AI6YR BenBrush clearance deadline in our area is June 1st, I believe. It's now 85F, 15% humidity, gusting to 15-20mph, which is (if it hadn't been raining recently) fire weather. We're a good 2 months ahead I think in terms of normal seasonal averages. (I already cleared the area around my own house, moving to the next door neighbors next. Which will help in "Tesla on FSD crashes in nearby field and batteries go on thermal runway, fire spreads to grass towards house" but will NOT help in "extreme city/town destroying wildfire in 80mph winds")
W6KME@ai6yr Urban wildfire prevention is going to have to start finally holding utilities responsible for NOT letting them start in the first place. That's one major cause.
So are cigarettes. For some reason, it's never acknowledged how many fires smokers start. But cops hate enforcing "minor" laws. And no, trailer safety chains don't start most roadside fires.
Once the wind is blowing 80mph, having a 5' clearance around your house makes no difference at all. Construction does.
@W6KME Yeah, that's where you need your intumescent vents and a lot of luck. I have intumescent vents here now! I listened to too many attics on fire here from embers wafted from brush fires, figured the whopping $400 it cost me to buy materials to install that stuff myself was stupid not to spend.
@ai6yr I'm considering boxing in the rafter tails and soffits completely with hardiboard.
I still have rooftop attic vents...if I'm ever faced with hot smoke passing overhead (hasn't happened since the Simi Fire in the early 2000s thankfully) I'll be sealing them with aluminum duct tape before bugging out. They're the only point of ingress I really worry about now.
Eventually I'd like to replace those with some that can be mechanically closed.
@ai6yr But I'm not kidding myself...Ihave a wooden house built in 1963 that has baked in our summer heat the whole time. In an urban wildfire, this is not the type of structure that has a chance of surviving.
We've been through the era of floppy wooden houses that survive quakes, while all the old masonry stuff has essentially fallen or been torn down. As soon as someone comes up with fire resistant construction methods that are also floppy AND cheap, houses like mine will go the way of brick.
@W6KME Well, my house is made of wood and mud and cardboard, so THERE! (basically, this house is built like a cheap fake birthday cake, cardboard with frosting smeared over it. 🤔 )
Shawn Williams@ai6yr Just rake your forest floor, problem solved.
Mathaetaes@ai6yr how may brush fires are sparked by a power tool blade hitting a rock while brush clearing?
Seems like most of the clearing should happen while the brush is still wet, not when it’s kindling.
@mathaetaes Yep, this is a problem, for sure. That said, the power tools I am using are plastic, so no risk from my own work. And also, don't do it during wind and do it in the early morning when things are still damp! It's going to be a problem for sure if the clearance crew is clearing and everything is already cured.
John