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News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 07.10.08 edition.
More stringent building codes
in fire zones
By J.P. Crumrine, Assistant Editor
State building codes for new construction in high fire severity zones
have become much tougher. The State Fire Marshall’s office has
published maps identifying high fire zones for both state
responsibility areas (SRA) and local responsibility areas (LRA).
“The Building and Safety Code goes hand-in-hand with the Public
Resource Code,” said Battalion Chief Steve Diaz, Riverside County fire
marshal. “Defensible space, along with building construction
enhancement, together work well. It’s not ‘either or’. We need both to
work in concert.”
One of the goals of the new construction standards is to reduce the
success of fire embers entering vents and other openings in a house and
igniting an internal fire, according to Diaz.
Using material with greater fire resistance and designs to resist
intrusion of the embers are among the new requirements. A screen also
must be applied over vents under eaves.
Exterior walls also must be composed of noncombustible or
ignition-resistant material, heavy timber or log wall construction.
The newly adopted fire codes require all siding, exterior doors,
decking, windows, eaves, roof and attic vents and enclosed overhanging
decks to meet recent fire-resistant test standards.
The lands surrounding Idyllwild are high fire severity zones whether
they fall within the LRA (Idyllwild) or SRAs, such as Pine Cove,
Mountain Center and Garner Valley. Enforcing the new codes falls to
CalFire in the SRAs. In Riverside County, this responsibility belongs
to the county fire department, which contracts with CalFire, and was
effective Jan. 1.
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District (IFPD) is an independent
jurisdiction. Although the new codes should have gone into effect July
1, the IFPD commission has not adopted them, according to Fire Chief
Steve Kunkle. His staff is still reviewing them and he hopes the
commission can act this fall.
“There are certain international code changes that are really
permissive,” Kunkle said. “I’d like time to recommend changes.”
The State Fire Marshall’s office has worked closely with the state
building standards commissions to research and adopt higher
construction standards for high fire areas.
“Building codes are updated on a regular basis and we are currently
going through one of those updates and there are no significant
proposed changes,” said David Walls, California Building Standards
Commission executive director. “The next opportunity for an update will
begin next summer. If there is new information relating to fires in
wildland urban interface areas prior to next summer, it is possible
that [additional] changes to the codes may occur.”
While it is unlikely that new construction will be banned in these
areas, the state has taken efforts to try to help residents survive a
fire catastrophe. Besides the new standards for how to build in these
areas, the state is still encouraging and enforcing residents of
existing homes to create defensible space around their structures.
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