<
https://www.theverge.com/features/861950/fire-resilient-home-neighborhood>
"Down the street from the Los Angeles Angels’ stadium in Anaheim, a crowd
gathers to watch two homes burn.
In less than 30 minutes, one structure is reduced to its smoldering, blackened
wood frame, while the other, thanks to simple changes to its design, is
remarkably unscathed. Of course, this was the point of the demonstration, which
was held last June by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)
at a firefighting training center.
The heat from the burning demo home is fierce as we stand outside under a
bright, cloudless sky. The plume of thick, black smoke is what eventually
pushes me back from the front of the audience. But it’s still nothing like the
worst blazes I remember growing up with in Southern California, when the sky
glows a hazy orange and ash falls like snow.
Firefighters, housing developers, and insurance professionals gathered for the
annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference who I talk to know what that kind of
inferno feels like — or at least have to navigate the unthinkable loss left in
its aftermath. It’s what brings us all here today — the hope that there are
steps to take that can help a home survive. The same demonstration the previous
year was enough to convince one builder to change course. “It was shocking,”
says Steve Ruffner, a regional general manager and division president at KB
Home. “That was when I was like,
Okay, we’re in a high fire zone in Escondido.
We got to see if we can do this.” KB Home, one of the most prolific
homebuilders in the US, had already broken ground on Dixon Trail, a new
community in Escondido, California. It was about to get a makeover to be more
like the demo house built to withstand a blaze.
It’s the kind of neighborhood-scale action that’s becoming more crucial as
wildfire risk rises with climate change. Wildfires are becoming too big a
threat for any single homeowner, neighborhood, or even firefighting squad to
just play defense. The fight is now collective and starts from the ground up,
when homes are built. It continues with everyday actions that hold property
owners accountable for their neighbors’ safety, too.
In many ways, Southern California is ground zero for this crusade. Here,
builders, fire districts, and homeowner associations are figuring out how to
keep living in an already fire-prone landscape that’s increasingly becoming a
tinderbox. Preparing for disaster — as the state has done with earthquakes — is
part of the ethos. When it comes to wildfires, the “big one” for greater Los
Angeles arrived a year ago, when blazes destroyed more than 16,250 structures.
Each time the winds pick up on a hot, dry day, that preparation is tested."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-payphone-experiment-bridging-political-divides/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
