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Fire Proof Home Construction, Is It Possible?
In a very short time frame, the area that I live and work in has suffered not one but three major fire events that did millions of dollars in damage and claimed both lives and property for many. One of the key lessons learned from the Sylmar Fire last week was how mobile homes are constructed. In one swoop, 500 mobile homes were devastated. LACO firefighters were true hero's that day because they had to contend with performing rescues for non-ambulatory residents and also do what they could do to verify that everyone was out. The only thing that the Battalion Chief could present to group of impacted trailer residents was a damaged United States of America flag, singed on one of the ends. Watch what happens through legislation with mobile home construction and fireproofing. As we all know, once these trailers starts, it's almost impossible to get them out. The glues and synthetic materials, once they start to combust offgas vapors that cause flashover situations.
I have witnessed several homes that did survive the recent Tea Fire but note that as usual, the fire behaved indiscriminately, burning down one or two homes here but not the one in the middle... It was clear that embers traveling from the fires caught roofs or adjacent vegetation or combustibles on fire that eventually communicated with the interior of the structure, and homes were lost, lot's of them... and what blew everyone away was that there was little or no warning for many. Many were simply sitting down watching TV for the evening and then...
The next morning, this is what we saw...
Considering that this is an international forum, I thought perhaps we could get some input here with photos showing examples of things we can suggest to homeowners and contractors as far as improving on how homes are designed and built.
I know there are extremes to how a home can be built with safeguards, but it's still pretty cool to hear how someone came up with their idea of how to Fire Proof their house. Here's a great example that survived the recent fires...
Santa Barbara, CA - One homeowner desgined and had his house built on a turntable. He can actually rotate the house to where there are not exposed windows or access points for fire to communicate with the interior of the structure. In addition to using all fireproof materials, the entire perimeter of the houses exterior covered decking has roll down shutters that are fireproof up to a billion degrees or some such thing...
In the interest of fire and life safety, SB Mike : )
I have witnessed several homes that did survive the recent Tea Fire but note that as usual, the fire behaved indiscriminately, burning down one or two homes here but not the one in the middle... It was clear that embers traveling from the fires caught roofs or adjacent vegetation or combustibles on fire that eventually communicated with the interior of the structure, and homes were lost, lot's of them... and what blew everyone away was that there was little or no warning for many. Many were simply sitting down watching TV for the evening and then...
The next morning, this is what we saw...
Considering that this is an international forum, I thought perhaps we could get some input here with photos showing examples of things we can suggest to homeowners and contractors as far as improving on how homes are designed and built.
I know there are extremes to how a home can be built with safeguards, but it's still pretty cool to hear how someone came up with their idea of how to Fire Proof their house. Here's a great example that survived the recent fires...
Santa Barbara, CA - One homeowner desgined and had his house built on a turntable. He can actually rotate the house to where there are not exposed windows or access points for fire to communicate with the interior of the structure. In addition to using all fireproof materials, the entire perimeter of the houses exterior covered decking has roll down shutters that are fireproof up to a billion degrees or some such thing...
In the interest of fire and life safety, SB Mike : )
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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It is amazing as to why fire skips or jumps homes in a neighborhood. It appears that the fires/embers gain access via the open gable end attic vents? Any thought to home builders re-designing the attic vents?
Many video footage clips had firefighters standing outside a perfect house with fire just blowing from a gable attic vent...
I am sure people are already doing non-combustible materials like cedar shake but what about all the products that can foam or blanket a home with exterior protection? Have you seen any that can be applied by a homeowner via a fixed system yet?
FETC
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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My house has a tile roof and bird stops are placed into all the scallops but still, it seems like there should be something protecting embers from getting into the attic space. I know from studies none during the 1980 Paint Fire here in Santa Barbara that fire cause determination / post fire conlcluded that the following led to homes burning during the firestorm...
1. the obvious, shake roofs
2. ornamental vegetation adjacent to the structure
3. combustible materials adjacent to the structure
4. lack of bird stops to prevent both birds and rats from building nests in the scallops of roof tiles
5. lack of using double glazed glass windows
6. combustible materials on the interior of the structure, adjacent to the window that catch fire from radiant heat alone
7. home built to close to a slope, taking the entire impact of the force of the fire as it travels uphill
8 roof eves were not boxed in to prevent the eves from catching on fire and then spreading to the attic
SB Mike
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It's all worthless without good defensible space. What used to be considered ok (30-foot) clearance has now been extended to 100-feet and I have heard mention that insurance companies want a 300-foot distance around the structure to provide defensible space.
One thing that has not been figured out and published is the application of setback for a house in regards to the slope in front of it... Flame length can be predicted so it seems that someone should come up with a simple formula where you look at the slope, setback distance and other factors that influence slope driven fires. Like this one...
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Mike,
In response to your heading verbage, the answer is "sure, but no one would want to live in it." You could build a house from concrete, stone, tile, and other non-combustible materials, but the interior would be oh-so-uncomfortable. Soft cushions, fabrics, carpet, and the other interior finishings that make homes comfortable and livable are combustible.
Wildfire heat radiated through windows can be enough to combust the interior even if the exterior and the structure would survive.
Non-combustible homes would be quite a bit more expensive - and thus more difficult to finance for the average person - than combustible homes. Given the credit crunch caused by the sub-prime mortgage mess, I just don't see a bunch of non-combustible homes being built anytime soon.
Ben
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Unless you live in Santa Barbara... there will be 220 rebuilt non-combustible homes replacing what was lost. I'm going to keep track as to how the homes are rebuilt and I promise you this, they will be non-combustible and fireproof. It wouldn't surprise me if plans have already been submitted. Folks like Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future and others lost everything. These homes were worth millions and I am sure they were all pretty much insured for replacement. What come next will be a new generation of homes built using some pretty cool ideas and ingenuity to prevent another loss. We have seen this in the past and we will see it again. I don't think that money is an option here. Remember, Oprah just lives right down the street...
And the major loss for these fires (1.4 million acres x 4 days) was the total taking out of a mobile home park with 500 mobile homes. New California building codes will certainly reflect a change in how these coaches are manufactured in the future.
Mike
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I'm trying to picture Oprah sleeping on a concrete bed with terra cotta tile sheets...
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Did you see my reply somewhere on Steve Martin's house in Montecito?
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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Mike, I don't think that "will be non-combustible and fireproof" is really possible. Low-combustability I'll accept. Unless we're talking a military style concrete bunker? I'll grab some of our official stuff and post it later.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Brooks on
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Have you heard of or seen Fire Stopper? http://www.extremetechnologiescorp.com/ This stuff came out a couple of years ago and is meant for your situation. Supposedly, you can spray and pretreat houses. I thought this was made from the diaper guts material. May be worth looking into. I have not seen anything in person.
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