NJFFSA16
09-24-2002, 08:13 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Aerial photographs may help firefighters to
determine which neighborhoods may be at the greatest risk from
future wildfires because of the number of wooden roofs.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department has requested $25,000 in
federal funds for aerial photographs to help identify every wooden
roof in the riskiest fire areas.
The county also requested $500,000 from the National Park
Service for a pilot program to offer subsidies to homeowners in the
Santa Monica Mountains who replace wood roofs with safer materials.
Replacing a roof on an average house costs up to $15,000.
"(Wood roofing) is one of the biggest reasons we lose
structures to fire. It's kindling on a rooftop," said Frank
Vidales, a forester with the county's Fire Plan Unit who helped
write the grant requests. He said the county would know within a
month if it gets the money.
Decades ago, wooden roofs were popular in California and the
Pacific Northwest. But their popularity declined as development
crept into more fire-prone areas and blazes like the 1991 Oakland
Hills blaze, which destroyed 3,000 homes, were blamed in part on
wood roofs.
Unless treated with flame retardants, the roofs easily catch
fire and help spread a fast-moving blaze. The wood roof industry,
however, said there are now treated wood shingles with Class-A
fire-safety ratings, the federal government's highest.
California law requires that all wood roofs sold in the state be
treated with fire retardant and pass a natural weathering test.
Some cities enacted tougher laws, including Los Angeles' ban on
wood roofs on new homes as well as replacement roofs.
"We have too many mountainous areas in the city, and we've had
such bad luck with those types of roofs that the powers that be
have decided not to allow them," said Bob Steinbach, the chief
inspector with the city's Building and Safety Department.
The city Fire Department considered creating maps identifying
wood roofs in some neighborhoods in the 1990s. But there was public
outrage when a firefighter suggested that those homes would be
"written off" in a major fire and the mapping plan was abandoned.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press.
determine which neighborhoods may be at the greatest risk from
future wildfires because of the number of wooden roofs.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department has requested $25,000 in
federal funds for aerial photographs to help identify every wooden
roof in the riskiest fire areas.
The county also requested $500,000 from the National Park
Service for a pilot program to offer subsidies to homeowners in the
Santa Monica Mountains who replace wood roofs with safer materials.
Replacing a roof on an average house costs up to $15,000.
"(Wood roofing) is one of the biggest reasons we lose
structures to fire. It's kindling on a rooftop," said Frank
Vidales, a forester with the county's Fire Plan Unit who helped
write the grant requests. He said the county would know within a
month if it gets the money.
Decades ago, wooden roofs were popular in California and the
Pacific Northwest. But their popularity declined as development
crept into more fire-prone areas and blazes like the 1991 Oakland
Hills blaze, which destroyed 3,000 homes, were blamed in part on
wood roofs.
Unless treated with flame retardants, the roofs easily catch
fire and help spread a fast-moving blaze. The wood roof industry,
however, said there are now treated wood shingles with Class-A
fire-safety ratings, the federal government's highest.
California law requires that all wood roofs sold in the state be
treated with fire retardant and pass a natural weathering test.
Some cities enacted tougher laws, including Los Angeles' ban on
wood roofs on new homes as well as replacement roofs.
"We have too many mountainous areas in the city, and we've had
such bad luck with those types of roofs that the powers that be
have decided not to allow them," said Bob Steinbach, the chief
inspector with the city's Building and Safety Department.
The city Fire Department considered creating maps identifying
wood roofs in some neighborhoods in the 1990s. But there was public
outrage when a firefighter suggested that those homes would be
"written off" in a major fire and the mapping plan was abandoned.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press.