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News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 10.02.08 edition.
Fire
fighters unsure of insurers’ spray plan
By J.P. Crumrine, News
Editor
Farmers Insurance Group has offered several Idyllwild customers an
opportunity to join a pilot program it will conduct in the event a
wildfire approaches the town, but federal and state firefighting
officials are not enthusiastically embracing the idea. They have
expressed concern that the insurance company’s gambit may ultimately
put lives, especially firefighters’ lives, in jeopardy.
In a letter to several local customers, Farmers is asking their
permission to apply a fire retardant (Phos-Check) on structures and
nearby vegetation or landscaping. Farmers has an arrangement with
Firebreak Spray Systems to treat properties within the proximity of an
active wildfire.
Phos-Chek is a nontoxic, colorless fire retardant. Firebreak’s Web site
claims it is “home and environmentally” friendly
(www.firebreaksystems.com).
The effectiveness of the retardant is not being questioned. Fire
officials are concerned about civilians entering areas where evacuation
orders have been issued. Without communication between firefighters and
independent retardant teams, officials are concerned about the safety
of people if a fire’s status changes quickly and dramatically.
“As an incident commander, one of the more important issues is the
safety of the people working for you,” stressed Dave Fiorella, San
Jacinto Ranger District fire chief.
In August, the International Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA) adopted the
position that homeowners must first create defensible space around
their dwellings and then retrofit homes to contemporary building and
safety standards. They stressed that these measures have proven to be
highly effective protection during wildland fires.
“Private fire-protection resources engaged to prepare homes threatened
by wildland fires must adhere to evacuation orders if and when issued,”
the IFCA continued.
Mike Dietrich, San Bernardino National Forest fire chief, observed a
situation this summer while he was incident commander of the Basin
Fire. The fire retardant company’s vehicles look similar to fire
engines and pass through roadblocks, yet they have no radio
communication with the fire base station.
The professionals fear that these private resources may become trapped
within the fire zone. Then firefighters must take time and effort to
extract them. This puts the firefighting resources at risk, too.
“This is a major issue of accountability,” said John Hawkins, Riverside
County fire chief and California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection unit chief. “People are inside a combat zone without proper
training.”
There are plenty of examples of firefighters being injured or dying
trying to save or extricate civilians. In 1996, a panicked civilian
abandoned and locked his vehicle. The vehicle blocked an escape route,
resulting in the death of three firefighters, Hawkins noted.
“While we can prevent people from entering an evacuated area, these
guys drive up looking just like fire apparatus,” said Hawkins, speaking
from experience at this year’s Vail Fire. “They have red lights and get
through the road blocks.”
While the gel that homeowners can apply before a fire has proven to be
a beneficial form of protection, it is creating a similar danger for
people, Dietrich said.
“Gel is becoming a substitute for abatement and defensible space,” he
said after the Basin Fire. “And residents are afraid to leave their
homes.”
Gel requires water after 24 to 48 hours in the open. Dietrich has seen
homeowners refuse to evacuate in front of a fire so that they can stay
and refresh their gel. He has even observed elected county officials
recommending the authorization to re-supply gel during a mandatory
evacuation.
Farmers Insurance is not the only insurer attempting to protect its
assets this way. But as its letters begin to appear in Idyllwild
mailboxes, this issue has received statewide notoriety. The IAFC acted
in August. Shortly, both the California Fire Chiefs and CalFire will
discuss and evaluate this policy, Hawkins added.
With respect to retrofitting existing homes, Dietrich reported that San
Bernardino County supervisors have revised an ordinance requiring
replacing cedar shake shingles with fire-resistant shingles when a
house is sold.
On the advice of local Realtors, the ordinance will not require
immediate replacement but all roofs must have fire-resistant shingles
by 2014.
Marge Muir, Pine Cove and local Realtor, said some Hill insurance
companies, including State Farm, are requiring replacing wood shingles
before escrow closes in order to obtain home insurance.
Farmers Insurance Group media staff did not return a phone call about
this issue.
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