Wildfire Season's Burning Issues
by Broderick Perkins
The wildfire season is underway and it's shaping up to be a fiery one, especially in parts of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington state. Florida, which is also expecting a heavy hurricane season this year, is also mapped as more at risk than normal for wildland fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center's forecast. The wildland fire seasons runs from April to August, depending upon the region, and the center begins daily updates of fire news bulletins on May 31, with "fire potential for much of the West is expected to be above normal." Low snowpacks and continuing drought in the Pacific Northwest to the Dakotas and a wet winter in the Southwest leading to "phenomenal" growth in wildfire fuels -- grass and brush -- are the primary factors affecting areas' high potential for wildland fires. People who live in or near wildland fire regions are advised that the key to preparing for a fire and surviving it's potentially deadly march is combining "fire wise" mitigation, design and construction techniques with fire resistant materials. - Mitigation begins with clearing at least a 30-foot perimeter around your home or other structures of grass, brush and other flammable vegetation, both to help stop a fire's advance and to create a defensible perimeter where firefighters can have at the flames and burning embers. Your landscape nursery can suggest fire-resistant vegetation.
The 30-foot perimeter may not be enough if you live in an area protected by a forest or fire protection agency. In California, for example, a law effective Jan. 1 requires property owners in California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection areas to clear an area 100 feet from all structures. The building codes and material standards are designed, in part, to add fire resistance to your home, but you can further improve the flame retardant level of your home with additional steps. - Your home's strongest line of defense is a Class A roof which best wards off wind blown embers that can rain down on your home. The best fire resistant Class A roofs are made of aluminum, steel, concrete, clay or slate. Class A rated roofing is also available in composites and treated wood shake, but even with the Class A rating, they are not as fire resistant as the other materials.
- Building codes typically require fire-resistant gypsum wall board in certain locations in a home, including between a garage and the main house. During home improvements, consider using it in elsewhere, in walls, floors and ceilings to help create a fire barrier.
- On the exterior of your home, stucco, stone, masonry and other exterior materials are better than wood at preventing fire from intruding into the walls. Metal siding provides some fire protection, but you must build to protect against the "wicking effect" which allows condensation to develop and deteriorate material behind the siding.
- Energy-efficient dual-glazed windows are also more fire resistant than single-glazed windows. Likewise, triple-paned windows, tempered glass, low-E and glass block all provided added layers of fire protection. Don't overlook shutters, even metal shutters, real shutters that swing into play when fire approaches. Shutters can add 10 to 20 minutes of protection to a window, ample time to escape a home or for a window to survive a fire.
- Like roofing materials, doors are also fire-rated. Solid wood doors are stronger than hollow ones. Metal doors, obviously, are best. A good fire-resistant door also requires adequate weather stripping to form a seal that prevents hot gasses or burning embers from entering the building.
Don't think you have to give up form for function when using metal products. Today's metal building materials can be embossed, designed and painted or coated to look like wood or other products. - Be careful how you design in high fire risk areas. Flames can snake beneath decks, eaves and crawl spaces. Create barriers by closing in decks built with fire resistant materials and screen attic vents, eaves and crawl spaces to ward off burning embers.
- Fire and building officials say you should consider installing residential sprinkler systems if you are improving or building homes in fire prone areas. Sprinklers reduce the risk of fire deaths by 75 percent -- when combined with a smoke detector -- and can get you a break on your homeowners insurance provided accepted systems are installed.
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