Resolution No. 4814 - Laserfiche WebLink

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loads. In other words, structures are built in areas subject to wildland fires. When wildland fires occur in such areas, they tend to spread quickly and structures in these areas may, unfortunately, become little more than additional fuel sources for wildland fires. The fire risk to structures and occupants in wildland/urban interface areas is high not only because of the high vegetative fuel loads but also because fire suppression resources are typically much lower than in urban or suburban areas. Homes in wildland/urban interface areas are most commonly on wells rather than on municipal water supplies. Thus, the availability of water for fire suppression is often severely limited. Less availability of water resources makes it more likely that a small wildland fire or a single structure fire in an urban/wildland interface area will spread before it can be extinguished. Furthermore, because many developments in interface areas have relatively low populations and are some distance from population centers, the availability of firefighting personnel and apparatus is generally lower than in more populated areas and response times are typically much longer. The longer typical response times arise in part because of 9rearer travel distances and, thus, greater travel times, but also because most fire departments in lower population density areas are entirely or largely composed of volunteer staff. Response times from volunteer staff fire departments are typically longer than response times for career staff departments, where fire stations are commonly staffed continuously. In some cases, narrow winding roads also impede access by fire fighting apparatus. As with water supplies, the lower availability of fire fighting personnel and apparatus and the longer response times increase the probability that a small wildland fire or a single structure fire in an urban/wildland interface area will spread before it can be extinguished. Developments in urban/wildland interface areas often face high fire risk because of the combination of high fire hazard (high vegetative fuel loads) and limited fire suppression capabilities. Unfortunately, occupants in many wildland/urban interface areas also face high life safety risk. High life safety risk arises because of the high fire risk, especially from large fires that may spread quickly and block evacuation. Life safety risk in interface areas is often exacerbated by limited numbers of roads (in the worst case only one access road) that are often narrow and winding and subject to blockage by a wildland fire. Life safety risk in interface areas is also often exacerbated by homeowners' reluctance to evacuate homes quickly. Instead, homeowners often try to protect their homes with whatever fire suppression resources are available. Such efforts generally have very little effectiveness. For example, the water flow from a garden hose is far too small to control even a single structure fire (once the structure is significantly engulfed by flames) and is profoundly too small to have any impact on a wildland fire. Unfortunately, home owners who delay evacuation in well meant but misguided attempts to save their homes often place their lives in grave jeopardy by delaying evacuation until it may be impossible. Major fires in the urban/wildland interface have the potential for enormous destruction and very high casualties. For example, the October 20, 1991 East Bay Fire in Oakland California burned 1,600 acres with 25 fatalities, 150 injuries, and over 3300 single- Public Review Draft: August 6, 2004 9~9