NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - 34

WILDFIRE
Letter from
Grizzly Flats
Eight years ago, Megan Fitzgerald-McGowan, manager of NFPA's
Firewise USA program, left wildland firefighting to help residents and
communities prepare themselves to withstand wildfire. As she recounts
here, her recent visit to a fire-ravaged California town illustrates the
enormity of the challenge and underscores why she wanted to work
with communities in the first place.
O
ne of Mark Almer's favorite features of his house
is the standing seam metal roof, a kind of slate gray
that goes well with the home's blue siding and white
trim. But aesthetic appeal isn't why he's so fond of it-the
noncombustible roof was a big reason the home survived a
rampaging wildfire last August. " We switched from composite
shingles to metal about 15 years ago and haven't looked
back, " he says, gazing up at it. " We're never replacing this
roof. "
He's also a fan of the concrete patio and composite deck.
A wooden deck once wrapped around the house, until Almer
recognized that it could easily ignite in a wildfire and take
his home down with it. The wood was removed, replaced
with the noncombustible materials. " The roof and decking
were probably the two largest building construction factors "
why his house survived last summer's wildfire, he tells us.
Almer is giving us a tour of his property, methodically
cataloguing the steps he and his wife, Susan, have taken
over the years to harden the buildings and create defensible
space to protect against the threat of wildfire. The Almers'
home is located in the pine forests of Grizzly Flats, a small
34 | NFPA JOURNAL * SUMMER 2022
community (pop. 1,200) on the western slope
of California's Sierra Nevada. In August, a powerful
wildfire, the Caldor Fire, tore through the
area, destroying about 450 of the town's estimated
600 homes, along with the elementary
school, the post office, a church, and the local
fire station, among many other structures.
Most of the homes belonging to the Almers'
neighbors were destroyed. The Almers' property-the
house, garage, and storage building,
along with an improbable white gazebo-appear untouched,
surrounded on all sides by vast stretches of blackened forest.
I'd been exchanging texts with Mark for a couple of
months. As manager of NFPA's Firewise USA®
, a voluntary
program that encourages residents in wildfire-prone areas
to protect their homes and property from wildland fire hazards,
I had a connection to Grizzly Flats. The community had
participated in Firewise USA since 2007, and I'd gotten to
know a number of people in the town, including Mark. When
I heard that Grizzly Flats had become yet another community
nearly obliterated by a wildland fire, I wanted to see for

NFPA Journal - Summer 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Summer 2022

Contents
NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - 1
NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - Contents
NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - 3
NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - 4
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NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - Cover3
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