Fire is natural and inevitable in the highly flammable brush communities that Southern Californians seem to insist on living near.
With the toll in this fall's Southland fires at more than 1,200 homes, it's time to rethink what we build and how we landscape, experts say.
We're going to have to make houses and gardens more fire-resistant, increasing the likelihood that they will survive the next big wildfire.
Experts say it can be done, and the precautions presented below are aimed at those who live right next to chaparral and coastal scrub, as well as those who live nearby.
The majority of houses catch fire from fire brands or flying embers, which can easily travel up to a half-mile from the actual flames.
It's important that when they land, there is nothing to ignite and no place to lodge. A fire-resistant house is clean and tight, "buttoned up" as one fire researcher put it. No detail is unimportant; natural fiber doormats have caught houses on fire.
Houses that actually abut wildlands, or are surrounded by them, must also be prepared for a frontal assault by the flames, and landscaping becomes important as a buffer.
The general idea is to create a "defensible space" 100 to 200 feet around a building. Wind-driven flames can easily extend 100 feet on a slope and reach temperatures of 2,000 degrees.
A fire-resistant landscape is more problematic than a fire-safe house, because of a number of clashing agendas. Plants are being asked to resist catching fire, hold the soil with their roots, not use too much water, provide shade and energy-saving cooling and not threaten the natural environment with their exoticism.
And the best plants for the job are the ones already growing there, the experts now say, in a remarkable turnaround from just a few years ago.
Researchers and fire department personnel now think that managing the existing chaparral or other plant communities is a better idea than trying to replace it with exotic, non-native plants.
"Nothing's better adapted to this climate and these soils," one expert said.
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Sources: --Carl Day, AIA & Associates. --Dick Chase, retired, Riverside Fire Laboratory, Fire Management Project. --Michael Theule, Fire Inspector II, Los Angeles Fire Department, Brush Clearance Unit. --Klaus Radtke, Geo Safety Inc. --Owen E. Dell, landscape architect. --Tim Paysen, Research Forester, Riverside Fire Laboratory. --Bob Perry, landscape architect. --Walter Scott Perry, architect. --Marc Fisher, Emmet L. Wemple & Associates, landscape architects. --Harry Jacobs, FAIA, architect.
Home and Yard
Shutters: Fireproof shutters can be closed when fire threatens, to protect glass and interiors in areas that abut wildlands. Removable panels are another means.
Access for firefighters: Leave access and turnaround space for firefighters and fire trucks, as approved by fire department, to get to back and sides of house. In remote areas this is extremely critical.
Eaves: Best are none at all, and no wood fascia. Boxed eaves are next best, the underside covered with fire-resistant material.
Garage door should shut tight: A house burned in one brush fire because the garage door wouldn't close all the way. Roll-down metal doors close tightly.
Vents: After the Oakland fire all vents under overhangs or eaves of roofs were banned in that city. Vents should be on rooftop (such as ridge vents) or in gables. Roof and foundation vents should be screened with one-quarter inch galvanized mesh.
Set back from slope: Fires race up hillsides, so houses should be as far back from the slope as possible, with nothing overhanging the hill.
No wood fences: They act like fuses, leading fire to the house. Masonry walls, on the other hand, even low ones, can actually deflect heat and flames (and keep rattlesnakes out).
Step-back construction: Avoid single, high-walled construction. Step tall buildings back from slope.
No "pyrophytes": Certain plants are almost explosive, especially when dry. Junipers, one of the worst, are disastrous when planted under eaves. Do not plant any conifers, including pines and cedars, dense eucalyptus, peppers, bamboo, pampas grass or palms.
Roof: It's hard to believe that any shingle or shake roof still exists in fire areas. Definitely must be non-combustible with no gaps or places for embers to lodge. Curved spanish tiles must have open ends plugged.
Siding: Non-combustible stucco or stucco over cement building panels in areas that abut wildlands.
10-foot minimum clearance: Many say this is the most important rule. No tree or tall shrub should be within 10 feet of the house. (Fire departments would prefer 30 feet.) This alone reduces the heat at the house walls by a factor of four.
Double-glazed windows: Research is proving that double-glazed windows are much less likely to burst when confronted with fire, and little radiant heat can pass through. Behind conventional windows, consider drapes of fireproof fabrics.
