Environment
Wildfires Cause Concern
By
Sep 26, 2005, 21:37

(NUI) - Naturally occurring wildfires can help sustain and maintain healthy forests. However, to residents, they can be devastating.

In 2002, extreme drought conditions fueled the largest forest fires in Colorado, Arizona and Oregon in the last century. The wildfires claimed more than 7 million acres of land and more than 2,300 structures in that year alone. Early estimates from 2003's Southern California wildfires have indicated that more than 800,000 acres were burned and 3,400 homes were destroyed.

As a direct result of a devastating fire, Pima County in Arizona enacted emergency legislation last summer to adopt the International Urban-Wildland Interface Code, or IUWIC, published by the International Code Council. The code provides a comprehensive approach to protecting structures from wildfires and preventing fires within buildings from spreading into full-blown wildfires.

According to the National Concrete Masonry Association, concrete masonry provides a distinct advantage to structures in the urban-wildland interface because it is inherently noncombustible. The IUWIC requires exterior walls of buildings that are subject to extreme fire hazard to be constructed of one-hour fire resistive construction or an approved noncombustible material. Most concrete masonry walls easily exceed a one-hour rating.

The IUWIC building requirements work. Mark Kluver, regional codes manager for Portland Cement Association, surveyed damage from three of the largest fire areas in Southern California and found that most of the recently built dwellings located on the explosive fire perimeter were still standing. Kluver found that these homes typically included the one-hour-rated noncombustible exterior walls.

"I found strong evidence that local jurisdictions and homeowners took major corrective action following the fires that raced through Southern California 10 years ago. If fires of the magnitude that hit last year had occurred back then, several times more dwellings may have been lost," Kluver said. As the nation's wildland areas continue to be developed, growing numbers of homeowners will face the potential devastation of wildfires. The National Concrete Masonry Association says building with concrete masonry provides them proven fire protection and security for their lives and their homes.
For more information, visit www.ncma.org.

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