Firesafe Homes -- Reducing Your Risk

Firesafe Homes -- Reducing Your Risk

(CA.ARA) - Wildfire is an ever-increasing threat to thousands of Canadian homes. This fact was brought sharply into focus this summer, when thousands of Kelowna, BC, residents were forced to evacuate, and 248 homes were destroyed.

Kelowna mayor Walter Grey, speaking immediately after the August 2003 firestorm, stated, “We have to be smarter going into the future. Is it really smart to have shake shingles at all? We do have alternates. Now there are shingles that are made of clay or whatever, that look exactly like cedar shakes. We are going to have to reassess the way we design our neighborhoods.”

Many had been predicting just such a fire, based on experience in the United States in similar “wilderness/urban interface areas.” The evidence is grim and plentiful, beginning with the “big blowup” in 1910 when firestorms in Idaho and Montana overran several towns, destroying 3 million acres and killing 85 people. A partial list of other fires:

• Berkley, Calif., 1923 -- 580 buildings destroyed, 4000 left homeless
  
• Boulder, Colo., 1989 -- 44 homes lost
  
• Santa Barbara, Calif., 1990 -- 420 homes lost
  
• Crawford County, Mich., 1990 -- 81 homes lost
  
• Spokane, Wash., 1991 -- 114 homes lost
  
• Oakland, Calif., 1991 -- 3000 homes lost, 25 people killed
  
• Topanga, Calif., 1993 -- 411 homes lost

It is clear that homes in wilderness interface areas are high-risk candidates for destruction from wildfires. What can be done to improve the chances of such homes surviving in these environments? There are two main strategies that are always cited by fire fighting professionals in the aftermath of a major conflagration: Use noncombustible products on the exterior of your home, especially the roof, as this is the most vulnerable part of your home; and keep a 10-meter perimeter clear of easily combustible material.

The 10-meter perimeter should be free of such things as underbrush, woodpiles, dry grass and vegetation. However, you could have a 10-meter moat around your property and still lose your home if you have a non-fire rated wooden or rubber material roof. Wildfires spread by ember showers raining down in front of the fire, and landing on your roof. Combustible roofing materials become kindling as your roofing material creates an ember bed. Jim Graue, Deputy Chief of Spokane No. 8 sums it up succinctly: “If we had to pick out one significant major factor (in fire risk) . . . it is wood roofs.”

Many urban subdivisions are also at great risk of multiple building fire spread due to the use of wooden roofs. Attached condominiums with cedar shakes and streets filled with shake homes spaced only a few feet apart are an invitation for multiple building fires. This was recently demonstrated in the Calgary Erlton fire. Fire started in a building under construction and quickly spread and burnt down many units further away on the Elbow River when flying embers ignited the cedar shake roofs.

Obviously, anyone building in a vulnerable area should be choosing a Class A fire rated roof covering. Concrete roof tiles are the most logical choice and now account for more than 80 percent of installations in many fire prone areas in the United States. They also deliver the best life cycle cost value of any roofing material. Concrete and clay roof tiles are far beyond a Class A fire rated product, being completely noncombustible. There are many examples coming out of the fires listed above, where concrete roof tiles were credited with saving the tiled house, when the surrounding neighbors’ homes burned to the ground.

The best-known Canadian manufacturer of concrete roof tile is the Calgary, Alberta, based; Unicrete Roof Tile, www.unicrete.com . They have been producing slate, shake, and traditional profile concrete roof tile in a large range of colours since 1978, and also make a lightweight concrete tile for re-roofing, that requires no truss upgrading to install. They may be reached at (800) 570-4733.

To complete the noncombustible exterior on a fire safe home, the exterior cladding material should also be non-combustible. Brick and stucco, are the usual choices but recently fiber cement board siding such as James Hardie, www.jameshardie.com has become a popular choice. Trim should also be of a noncombustible material such as the Calgary based StoneTile, www.stonetile.com . Use a fire rated decking membrane such as DecTec, www.dec-tec.com on your deck to protect it from ignition from burning embers. To complete your noncombustible exterior, have your window and door moldings clad with metal, and put metal screening on your eavestrough to keep out flying embers (this will give you the added benefit of keeping leaves and pine needles from clogging them up).

Having done all of this you can sleep better knowing that you have done everything sensible to protect your home.