In this video nearly all of the buildings in this apartment complex survive the Paradise Fire (Camp Fire). The buildings are surrounded by perfect defensible space with a clear 5 foot non-combustible zone, 30 feet of grass surrounding the homes and then a perfect 30 foot “Lean, Clean and Green” zone. This complex was surrounded by thousands of destroyed homes and yet most of the buildings….but not all survived. We will never know exactly how ignition on that building started but it could have been lawn furniture or something around the home, or burning embers could have penetrated into the attic. But we see that defensible space saved 90 percent of the buildings in this development.

This house was completely surrounded by many totally destroyed homes and probably would not have survived the fire without firefighting forces saving the home. But then firefighters wanted to attempt a save on this home because the defensible space was so complete. Likely this home only needed a small amount of help from firefighters and then they could move on. This house has a five foot wide gravel bed surrounding the house. Thinking about it today, many homeowners use gravel right next to the house so they don’t get irrigation water on their siding. The gravel also prevents water from the roof from splashing mud on the siding. From a defensible space perspective, the gravel around the home creates an easily maintained zone around the house that won’t easily ignite from burning embers.

We see juniper that ignited, even though it was surrounded by concrete and in the middle of the Town of Paradise. There is just no safe amount of juniper within 30 feet of a home and really…..juniper should generally be removed from anywhere in a community with fire hazard. Live Oak Wildfire consults with homeowners about creating effective defensible space, complete the tree and brush removal and then help design a yard plan that will include low maintenance low fire hazard plantings. Our goal is to work with homeowners before the fire so their home survives the next inevitable wildfire.

In this video we see how ignition resistant construction worked in concert with defensible space to protect a home from burning even though it was surrounded by many totally destroyed homes. We should note that the building had many large ponderosa pine growing right next to the building. Large ponderosa pine can be very expensive to remove and removing them probably contributes very little to home survival. However, these pines do also shed needles that frequently do contribute to home ignition and the roots can begin to damage driveways or building foundations. Removing them can make it much easier for the homeowner to maintain defensible space.

In this video a home survived because of the ignition resistant construction including stucco siding. The garage next to the house did burn, and I would guess burned because of flammable materials next to the garage. It is common for homes to have effective defensible space but then have some boards or other flammable materials next to the garage. It is amazing that the main home could survive the amount of heat that would have been put off by the burning garage.

In this video, Live Oak Wildfire documents view of the Town of Paradise after the horrific Camp Fire in 2018. The Camp Fire of 2018, which burned the city of Paradise, is dubbed the most destructive and deadliest wildfire in California’s history. In terms of insurable losses, this fire was the most expensive natural disaster the world experienced in 2018. In this case study, we investigate the damage from the fire. 

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