"Look in the mirror..."

A number of years ago, I completed a course in “Fire Safe Building Design” by the The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  The certificate I was awarded labeled me a “fire safe building designer.”  But as I read about the devastating loss of life and structures in California and other areas of the country that have suffered the ravages of wildfires the last few months, I wondered again about what it means to be “fire safe.” 

The training we received in the coursework (protecting egress corridors, suppression systems, materials, fire separation, etc.) was focused on occupants of a building getting out alive.  But what if the real danger isn’t within, but on the outside; and what if existing the building is only the first step to safety? What can be done to protect a structure and its occupants from a wildfire? More importantly, what can be done to prevent fires and structures (and humans) from forced interaction in the first place? 

Photo from NFPA web page, online link below

 As it turns out, my friends at NFPA have suggestions for that as well.  Their Wildfire Safety Tips(here) include a variety of ideas on three major topics:

1. What to do before a wildfire threatens your area, including ideas for preparing your family, your home and your community;
2. What to do when an active wildfire is in your area, including protecting your home and family, and evacuating, if necessary; and
3. What to do after the danger has passed.  

NFPA's resources include both online checklists and printable publications, as well as links to other resources.

  

The US Forest Service (here) has a number of suggestions for planners, including ways to use zoning and building code regulations to guide fire-safe development of residential communities.  I’ll let the web page speak for itself, but the preface to the list of techniques on the page is telling.  It says:

“Land-use planning and zoning are governmental functions critical to public safety-including fire protection. But because these functions are political as well, they are subject to intense differences of opinion and to public controversy. Therefore, they tend to lag behind development until the problem becomes aggravated, much in the fashion of the traffic light that is installed only after eight or ten deaths have occurred at the intersection.

“Being political they are also subject, even after enactment into law, to pressures for variances and modifications. Therefore, they are seldom as effective as fire protection personnel would like to see them. With few exceptions, they cannot be made retroactive and, consequently, older developments are not much affected by them. 

“Where land-use planning and zoning have been enforced, however, they have achieved significant degrees of fire safety.”

The irony here is that the statement above dates from the 1970s.  That was 40 years ago.  Sadly, little seems to have changed in terms of adopting fire-safe development practices; and there are thousands of homes and likely millions more people at risk today because of it.

Finally, an excellent piece published yesterday (link and source of photo here) by Michelle Steinberg, manager of NFPA’s Wildfire Division, includes a sobering lesson on this very topic.  She writes:

“Watching this horrific disaster unfold is devastating and depressing. Knowing all the good that so many residents, firefighters, and agencies have done over so many years in California to prepare for wildfire makes it harder to accept that at last count 3,500 structures have been destroyed and that the region is experiencing a tragic loss of life. (Note: news sources on Thursday morning, October 12, cite the rising death toll at 23 people killed). This outcome is what NFPA staff and so many other safety advocates dread and spend our careers trying to avert.

“Fielding media inquiries this week has been difficult - but of course nowhere near on the scale of difficulty of fighting the fire, carrying out evacuation orders, or watching one's home and neighborhood go up in flames. The unfortunate trend of the media is to play the blame game. I can't and won't play that game, by calling out any single entity to say it is their fault the fires happened, or homes burned, or people died. What I can do is to point out the tremendous and humbling complexity of the wildfire problem when it comes to the disastrous loss of homes and lives. 

“What I can do is call on everyone in our society to look in the mirror and to think - whether in your personal or professional lives - what must I do to stop this happening over and over again?”

Indeed. What can be done to stop this from happening?  We must change our habits or we’re destined to continue this nightmare season after season.