Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Should be part of Defensible Spaces thinking
A notable comment in the Spokane-News facebook page brings out a fact that needs more publicity and thinking.
I was down on elder today near valley chapel try to save our aunts home. Their well ran dry so we came with a 3000 gal water truck. The fire kept flaring up all around us but we able to keep the flames from the house.Their well ran dry. Those folks were extremely lucky to have a relative with access to a 3000 gallon water truck. Not something you can rent or buy easily. More and more upper-middle-class people are moving out into the forest, escaping from the Vibrancy of the city. But they're ALSO escaping from city water and sewer and fire and police. A city water system has massive spare capacity, and city fire trucks have their own tanks. Defending one house isn't going to deplete the city water system, but it can easily deplete a private well. Public info about defensible spaces should pay more attention to this fact. (Require well systems to have a large backup tank?) A more obvious fact was also shown in the aftermath of Sunday's fires. One house had a narrow escape, getting the heat but not the flames. The VINYL SIDING on one side melted off. This is an old story that shouldn't be a story at all. VINYL SIDING melts and burns the entire house in response to much smaller heatings like a barbecue grill or a cigarette in a flowerpot. VINYL SIDING should be illegal. The whole point of siding is to PROTECT the house, not to DESTROY the house.
Labels: defensible spaces
¶ 2:22 AM
