushrooming cities such as
It hasn't helped that housing construction went into a deep dive in 2008 and has been slow to recover. Raymer said only 860,000 homes and apartments have been built statewide since the code went into effect. That's just 6 percent of the state's housing stock.
According to
The situation is worse in rural
"Most of our inventory that was here prior to the fire was (built) between the '40s and the '70s," said
That leaves thousands of homes at risk from the next inferno across
"What are we going to do about the existing housing stock that's been built in these places?" said
'The weakest link'
The Carrells, now living in a rental in
"I knew we were in the middle of the forest,"
But even he's amazed that their home made it. Stepping over a blackened patio drain just a few feet from the back of the house, he wondered aloud: "I don't know why it stopped here."
It's almost impossible to say for certain why some homes are still standing in
Nevertheless, experts say, McClatchy's analysis reinforces their belief that
"
Advocates say fire-resistant building materials aren't particularly expensive. A study last fall by Headwater Economics, a consulting firm in
But getting Californians to retrofit homes built before 2008 is an enormous task. The state requires property owners in fire zones who replace at least half their roof to install "fire-retardant" materials on the entire roof. Other than that, however, there's nothing forcing Californians to safeguard their existing homes against fire hazards.
A few
Although the grant program has run out, "I can't think of the last time I saw a shake roof in Big Bear," said
Most Californians, however, are on their own when it comes to spending the tens of thousands of dollars needed to replace a roof or install fire-resistant siding. The state offers no financial incentives for fire safety the way it does, say, for earthquakes — homeowners in quake zones can get up to
There are signs, however, that the state is beginning to get more serious about retrofitting homes for fire safety.
A law signed last year by former Gov.
A new bill, AB 38, introduced earlier this year by Democratic Assemblyman
The issue is personal for Wood, a dentist who spent weeks helping identify victims from the
"A lot of these small towns are not as well off financially," he said. "We need to find a way to help them, especially if they're poorer."
The fund might not be nearly enough to go around — not with hundreds of thousands of homes in need of retrofits, and a new roof alone costing
Wood said state officials would have to figure out a plan for parceling out the money to where it's needed most — probably starting with lower-income areas near forests.
"Obviously we want to affect the areas with the highest risk first," the assemblyman said. "A lot of these small towns are not as well off financially. We need to find a way to help them, especially if they're poorer."
Mapping dangers
The fire-safe building code had its origins in two significant fires from a generation ago — the Panorama Fire of 1980, which spilled out of the mountains into the city of
In response, the Legislature ordered the
Based on factors such as terrain, vegetation and weather patterns, the zones represent
The maps spawned tighter building standards.
Experts said the regulations seem to be particularly effective at protecting structures from the types of wildfires that are increasingly common in
"A window breaks, a vent breaks, the fire gets into your home and you've got an interior structure fire," said
Enforcement of the building code carries a few wrinkles. In the mainly rural areas where
In urban areas that have their own fire departments, the code is generally used only in spots where
Yet interviews with local officials throughout
Other zones
Nevertheless, there are places where local officials are reluctant to impose strict building codes — even where fire has caused catastrophe.
Before
Unlike some areas of
"There were very, very high winds that night," Mertens said. "There were embers that were blown across the (
In any event,
But there will still be ways for cities to skirt the state building code.
Look at
Now the suburb is building a development called
The development is on land that used to be subject to the strict state building code. Now it isn't.
How did that happen? Years ago, the land was outside
The situation changed when the city annexed the land to forge ahead with
Fire Chief
Is
'Sticks in a fireplace'
The hundreds of thousands of older homes in fire zones aren't just more vulnerable in their own right.
Experts say they spread danger to new homes built to stricter standards.
"One little house built to a new standard, surrounded by a bunch of older stuff, is likely to get swamped," Sapsis said.
"They're stacked so close together, they're like sticks in a fireplace," Sapsis said.
Sapsis and others say the lesson is that strong building codes aren't enough. In particular, experts say communities must pay more attention to how they lay out their neighborhoods, allowing for firebreaks and enough space between houses.
"In the name of affordable housing, we're moving housing closer and closer to one another," said
The problem isn't limited to densely-packed urban areas. "I live in a rural community, and I have got six feet basically separating me from my neighbor," said Dicus, who lives outside of
In addition, experts say
The law requires that property owners maintain as much as 100 feet of defensible space around homes and other buildings in and around "a mountainous area, forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands, grass-covered lands, or land that is covered with flammable material." That means keeping trees and shrubs pruned and spaced far apart. Within five feet of the building, property owners are supposed to remove anything that could catch fire: mulch, plants, woodpiles and so on.
In practice, however, enforcement of the defensible space law has been spotty at best. Raymer, of the
Legislation could change that. SB 190, by Sen.
The problem extends beyond homeowners' property lines. Gov.
A thinned forest northeast of
All that work "did exactly what we hoped it would do," said
'
The rebuilding of
"That is an absolute lab experiment for us," Sapsis said.
On the streets of
"I saw metal buildings, metal and stucco buildings, burn to the ground," he said.
Still, there's plenty of evidence, all over
The other day,
The first thing he did was bring out the ultimate symbol of resiliency: an American flag, the same one that flew on his front porch the day of the
Like the flag, the house is still standing. The Herrs' home, built in 2010, suffered a bit of scorching and some interior smoke damage — the smoke is bad enough that they're still temporarily living in
Still, they marvel at what a close call they had. A Ford Excursion and a boat parked in the front yard, just a few feet from their porch, were destroyed. Five motorcycles locked in a shed behind the house got ruined. Most of their neighborhood is gone.
The Herrs believe their attention to defensible space — the house is mostly encircled in gravel — and the strictness of the building code probably made the difference.
"Our yard and the construction of the house saved it for sure,"
CREDIT: By
One hour in downtown Durham: A strong odor. A violent blast. And a chaotic scene.
Bill O’Boyle: AG highlights efforts to keep prescription drug costs under control
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News