The past few days have been difficult and tragic ones for the people of Southern California. Raging fires have destroyed many homes and displaced families as they blaze in several different parts of the region, spurred on by a perfect storm of high winds, high temperatures and very dry air. The Oakridge Mobile Home Park in the Sylmar district was hit the hardest of all communities with almost 500 homes lost. Officials are quickly rethinking how even the simplest of dwellings should be protected from fires.
On Sunday morning Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger held a press briefing about the effort to contain the fires and said, "...we should start thinking about building also the mobile homes with the same fire retardant materials that we now build in those fire-prone areas when we build [normal] homes."
The California Department of Housing and Community Development has already begun to address the situation by seriously considering new standards that include changing the way roofing, windows and siding are constructed and protected with fire retardant materials. These new codes could be instituted as early as late January or February.
Over the years many homes in SoCal have been saved from destruction by very simple means. A story that appeared in the Los Angeles Times at this time two years ago told about how a man named Scott Garrett heard about an approaching blaze and applied a liberal coating of a flame-retardant spray called Safe-T-Guard to his 5,500 square-foot-home. While other's houses burned his was left virtually untouched. Read the original article here:
http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/printedition/la-re-fire25nov25,0,1327223.story
Though effective, fire retardant chemicals such as sprays, paint and gels are just some of the many methods to fireproof one's home. More permanent and safer methods involve protecting a home from the ground up. Heat resistant windows and light-weight concrete roofs go a long way in keeping the flames away.
Governor Schwarzenneger recently said that California must realize that 'fire season' may become an around-the-year threat and that we must learn how to better protect our homes and families in light of these tragedies.
For additional information about fire-proofing your home read this previous article by Staff Writer Chris Largent: Protecting Your Home From Wildfires