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My two thoughts from the Camp Fire. 1. Building codes allowed this to happen. Why are people allowed to build homes with asphalt roofs and wood siding in the u

My two thoughts from the Camp Fire. 1. Building codes allowed this to happen. Why are people allowed to build homes with asphalt roofs and wood siding in the urban-wildland interface? Indoor fire sprinklers are now required by code, why not outdoor fire sprinklers in interface environments like this? 2. Could we have an infrared geostationary satellite that could automatically alert fire crews to new infrared events? How about having helicopters on standby ready to respond within minutes of a satellite-sensed infrared flair up?

s0rce 8y ago
Rooftop sprinklers don't even seem that difficult to install. The house I rent part of has them and they are basically just teed off the same lines that supply the hose bibs on the outside of the house. No risk of freezing pipes over here (SF Bay Area) so its pretty simple.
- stickfigure 8y ago
  I live on rural property just outside the Bay Area. I can tell you that when there is fire nearby, people do run sprinklers. Sprinklers aren't magic. They have a very limited range and you must run them for many hours to saturate the area. They might protect you against falling embers but they're not going to slow down a fire jumping tree to tree. And you aren't going to wet down multiple acres of land. If you're on well (and in the country, everyone is) then you need electricity to run the pumps; did the fire cut you off? Did PG&E, for safety? Very very few solar systems can operate disconnected from the grid. But maybe you have a generator? When was the last time you started it, and do you know how to disconnect the grid and hook it up to the pumps? Maybe you have a pool and a gas powered pump. When was the last time you ran it? Will it start on the first pull or do you need to rebuild the carb before the fire arrives? We had a big scare just this last year. We (and everyone else in the neighborhood) ran every sprinkler we had for days. Would it have helped? Maybe, in marginal cases. Mostly it was a good exercise to make us realize how underprepared we really are.

s0rce 8y ago

Rooftop sprinklers don't even seem that difficult to install. The house I rent part of has them and they are basically just teed off the same lines that supply the hose bibs on the outside of the house. No risk of freezing pipes over here (SF Bay Area) so its pretty simple.

stickfigure 8y ago
I live on rural property just outside the Bay Area. I can tell you that when there is fire nearby, people do run sprinklers. Sprinklers aren't magic. They have a very limited range and you must run them for many hours to saturate the area. They might protect you against falling embers but they're not going to slow down a fire jumping tree to tree. And you aren't going to wet down multiple acres of land. If you're on well (and in the country, everyone is) then you need electricity to run the pumps; did the fire cut you off? Did PG&E, for safety? Very very few solar systems can operate disconnected from the grid. But maybe you have a generator? When was the last time you started it, and do you know how to disconnect the grid and hook it up to the pumps? Maybe you have a pool and a gas powered pump. When was the last time you ran it? Will it start on the first pull or do you need to rebuild the carb before the fire arrives? We had a big scare just this last year. We (and everyone else in the neighborhood) ran every sprinkler we had for days. Would it have helped? Maybe, in marginal cases. Mostly it was a good exercise to make us realize how underprepared we really are.