A wildfire sweeps through a California community, burning trees and vegetation, but leaves the majority of homes fully intact. That’s the scenario researchers are working to create for neighborhoods at risk, following the most destructive wildfire season in recorded history. But scientists tell the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit that state and local emergency planners have been slow to support critical retrofits that could help save lives and property.
California’s building code sets strict guidelines requiring fire resistant materials for homes built within a wildfire hazard zone after 2008. Those regulations help block flames and burning embers from entering the home. But older homes are not subject to the same standards, and neither are homes in neighborhoods that border a hazardous zone, like Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park before the wildfires in October.