From Tran Nguyen, The Associated Press
Devastated by destructive wildfires, including the deadliest In California's history, state lawmakers in 2020 passed new requirements for the removal of combustible materials such as dead plants and wooden furniture within 5 feet of homes in high-risk areas.
The rules were scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2023. But how Los Angeles is struggling with fires which have destroyed thousands of homes in what could be the most expensive Natural disaster in US history, the rules are still not written. The state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has no set timeline for completion.
“It's frustrating at every level of government,” said Democratic Sen. Henry Stern, who was among a group of lawmakers who drafted the bill. “It makes me feel like a failure, honestly.”
Most of the neighborhoods devastated by the Palisades fire are in areas that must follow state requirements to keep the immediate surroundings of their homes free of combustible materials and would be subject to the new regulations because they are considered the most fire-prone by the California Department of Forestry and fire protection. The fire, powered by Hurricane force winds The The spread of aerial embers destroyed at least 5,000 structures in areas such as Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga Canyon.
Under the latest proposal, existing homes would have three years to come into compliance. Therefore, it is not clear how many houses would have been saved. But clearing the immediate surroundings of homes likely would have made a difference, several experts said.
“We strongly believe based on previous research that it would have made a difference in some cases,” said Steve Hawks, a former state firefighter who now works for an insurance industry research group that supports the law. “There are of course no guarantees, especially when there is a high-intensity wildfire like this.”
So-called shelter laws require homeowners in fire-prone locations to keep the area immediately surrounding their home free of landscaping and other materials that could catch fire. California already enforces some of the strictest defensible space laws in the West. The state began requiring homeowners in high-risk areas to remove combustible materials within 30 feet (9 meters) of their homes in the 1960s, then expanded the regulations in 2006 to areas within 100 feet (30. 5 meters) from buildings.
The latest measure creates a new “emergency resistant” zone called “Zone Zero” that blocks things like brush, wooden fences, furniture, sheds and mulch within 1.5 meters of homes. The idea is to remove any materials that could catch fire from flying embers carried by the wind and spread to the structure. State officials and researchers said embers accounted for 90% of structures destroyed by wildfires.
The Zone Zero law was passed with bipartisan support after California experienced record-breaking fires in 2017 and 2018, including a blaze that gutted the town of Paradise, destroyed more than 17,000 structures and killed 85 people.
“Homes have a much better chance of surviving a wildfire when homeowners follow reasonable space requirements and various home-proofing recommendations, such as: “For example, using vent covers to keep out flying embers,” said Yana Valachovic, fire scientist at the University of California Cooperative Extension in Humboldt and Del Northern Counties. She's helping CalFire investigate the destruction from the LA fires this week.
“I hesitate to put a numerical factor on exactly how much higher our survival rate will be,” she said. “But you know, we have to do everything we can to move the equation forward.”
The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection said it is still in the “preliminary rulemaking phase” as it raises money to reduce potential costs under the new requirements. State officials said in a November meeting that the bill likely won't be considered by the board until later this year, although CalFire has already encouraged homeowners to adopt the practice his website. The agency recommended adopting zone zero requirements as part of a report on fire strategies requested by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019.
Lawmakers also passed a law last year to extend the compliance period for existing homes from one year to three years after the rules are passed. Some cities and homeowners are already adopting the practice voluntarily.
“Many aspects must be considered as part of this complex process,” Edith Hannigan, executive director of the board, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “This issue remains a priority for the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, and staff is committed to producing a draft proposal to present to the board as soon as possible.”
The most effective strategies include removing dead vegetation and debris from a structure's roof and gutters and replacing bark with pea gravel, said Kimiko Barrett, the author a study from 2024 Considering the cost of retrofitting existing structures in California. Replacing a wooden fence might cost more, but it also helps protect a home better.
“The cost of doing nothing could be far greater,” Barrett said.
There have been discussions about a zone zero for a decade, and the idea is not always popular. Stern, the state senator who also lost his home in another Los Angeles fire in 2018, said he had difficulty convincing his family to follow the practice. His parents dismissed his advice to clear out the rosemary bush next to their house as a trivial matter, Stern said.
“What I don’t know is whether people will find this a headache,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman, a Democrat who led the effort to pass the Zone Zero law as a state assemblywoman in 2020, said implementation “should not have taken years.” She then referred questions to the state.
“I hope the state acts with the urgency that the issue and these policies deserve,” she said.
Under the latest draft, the rules would apply immediately to new homes and give existing buildings three years to comply.
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