Reduce your wildfire risk around your home, zone by zone
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Reduce your wildfire risk around your home, zone by zone
Tag: defensible space
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Reduce your wildfire risk around your home, zone by zone Researchers recommend amount of fire clearance around structures
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized15 Comments on Researchers recommend amount of fire clearance around structures Researchers have concluded that the most effective fire clearance or defensible space around structures, to reduce the chances of them burning in a wildfire, is between 16 and 58 feet.
Below is an excerpt from the abstract of a paper written by Alexandra D. Syphard, Teresa J. Brennan, and Jon E. Keeley, submitted to a journal September 16, 2014.
We analysed the role of defensible space by mapping and measuring a suite of variables on modern pre-fire aerial photography for 1000 destroyed and 1000 surviving structures for all fires where homes burned from 2001 to 2010 in San Diego County, CA, USA. Structures were more likely to survive a fire with defensible space immediately adjacent to them. The most effective treatment distance varied between 5 and 20 m (16–58 ft) from the structure, but distances larger than 30 m (100 ft) did not provide additional protection, even for structures located on steep slopes.
Two of the three authors are public employees, so the taxpayers already paid for this research. However, if you want a copy of The role of defensible space for residential structure protection during wildfires, it will cost you $25.
More about Open Access to research that is paid for by taxpayers.
CalFire bills for fire prevention
Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories Uncategorized17 Comments on CalFire bills for fire prevention California homeowners will soon receive bills in the mail for fire protection. Beginning next week, bills for as much as $150 will be sent; most homeowners’ bills will run $115, with a $35 discount for people who live in fire protection districts and already pay for fire services.
The annual fee is controversial; it was signed into law last year to provide funding for CalFire and has been heavily criticized by rural residents who view it as “double taxation.” Taxpayer advocate groups, according to the Union Democrat, argue that the fee is a tax and should have required a two-thirds vote by the Legislature instead of just a simple majority vote.
Houses and other structures in the 31-million-acre State Responsibility Area (SRA) will be billed at the $150 rate. Daniel Berlant with CalFire told KPBS news that the number of structures in the SRA has grown by about 16 percent in the last decade. “That’s where the residential area starts meeting up into the forest,” said Berlant. “It’s that middle section that we call the wildland-urban interface where we see the most fires that cause impact and damage throughout California,so the rural residents that the state is responsible for protecting are the ones that will be assessed the fee.”
The annual fee is $150 for the first structure and $25 for each additional structure on the property. The Rancho Santa Fe Review reported that the funds pay for prevention activities on SRA lands.
CalFire has a parcel viewer online to view mapped SRA lands.
Property owners who disagree with the fire fee assessed on their properties can petition for a redetermination of the fee calculation. The petition must be based on whether the fee applies to the property for which the petition is filed, and must detail the grounds for redetermination of the fee. Grounds could include proof of whether the structure is actually located in the SRA or the number of habitable structures or pre-existing local fire protection services. The firepreventionfee.org website has more details.
