NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 27

NFPA.ORG/BUILDBURNREPEAT
WATCH wildfire research scientist Jack Cohen
discuss the science of wildfire and home ignition.
READ NFPA's "Community Wildfire Safety
Through Regulation" best practices guide for
planners and regulators.

"We could build ignitionresistant communities today
where people wouldn't even
have to leave their homes
during a wildfire-the wildfire
could pass right through the
neighborhood, and not affect
any of the structures."

brush, tall grass, and wooden fences can
cut off other paths the fire can take to
reach the house. Combined, these methods have demonstrated, in dozens of
experiments, the ability to dramatically
reduce the likelihood of home ignition,
Cohen said. And they are all steps that
local governments can mandate through
codes and ordinances during the building permitting process. Guidance is
available in NFPA 1141, Fire Protection
Infrastructure for Land Development in
Wildland, Rural, and Suburban Areas,
and NFPA 1144, Reducing Structure
Ignition Hazards from Wildland Fire.

"We won't take the probability of
ignition down to zero because it isn't
practical to expect that everyone is
going to clean pine needles out of their
rain gutters or keep firewood off of
their decks, just as our fire codes can't
keep people from burning candles next
to their linen curtains," Cohen said.
"But the facts are, the conditions that
principally determine if a house ignites
occur within 100 feet of the house,
including the house itself. If we take
care of that, we can largely prevent
wildfire ignitions."
In more densely settled areas like
Coffey Park, the situation is a bit different-it isn't the firebrands that cause
most of the direct damage, but houses
igniting one another in a chain reaction
similar to the large urban conflagrations of the 19th century. Firebrands
only begin the domino effect. In these
urban areas, building regulations to
limit firebrand ignition on individual
houses, as well as regulations to limit
what can go between and around
homes, such as types of plants, mulch,
windows, sheds, decks, and fencing,
can largely prevent the kind of widespread destruction that happened in
Coffey Park, Cohen said.

That's the encouraging news. The
frustrating part for longtime advocates
is that, for various reasons, too many
communities faced with significant
wildfire risk do not require homeowners or developers to take any of these
measures. Even in places like Santa
Rosa, where the risks couldn't possibly
be clearer than they are right now,
Cohen believes there's a good chance
that no additional wildfire codes or
regulations will be adopted in high-risk
areas to reduce the chance of the community burning a third time.
"I have no hope there is going to be
major change," he said bluntly. "But
the reason I'm talking to you, and the
reason I still stay involved and focused
on this even after I've retired, is the
potential that we can do something.
Sometimes I have to compartmentalize
away my hope for a rational society."
Early indications in Santa Rosa suggest that Cohen's pessimism is justified.
According to local news reports, the
Santa Rosa City Council has thus far
opted to hasten the rebuilding effort by
passing emergency measures to speed
up the issuing of building permits. That
includes waiving fees and granting
broad new authorities to city staff to
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2018
