Won't evacuate next time! wrote on Dec 23, 2007 9:53 PM:I know many people who remained in their homes during the fire and they were able to keep an eye on the problems caused by the flying embers. The people who stayed in my neighborhood have a home but many of us that left don't.

Carter: wrote on Dec 24, 2007 6:58 AM: It seems that the root cause for the fires in San Diego County is being avoided. All our fires this year were caused by high winds blowing down electrical wires. If those wires, which comes under the heading if infrastructure, had been properly maintained they would not have been blown down. I would like to hear a commitment from those responsible that the situation will be corrected posthaste. According to what I have read in the above article, and other articles in the NCT, flying embers caused most of the fires to homes. However, to have flying embers you must have a fire and each fire has a root cause. The root cause this year seems to be, not so much the high winds, but poorly maintained electrical wires that had deteriorated to point that high winds could blow them down. It has been said that we had up to 80 mile an hour winds, but the winds that downed the poorly maintained wires was not necessarily at 80 miles an hour. This being the case we can be sure that there are many more deteriorated wires and wire connections out there in the field. It is foolish not the remove that root cause.

Murray wrote on Dec 24, 2007 10:50 AM:If flying embers can cause houses to burn that are vulnerable (a small opening or exposed wood) then we must assume that if people stay in a fire (SIP) they will be a cooked goose. If their neighbor's house burns 20 feet away then what? The fuel modification zones are a joke since embers can go for many miles in a wind driven fire. In a fast moving fire where people have little time to prepare there will be many houses that are vulnerable. Who is the Fire Chief that will think its ok to let people stay in a development when a fire approaches and not have adequate evacuation in a worst case scenario? There is one on record who believes this in North County (some expert). This article written by the Associated Press and not the developer's interest suggests that if one thing goes wrong in a SIP development the whole thing goes up in smoke and many, many, die.

Bernard wrote on Dec 24, 2007 3:37 PM:Look to Australia and Ventura County (VC has its own fire dept; not CalFire) for fire protection leadership. They practice Go Early or Stay and Defend which is for all types of homes, both OLD and new. Look to SD County Fire Safe Councils working in areas with OLD and new homes. Shelter-In-Place (SIP) is only for new homes built in specific shelter-in-place communities. Every stakeholder (homeowner) old house, new house, SIP house, needs to be involved, educated, and trained. Every stakeholder that needs help physically, or is afraid, or other situations should be on County lists for early evacuation. We need well trained FF volunteers. The current FF's are overloaded and we don't have the monies for a firetruck for every house. The aircraft is as important as FF's. The 2007 mass phone calls for evacuation (reverse 911 system) almost cost more lives as people sat in vehicles for hours unable to escape. Some phone call warnings were several hours late. Some residents never received calls. Phones need to be set up to evacuate smaller precise fire areas. Improvements need to be made by CalFire by listening to the Fire Chiefs, the FF's, the ideas of ordinary people, university professors that study fire and evacuation with up-to-date expensive equipment, CalFire needs to generate new fire studies, and work with the informed men and women at the Federal USFS Missoula Fire Sciences Lab. CalFire must get aboard using science, common sense, and the human factors. The cost of 2007 fires - lives and homes - is huge. This will continue to happen until the stakeholders are part of the solution. That's how the west was won, people being involved. A year round fire season needs help from every able body. Yes to: training the stakeholders (homeowners), defensible space, fire resistant building materials, fire resistant plants, removing brush with help from prisoners, etc. Involve the stakeholders and then they make their choice to Go Early or Stay and Defend.

Tony wrote on Dec 24, 2007 4:07 PM:Create defensible space, boxed eaves, and use 1/4 inch non-combustible, corrosion-resistant, metal mesh to keep burning embers from entering the attic. There are lists of to-do's to protect you and your home. Homeowners must get involved. Info for old and new homes is available from your Fire Chief, Fire Safe Council, and websites including SD County Wildfire Zone ... which offers free, reliable, accurate info.

to Murray wrote on Dec 24, 2007 4:35 PM:Shelter-in-Place (SIP) works. It did work at 4S Ranch (a SIP development) in 2007. The houses are very close together (tract homes). The homeowners have safety rules that must be followed. Folks that plan to leave early, which is allowed, must also follow the safety rules. All 5 RSF SIP communities came through 2007 without fire loss or fire damage.

Tony wrote on Dec 24, 2007 6:41 PM:Create defensible space, boxed eaves, and use 1/4 inch non-combustible, corrosion-resistant, metal mesh to keep burning embers from entering the attic. There are lists of to-do's to protect you and your home. Homeowners must get involved. Info for old and new homes is available from your Fire Chief, Fire Safe Council, and websites including the SD County Wildfire Zone website which offers free, reliable, accurate info.

Murray wrote on Dec 24, 2007 8:09 PM:I guess no one evacuated in a fast moving fire at the 4S ranch and I guess this was on top of a mountain and I guess there could be no variables that might effect the final result. Houses that were fire safe and well constructed did burn as the article says. None are so blind as they that won't see.

to Murray 8:09 PM wrote on Dec 25, 2007 4:38 PM:"Houses that were fire safe and well constructed did burn ... " The houses were not in the "official" 5 RSF SIP communities. All SIP homeowners in the "official" 5 RSF SIP communities follow the fire safety rules. This is a must. Other communities that lost homes or had fire damage do not practice SIP (do not have stringent fire safety rules). A SIP community on top of a mountain would survive wildfires if it is planned correctly. Number of dwellings, number of people and vehicles, number of roads, defensible space, evacuation exits, stringent fire safety rules, and other factors all need to be carefully determined, and be scientifically correct. Using expensive electronic equipment and professional help (not related to the building industry) will make an improved SIP community. At this time, one could build a house where embers would not get into the house nor the garage. Golf course(s) in the 'right' place also help promote fire safety.