One home burned and the other did not
In a recent article by LA Times, staff writer Jack Flemming, writes about a home hardening demonstration put on by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), and the California Building Industry Association.
The demonstration pitted the ignitability of two tiny homes, one built to typical standards and the other built using IBHS recommended home hardening wildfire-mitigation techniques (Wildfire Prepared Home).
IGNITION:
Drip torches ignited the ground in front of both homes, and large fans simulated high winds.
AFTER FIVE MINUTES:
Small flames and embers driven by the wind set alight vegetation adjacent to the structures.
The flames spread to a Juniper bush which became the connecting fuel to ignite the side of the home.
The heat from the fire melted the vinyl rain gutter and shattered a window.
AFTER TWENTY MINUTES:
The house was engulfed in an inferno and eventually collapsed.
The adjacent IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home, constructed with a 5 foot noncombustible zone (Zone 0), and with recommended home hardening materials and techniques, did not ignite.
Roy Right, the IBHS CEO, said the science and research shows that the home burned due to the plastic gutters, open eaves and flammable vegetation close to the home. He reminded us that you can still have plants around the house, they must just be outside of the non combustible five foot zone.
The home without the IBHS home hardening recommendations was totally destroyed in the same manner thousands of structures were destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires..
The full article can be seen here:
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