{"id":35314,"date":"2019-06-19T07:38:49","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T05:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/?p=35314"},"modified":"2019-06-19T07:41:12","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T05:41:12","slug":"home-hardening-seen-as-next-level-protection-in-age-of-constant-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/2019\/06\/19\/home-hardening-seen-as-next-level-protection-in-age-of-constant-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Home Hardening\u2019 Seen As Next Level Protection In Age Of Constant Wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;row&#8221; make_fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; use_custom_width=&#8221;off&#8221; width_unit=&#8221;on&#8221; use_custom_gutter=&#8221;off&#8221; padding_mobile=&#8221;off&#8221; allow_player_pause=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method=&#8221;off&#8221; make_equal=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_1=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_1=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_2=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_2=&#8221;off&#8221; column_padding_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_post_title admin_label=&#8221;Post Title&#8221; title=&#8221;on&#8221; meta=&#8221;off&#8221; author=&#8221;off&#8221; date=&#8221;off&#8221; categories=&#8221;off&#8221; comments=&#8221;off&#8221; featured_image=&#8221;on&#8221; featured_placement=&#8221;background&#8221; parallax_effect=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method=&#8221;on&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;light&#8221; text_background=&#8221;on&#8221; text_bg_color=&#8221;rgba(0,0,0,0.56)&#8221; module_bg_color=&#8221;rgba(255,255,255,0)&#8221; title_all_caps=&#8221;off&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;] [\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom\">NAPA (KPIX 5) \u2014 With more devastating wildfires in the last several years in California, homeowners are doing much more to increase their chances of saving their homes from burning down.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: right;\">\n<h5><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Special note by The Firefly Innovations on the article:<\/span>&#8211;<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"card collection-item card-border-bottom card-border-bottom-thick card-border-bottom-dark\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>NAPA (KPIX 5) \u2014 With more devastating wildfires in the last several years in California, homeowners are doing much more to increase their chances of saving their homes from burning down.<\/p>\n<p>Mike, who prefers to use his first name only, had his hard work pay off two years ago when his home in a woded neighborhood on the east side of Napa survived wind-whipped embers from the Atlas Fire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was trying to create a landscape and a home that would not need a fire engine to be here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"1\" height=\"1\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Retired Cal Fire staff chief Dave Shew, now a consultant with Wildfire DefenseWorks, helps folks protect their homes in fire-prone areas using landscaping, structural factors and materials.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s called \u201chome hardening,\u201d and Shew said Mike\u2019s house is a good example.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is the whole concept behind home hardening,\u201d explained Shew. \u201cIt\u2019s reducing the impacts of a wildfire as it burns across your community and property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mike works with Cal Fire and did a lot of work when he bought his house. He trimmed low-lying branches from the oak trees to reduce fire fuel and cleared junipers from the front yard. Junipers are highly flammable because of the oils in the plant, and the dead wood that accumulates under the surface.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirefighters actually call it \u2018green gasoline,&#8217;\u201d said Mike.<\/p>\n<p>For fire resistance, he switched from single- to double-paned windows, closed the eaves so embers can\u2019t fly into the attic, and put in a Class A roof, which is one comprised of metal, tile or asphalt shingles.<\/p>\n<p>He also replaced the wooden deck with composite material, substituted corrugated fiberglass with corrugated metal over the patio, cleared the gutters and roofline where embers can ignite dried leaves, and avoided using flammable bark mulch for landscaping.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne little ember can ignite a home, so you have to think down to that level of where those embers will collect,\u201d said.<\/p>\n<p>Home hardening takes a lot of work but Shew says an easy way to start is look for where the leaves collect around your house on a windy day, and clean up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have a firestorm, blowing embers ahead of a storm, those embers are going to want to blow around and accumulate in exactly the area as you see leaves and debris accumulate around your house today,\u201d said\u00a0Shew.<\/p>\n<p>As for Mike, he\u2019s not done. Next, he wants to replace the wood siding with stucco or other flame-resistant composite. The project could cost tens of thousands of dollars, so he\u2019ll do it when he can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt goes a long way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He also noted that homeowners do not have to do away with all the vegetation on your property in order to make it fire-resistant: you can landscape it into a park-like setting, with plenty of fuel breaks and still enjoy the beauty of living in a wooded area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Re Blog &#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Re Blog from<\/strong><\/span>:- 5KIX\u00a0https:\/\/sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com\/2019\/06\/18\/home-hardening-california-wildfires\/<\/p>\n<p>By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com\/personality\/sharon-chin\">Sharon Chin<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thank you for the reporting, The Firefly Innovations<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=&#8221;Sidebar&#8221; 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src=&#8221;http:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Boob-for-upgrade.gif&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; animation=&#8221;left&#8221; sticky=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; url=&#8221;http:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/first-responders-support-blog\/&#8221;] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=&#8221;Sidebar&#8221; orientation=&#8221;right&#8221; area=&#8221;et_pb_widget_area_1&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; remove_border=&#8221;off&#8221;] [\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;row&#8221; make_fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; use_custom_width=&#8221;off&#8221; width_unit=&#8221;on&#8221; use_custom_gutter=&#8221;off&#8221; padding_mobile=&#8221;off&#8221; allow_player_pause=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method=&#8221;off&#8221; make_equal=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_1=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_1=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_2=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_2=&#8221;off&#8221; column_padding_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_post_title admin_label=&#8221;Post Title&#8221; title=&#8221;on&#8221; meta=&#8221;off&#8221; author=&#8221;off&#8221; date=&#8221;off&#8221; categories=&#8221;off&#8221; comments=&#8221;off&#8221; featured_image=&#8221;on&#8221; featured_placement=&#8221;background&#8221; parallax_effect=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method=&#8221;on&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;light&#8221; text_background=&#8221;on&#8221; text_bg_color=&#8221;rgba(0,0,0,0.56)&#8221; module_bg_color=&#8221;rgba(255,255,255,0)&#8221; title_all_caps=&#8221;off&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;] [\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;] NAPA (KPIX 5) \u2014 With more devastating wildfires in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smart-buildings","category-support-businesses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35314"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35318,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35314\/revisions\/35318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefireflyinnovations.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}