I live in RMNP where fires are the biggest threat.
A few years ago, a giant fire came within 1/4 mile of our house. When you have this kind of fire, houses literally explode due to the heat. Doesn’t matter what the yard is like, what the roof is like, what the siding is like, etc. Fires create their own weather. The best you can do is create fire breaks and try to defend the break so that the fire has no where to go. This is impossible on steep slope.
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Originally Posted by MrLonzo
I lived in Southern California for over 40 years. My house, and most houses there are stucco over wood frame with Class A roofing shingles made of fiberglass/asphalt or clay.
Stucco is not a flammable material. It is composed of Portland cement and sand, neither of which are flammable. Class A roofing shingles are fire-resistant and can withstand exposure to direct flames without catching fire, according to numerous online sources. You’ll find inside most of these upscale houses lots of tiling, stainless steel, mirrors, glass, and other non-flammable materials.
So how do embers get to the wood frame leading to the burning down of the entire house? And how do the fires spread so quickly from house to house (one report says “length of a football field in 90 seconds”). Yes, wind is an accelerant, but fire needs flammable fuel.
I don’t disbelieve the pictures I’m seeing, just trying to understand how this happens.
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