Living safely in the I-Zone In areas where wildlands and rural living converge, residents enjoy fresh air, beautiful scenery, peace and quiet. However, they also run a greater risk than urban dwellers of finding themselves in the path of a wildfire. One tool for safer living in the urban-wildland interface area – known by firefighters as the I-Zone – is information offered by the University of California Forest Products Laboratory, available on its Web site (http://www.ucfpl.ucop.edu/) and by visiting its fire-safe demonstration building and garden in Richmond, Calif. The 15- by 20-foot structure and 1,600-square-foot garden, dedicated in 2000, serve as examples for visitors on how to reduce the risk of losing their homes to a wildfire. “This is an amazing little building with its wide variety of fire-safe and hazardous materials and construction techniques,” said Frank Beall, director of the Forest Products Laboratory. Each side of the structure has different siding, including stucco, vinyl siding, hardboard and cement-wood siding. While the vinyl siding performs the worst, Beall said, surprisingly even non-combustible siding doesn’t mean the home is safe. “Fire can get in through the gaps,” he said. The home’s eave, soffit and vent design are particularly important in stopping fire from coming inside. Ridge vents, eyebrow vents, soffit vents and gable vents, each demonstrated in the building, pose their own hazards. “Any first-story vents are bad,” Beall said. However, some type of upper venting is needed to vent moisture from buildings to prevent rot. Windows are another potential entry point for fire. A different type of window is mounted in each of the building’s four walls. Single-pane vinyl-framed windows are the least expensive, but offer the least protection. Double-pane tempered glass windows are better. The demonstration building is roofed on one side of the ridge with a traditional wood shake and on the other side with asphalt shingles. “People like the rustic appearance of wood shake,” Beall said, “but if it is not treated with a fire retardant, it is very combustible. Many houses are lost because of shake roofs.” Rain gutters are also a problem. Pine needles, leaves and other debris can collect and dry out during the summer. If a hot ember lands in the gutter, it can quickly ignite. Beall said stopping the downspout and filling the gutter with water when a fire approaches can protect the home from this danger. Surrounding the demonstration structure is a fire-safe garden, designed to be aesthetically pleasing, drought tolerant and deer resistant. California native plants, ornamental plants and herbs are arranged to create a fuel mosaic that does not give fire a path to the home. No plants are growing next to the home and tree branches are at least six feet from the roof. The plants are kept green and lush with irrigation and regularly pruned to prevent the accumulation of dry material. “The garden is a transition area intended to get the fire down to ground level,” Beall said. “It slows the fire before it reaches the home.” The fire safe demonstration building and garden, at 1301 S. 46th St., Richmond, are open to the public from Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Driving and public transportation directions are on the Forest Products Laboratory Web site (http://www.ucfpl.ucop.edu/ABru.htm). For more information, call (510) 215-4200. (August 2002) |
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Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California. All contents November 07, 2009 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. |
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