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Structures in Wildland Urban Interface Present Added Fire Risks

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The trend of building homes in isolated wooded areas has been increasing across the United States. This urbanization of woodlands has changed the way forests are managed. Small wildfires that were once allowed to burn out are now suppressed to protect homes and buildings. Added to this are drought conditions exacerbated by climate change. All of these factors have increased the likelihood of wildfires.

The United States Forest Service (USFS) notes that 32% of the housing units in the U.S. and one-tenth of all land with housing are situated in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). The largest cost driver for both Federal and State wildfire suppression operations is the protection of public and private property in the WUI, according to the USFS.

The “Wildland-Urban Interface Federal Risk Mitigation Executive Order 13728,” released in 2016 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), reported that:

In 2015 alone, more than 10 million acres of wildlands burned, requiring the service of more than 27,000 firefighters and resulting in $2.1 billion spent by the USFS and the Department of the Interior (DOI) to suppress the fires—a record amount. Over the last decade, the fire season has become 2.5 months longer, and fires covering more than 10,000 acres increased, with the average area burned by wildland fires doubling in the last three decades to an estimated seven million acres per year.

This year, more records were broken. In California, the Mendocino Complex Fire became the largest wildfire ever recorded in the state, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

According to FEMA, 46 million homes in 70,000 communities are at risk of WUI fires, which have destroyed an average of 3,000 structures annually over the past decade. As more people move into the WUI, businesses follow, putting organizations and jobs at risk.

To protect structures from fire, especially those in the WUI, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) recommends that protection should take into account for a building’s materials and design features—as well as the selection, location and maintenance of landscape plants, including grasses, shrubs, bushes and trees.

According to IBHS, a defensible space should be maintained around a building to reduce wildfire threat and help a building to survive without assistance from firefighters. A vegetation management plan (VMP) also needs to be put in place, particularly in WUI areas. A VMP provides important information about the land, such as:

  • Topography (slope and aspect)
  • Location of building(s) on the land
  • Proposed fuel treatment details (suggested actions such as thinning and prescribed burning to minimize wildfire risks)
  • Environmental concerns (such as threatened and endangered species, state-listed sensitive species and wetlands)

The VMP also provides detailed information on how the three defensible space zones will be developed and maintained. When developing a VMP, IBHS recommends consulting a landscape professional such as a forester, range manager, or natural resource specialist.

IBHS recommends creating three defined areas around a building called defensible space zones. Each zone has specific recommendations for the types of plants used, including how they should be grouped and maintained.

Preventing Burst Water Pipes

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Unrelenting frigid weather often means frozen water pipes – one of the biggest risks of property damage. In fact, a burst pipe can cause more than $5,000 in water damage, according to IBHS research.

Structures built on slab foundations, common in southern states, frequently have water pipes running through the attic, an especially vulnerable location. By contrast, in northern states, builders recognize freezing as a threat and usually do not place water pipes in unheated portions of a building or outside of insulated areas.

Freezing temperatures can be prevented with the installation of weather stripping and seals. This offers two major benefits: keeping severe winter weather out of a structure, and increasing energy efficiency by limiting drafts and reducing the amount of cold air entering.

These areas should be inspected for cold air leaks to determine where sealing is needed:

  • Windows and doors
  • Vents and fans
  • Plumbing
  • Air conditioners
  • Electrical and gas lines
  • Mail chutes

IBHS recommendations:

  • Provide a reliable back-up power source, such as a stand by generator, to ensure continuous power to the building.
  • Interior building temperature can be monitored by a central monitoring company to ensure prompt notification if the interior of the building reaches low temperatures during after hours, power outages or idle periods.
  • Recessed light fixtures in the ceiling below the open area that is directly under a roof, such as attic space, should be insulated to prevent the release of heat into the attic.
  • Check to see if there is any visible light from recessed light fixtures in the attic.
  • If there is, they are not adequately sealed or insulated. Sometimes, especially in low sloped roof buildings, the space above a suspended ceiling located below the roof may be heated and cooled like the occupied area below.
  • If that is the case, there is no need to insulate above the suspended ceiling or seal the ceiling’s penetrations.
  • Insulate all attic penetrations such as partition walls, vents, plumbing stacks, electric and mechanical chases, and access doors that are not properly sealed.
  • Ensure proper seals on all doors and windows. Depending on the building or room size, fan tests can be conducted to ensure room and pressurization tests.
  • Seal all wall cracks and penetrations including domestic and fire protection lines, electrical conduit, other utility service line, etc.
  • Sprinkler systems should be monitored by a constantly attended central station to provide early detection of a sprinkler pipe rupture due to freezing.
  • Insulation and/or heat trace tape with a reliable power source may be installed on various wet sprinkler system piping. This includes main lines coming up from underground passing through a wall as well as sprinkler branch lines.
  • UL-approved gas or electric unit heaters can be installed in unheated sprinkler control valve/fire pump rooms. If backup power is provided, the heaters should also be connected to this power source.
  • A monitored automatic excess flow switch can be placed on the main incoming domestic water line to provide early detection of a broken pipe or valve when the space is unoccupied.