Excerpts from an Article in the WSJ about Pre-Coating with Fire Retardant is required, and that Fire Fighting System will be overwhelmed and unable to stop the Wildfire.
"Shortly after my wife and I bought our all-wood Victorian home in Malibu in 2000, our next-door neighbor had a garage sale, and I watched as a truck pulled up in front of my house with a surfboard on top."
"Before he drove off, he said something I’ve never forgotten. “You know you’re going to have to fight a wildfire one day to save this house.”
"I’d only lived around big cities. Didn’t you just dial 911 when a wildfire came? He explained that firefighters would likely be overwhelmed by the size and ferocity of these fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire events. He and his father had saved their nearby family home themselves in a previous fire."
"he listed the items I’d need to save my home, including a fire retardant just like what the fire departments drop from planes and helicopters. Apparently, we were to spray our own house in advance of the fire."
"Then in 2018, the Woolsey Fire burst alive in the mountains above my home. The blaze turned out to be one of the most destructive in California history, burning 100,000 acres, forcing 250,000 people to evacuate and destroying nearly 2,000 homes and structures. On my street, 17 of 19 homes burned to the ground. Because of Tim and our spraying, our Victorian was one of the few homes to survive."
"But the decimation I saw was beyond description. At various points as I drove along the Pacific Coast Highway, I became disoriented. I’ve driven up and down that highway nearly every day for 25 five years; now, landmarks and buildings of all kinds were gone on both sides of the road. Sections of the ocean that have always been obscured were now visible."
"Then we reached his home. It was one of only a few on his block that had survived. It was good news, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he’d be living in a hazardous waste area for months and a construction zone for years. The local energy company, Southern California Edison, is preparing residents for a long wait to see their power restored. On the way out of the neighborhood, we ran into a fleet of LAPD officers making an arrest for looting, another problem he can expect in the aftermath."
"The answer is quite a lot, actually. Spraying, or gelling, in advance of a fire is just one way to give your home a fighting chance to survive. (If no fire comes, the product can be power-washed off.)
Removing dry brush and dead leaves and the most flammable vegetation is another critically important step. Experts I’ve interviewed say the most significant thing homeowners can do to mitigate fire risk is to reduce the amount of available fuel."
"We need more water to fight fires, more reservoirs to store the water and more firefighters with the right kind of equipment to battle these massive wind-driven blazes. We need to consider expensive but critical proactive solutions like putting more power lines underground."
California Rules and Regulations are some of the most restrictive and Taxes are some of the highest, yet their infrastructure and fire mitigation systems are not being designed and maintained to prevent Wild Fire Disasters.... Rather those Tax dollars are being diverted and misused...... Sad
In reference to why the fires in California don't hit twice in same location for many years, it is because of the total devastation of these very hot fires and removal of all fuel to start a new fire, then the dumping salt water on the fire, helps ensure nothing will grow back for years to come.
And then there is the MASSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT for you climate change believers!
"But the risk isn’t just of losing your home. Someone in L.A.’s Glendale area told me this week that the firestorms hadn’t affected them. “Did you smell smoke?” I asked. When they said yes, I explained that when homes burn, we are inhaling the remains of refrigerators, washers,dryers, stereo systems, insulation materials, chemicals, tools and anything else that couldn’t withstand the 2,000-degree heat."
Here is link to Article but it is behind pay wall, so I provided excerpts above for those interested: