Latest news with #ZoneZero
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
San Joaquin fire agencies on alert during Red Flag Warning
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY — High winds, high heat and low humidity are the trifecta that sparks a Red Flag Warning. "We just came out of the rainy season, and we've had a few weeks now for some pretty dry weather with some winds, so it's drying everything out," Waterloo-Morada Fire District Chief Eric Walder said. This Red Flag Warning spans as far north as Redding to as south as Modesto. In San Joaquin County, the highest threat of fire is being seen in the northern part of the region. Because of that, fire crews like the ones at the Waterloo-Morada Fire District are on high alert. "When we do have a Red Flag Warning, it alerts us that the conditions are right," Chief Walder explained. "So, above and beyond our normal readiness, we could pre-position extra resources. We can also have more personnel come in." Crews are more than ready for the call, but there are ways you can help your local first responders before it's too late. "We've seen through this last fire season the dangers of having normal combustible plants and vegetation around your house, and that's why the state is sort of moving to the new Zone Zero compliance, where five feet around the home should be down to non-combustibles," Chief Walder said. The region recieved a good amount of rain this past winter. It caused a lot of growth, so when the summer hits, that turns into larger fuel. San Joaquin County has a weed abatement ordinance, which means weeds must be cut back and be below six inches. As Chief Walder says, even the smallest spark can cause a huge blaze. "Cigarette, ember, a chain dragging behind a trailer, anything's going to start a spark, which is going to start the fire. We had had some rain, so we have a large grass crop this year," Walder explained. "Right now, any field that's dry can catch fire and can cause some problems with structure protection as well." He went on to say it is a bit early to see winds and conditions in May, but usually, once June hits, that's when you can see these conditions worsen and those larger fires start sparking.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: The state lags on fire safety rules, but even common sense should limit combustibles near homes
In the unprecedented wind-driven fires of January, a fusillade of embers flew from burning hillside brush to neighborhoods, igniting houses and any fencing and furniture around them that would burn. Those flames spread to adjacent houses, and the winds propelled millions more embers through the air to more houses and yards. Whether more firefighters on the ground or water-spraying helicopters in the air or reservoirs could have staved off destruction, one thing is overwhelmingly clear to fire scientists: The time to start fighting fire is before it begins. Toward that end, the California Legislature, in late 2020, passed Assembly Bill 3074, mandating that homes or occupied structures in areas most severely at risk of fire establish five feet of defensible space around them. The state already requires clearance of brush and dead leaves within 100 feet of houses. But this bill called for creating a zone of zero to five feet — or Zone Zero — around a house. This doesn't guarantee a home won't burn, but it offers the best defense a homeowner may have against embers headed their way. Here's the problem: The 2020 law has yet to go into effect. The state's Board of Forestry and Fire Protection was charged with writing the rules and regulations for Zone Zero by January 2023. The board has had four years to work on this, and it's two years past the deadline. At a time when fires are increasingly intense, that's not just ridiculous, that's irresponsible. Why the holdup? How long does it take to decide that homeowners really shouldn't have wooden fences or combustible shrubs within five feet of their homes? According to Christine McMorrow, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, the board is expediting its process. But there's a lot for board members to consider: "New Zone Zero rules will have financial implications for people so the focus right now is on what mitigations matter the most,' she said last week. The board also wants to provide an education plan to help people understand why they can't have that wood fence. 'We always want to push education over citation,' she said. The biggest obstacle, apparently, is figuring out the specifics of what to allow and what to forbid. What shouldn't be allowed on a deck? What about allowable materials for the deck itself? Are doormats forbidden? Must all window frames be metal? Still, it shouldn't take four years to put forth rules. No matter how politically unpopular, these are decisions that need to be made. State law already requires houses in fire-prone areas to be built with more fire-resistant materials and have ember-resistant vents. But the Zone Zero rules could also weigh in on materials, such as siding on the house. Cal Fire also already has recommendations on all this. (You don't have to wait for a state law to create your own Zone Zero, by the way.) Basically nothing combustible is advised: no mulch or bark; no flammable furniture and planters. Use pavers, gravel or concrete. The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is expected to discuss the rules at its next meeting, in March, but not decide on them. Whenever the rules are decided, they still have to go through the state's rulemaking process and be put out for public comment. It's so obvious that this process is taking too long. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Feb. 6 instructing the board to draft rules and put them out for public comment within 45 days of his order and complete the formal rulemaking process by Dec. 31 of this year. Even that is too long a wait; rebuilding will be well under way by then in the burned areas of Los Angeles County. The rules, once formalized, will apply to new construction first; existing properties will have to be retrofitted within a few years. The costs in materials surely will be far cheaper than rebuilding a house that has been burned to the ground. And these rules can help provide protection for an entire neighborhood. The more houses with defensible space, the more fortified the entire neighborhood. 'It's a community ignition and community structure problem,' said longtime fire scientist Jack Cohen. Of course, even a neighborhood with perfect Zone Zero adherence will still be susceptible to fire, but the odds of its structures surviving will go up. If ever there were a time to put Zone Zero regulations into effect, it's now, when thousands of owners whose homes were burned rush to rebuild or sell to others who will rebuild. Widespread implementation of Zone Zero could have an enormous impact on the fire safety of swaths of Los Angeles County. However, even while the state's rulemaking drags on, local jurisdictions can pass their own Zone Zero regulations. There are a number of areas throughout the state that have already mandated Zone Zero rules. Los Angeles County and L.A. city could do the same. If state rules are not in effect when homeowners rebuild, they should still seriously consider rebuilding with a defensible space of at least five feet around their homes. Giving up favored materials and plants that are combustible is the smallest of sacrifices to allow a home and a neighborhood a fighting chance the next time embers are raining down on L.A. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
16-02-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Editorial: The state lags on fire safety rules, but even common sense should limit combustibles near homes
In the unprecedented wind-driven fires of January, a fusillade of embers flew from burning hillside brush to neighborhoods, igniting houses and any fencing and furniture around them that would burn. Those flames spread to adjacent houses, and the winds propelled millions more embers through the air to more houses and yards. Whether more firefighters on the ground or water-spraying helicopters in the air or reservoirs could have staved off destruction, one thing is overwhelmingly clear to fire scientists: The time to start fighting fire is before it begins. Toward that end, the California Legislature, in late 2020, passed Assembly Bill 3074, mandating that homes or occupied structures in areas most severely at risk of fire establish five feet of defensible space around them. The state already requires clearance of brush and dead leaves within 100 feet of houses. But this bill called for creating a zone of zero to five feet — or Zone Zero — around a house. This doesn't guarantee a home won't burn, but it offers the best defense a homeowner may have against embers headed their way. Here's the problem: The 2020 law has yet to go into effect. The state's Board of Forestry and Fire Protection was charged with writing the rules and regulations for Zone Zero by January 2023. The board has had four years to work on this, and it's two years past the deadline. At a time when fires are increasingly intense, that's not just ridiculous, that's irresponsible. Why the holdup? How long does it take to decide that homeowners really shouldn't have wooden fences or combustible shrubs within five feet of their homes? According to Christine McMorrow, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, the board is expediting its process. But there's a lot for board members to consider: 'New Zone Zero rules will have financial implications for people so the focus right now is on what mitigations matter the most,' she said last week. The board also wants to provide an education plan to help people understand why they can't have that wood fence. 'We always want to push education over citation,' she said. The biggest obstacle, apparently, is figuring out the specifics of what to allow and what to forbid. What shouldn't be allowed on a deck? What about allowable materials for the deck itself? Are doormats forbidden? Must all window frames be metal? Still, it shouldn't take four years to put forth rules. No matter how politically unpopular, these are decisions that need to be made. State law already requires houses in fire-prone areas to be built with more fire-resistant materials and have ember-resistant vents. But the Zone Zero rules could also weigh in on materials, such as siding on the house. Cal Fire also already has recommendations on all this. (You don't have to wait for a state law to create your own Zone Zero, by the way.) Basically nothing combustible is advised: no mulch or bark; no flammable furniture and planters. Use pavers, gravel or concrete. The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is expected to discuss the rules at its next meeting, in March, but not decide on them. Whenever the rules are decided, they still have to go through the state's rulemaking process and be put out for public comment. It's so obvious that this process is taking too long. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Feb. 6 instructing the board to draft rules and put them out for public comment within 45 days of his order and complete the formal rulemaking process by Dec. 31 of this year. Even that is too long a wait; rebuilding will be well under way by then in the burned areas of Los Angeles County. The rules, once formalized, will apply to new construction first; existing properties will have to be retrofitted within a few years. The costs in materials surely will be far cheaper than rebuilding a house that has been burned to the ground. And these rules can help provide protection for an entire neighborhood. The more houses with defensible space, the more fortified the entire neighborhood. 'It's a community ignition and community structure problem,' said longtime fire scientist Jack Cohen. Of course, even a neighborhood with perfect Zone Zero adherence will still be susceptible to fire, but the odds of its structures surviving will go up. If ever there were a time to put Zone Zero regulations into effect, it's now, when thousands of owners whose homes were burned rush to rebuild or sell to others who will rebuild. Widespread implementation of Zone Zero could have an enormous impact on the fire safety of swaths of Los Angeles County. However, even while the state's rulemaking drags on, local jurisdictions can pass their own Zone Zero regulations. There are a number of areas throughout the state that have already mandated Zone Zero rules. Los Angeles County and L.A. city could do the same. If state rules are not in effect when homeowners rebuild, they should still seriously consider rebuilding with a defensible space of at least five feet around their homes. Giving up favored materials and plants that are combustible is the smallest of sacrifices to allow a home and a neighborhood a fighting chance the next time embers are raining down on L.A.
