2017 wildfires highlight gaps in California’s approach to fire safety in urbanized areas

Devastating wildfires in California earlier this year show that the state’s policy regarding fire safety has flaws.

According to an article by a fire researcher, fire hazard maps do not take extreme weather patterns such as Santa Ana winds into account. The maps could also better address the vulnerabilities of what is actually exposed.

The wildland-urban interface where developed lands are exposed to natural, flammable areas is often assumed to be where the exposure ends. Actually, vulnerable zones can extend well beyond those areas.

One strategy to mitigate fire risk—creating defensible space around homes or larger scale fuel breaks by thinning vegetation around communities—could be used more frequently. In addition, grant programs that pay for building retrofits such as replacing wood shake shingle roofs or upgrading attic and crawlspace vents to block embers for entering a structure, could also make a difference. There are very few examples of these types of grants, though.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.