“Living with Wildfire:  Reducing Property Risks, Habitat Losses, and Costs”

Course description: 

This course is offered for homeowners, homeowners' associations, local businesses, and community leaders who need to better understand the benefits of managing defensible space and natural habitats, removing combustible materials from their homesite, designing and maintaining ignition-resistant structures, and working together to increase public safety.   The 2007 wildfires are vivid reminders that we live in a fire-adapted place; that risks of structural losses can be greatly reduced (but not to zero); and that nature is both powerful and fragile.  Emphasis on building codes, brush reduction codes, and public education since 2003 likely limited property and human losses this time—and most houses still ignited from wind-driven embers. 

Learn about the physics of fire behavior, the ecology of southern California’s fire regimes, and how they relate to structure ignition and property losses.  Understand the reasons behind local codes for building ignition-resistant structures and managing 100-foot defensible space, and the costs of excessive vegetation reduction.  Get clear examples of building design, exterior materials, landscaping practices, and quick-low-cost property maintenance and modifications to reduce property risks.   This three-hour course covers the same subjects as the four-hour course for professionals, although in less detail.  It was initially developed after the 2003 wildfires (now modified to reflect the 2007 wildfires), funded by the Joint Fire Sciences fire research programs (Federal) and produced by the San Diego Natural History Museum, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FireSafe Councils of San Diego, and 30 local experts.