NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 26
WHEN THOSE QUESTIONS are
posed to wildfire experts, the answers
are both encouraging and painfully
frustrating. There are many things that
communities could do through landuse planning and building regulation to
help stem the destructive potential of
wildfire, they say. In fact, many experts
believe that we know enough about the
science of home ignition right now to
largely prevent homes and other structures from burning during wildfires.
"I believe, and I think most professionals in the field believe, that
we could build ignition-resistant
26 | NFPA JOURNAL * J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8
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,"
said Gary Marshall, the former longtime
fire marshal in Bend, Oregon, who also
teaches wildfire home ignition courses
for NFPA. "We hear all the time that
this wildfire problem is just a forest
health problem, but it's not. It's a structure problem."
Jack Cohen, one of the nation's preeminent experts in wildfire structure
ignition, spent 40 years as a researcher
with the U.S. Forest Service studying the
various ways that wildfires can cause
homes to catch fire. In the vast majority
of cases, he says, houses are ignited not
through direct contact with the wildfire
itself, but by embers blown in from the
fire front. Through housing design and
construction material choices-metal
roofs, screens over gutters, gravel
instead of mulch landings, decks made
of composite materials rather than
wood-homes can be sufficiently hardened to prevent firebrands from setting
them ablaze. Keeping the space 100 feet
around the home clear of things like dry
AP PHOTO/JEFF CHIU
Residents of a community near Santa Rosa,
California, visit the remains of their home
after it was destroyed by wildfire in October.
Communities hit by wildfire often struggle
to find a balance in the recovery effort:
helping victims rebuild as quickly and cheaply
as possible, but also encouraging them
to rebuild in a more resilient manner.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2018
Contents
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 1
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Contents
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 3
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 4
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 5
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 6
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 7
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 8
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 9
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 10
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 11
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 12
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 13
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 14
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 15
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 16
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 17
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 18
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 19
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 20
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 21
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 22
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 23
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 24
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 25
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 26
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 27
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 28
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 29
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 30
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 31
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 32
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 33
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 34
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 35
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 36
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 37
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 38
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 39
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 40
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 41
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 42
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 43
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 44
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 45
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 46
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 47
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 48
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 49
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 50
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 51
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 52
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 53
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 54
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 55
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 56
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 57
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 58
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 60
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 61
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 62
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 63
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 71
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 72
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 73
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 79
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 88
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - Cover4
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