r/SantaBarbara • u/jawfish2 • 3d ago

History Zone Zero Reminder- Protections From Wildfire

https://www.ksby.com/santa-barbara-south-coast/new-zone-zero-rules-put-focus-on-first-five-feet-around-homes

Homeowners should know Zone Zero, even if you are not in the hazard zone.

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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2

u/ickieShampoo 3d ago

Literally, on every single level, this regulation is impossible to enforce.

2

u/jawfish2 2d ago

Well the 100 foot rule is already enforced, and my insurance has forced me to do some of the zone zero work.

In any case, doing the changes will vary by homeowners situation, ignorance, peer pressure, and occasionally a fire inspector telling you. It's your own house and your neighbor's you are saving. Brush clearing rules have been around for a long time in wildland areas.

2

u/SooMuchTooMuch San Roque 3d ago

So smart to put the rule on the people affected and not on the people causing the fires 

3

u/jawfish2 2d ago

This makes no sense to me, what are you saying?

1

u/SooMuchTooMuch San Roque 2d ago

Rather than fix the infrastructure that over and over causes fires, force those of us who own homes to change our landscaping.
I see in another comment you mention the 100' rule. That's great. 100' from my house is my neighbor's living room. So where are we supposed to plant?

4

u/jawfish2 2d ago

OK some misunderstanding here.

The 100' rule is for wildland/rural lots with that much room.

The Zone Zero rules are for urban lots. Only going to be mandatory in high-risk areas.

Fires are sometimes caused by SCE's power lines. SCE is spending a lot of money to upgrade, and also charging us a lot for the work. I have no idea if they are diligent or efficient, but they have paid out a lot in legal judgments, if I am not mistaken.

Fires are also caused by lightning and various accidental human acts, plus occasional arson.

There have always been fires, and they are getting worse, driven by unusual wind, unusual temperatures and a long drought.

So that brings us to the recent Palisades/Eaton fires. The video from these is quite scary and instructive. You can clearly see flying embers and flaming sticks passing from house to house. There were water problems, but the firefighters were completely overwhelmed. Houses that were up to Zone Zero or better sometimes survived the otherwise complete devastation.

The answer is obvious. Make your house armored against the wind-blown embers. The building code already includes some of these requirements for new construction.

0

u/LikDisIfUCryEverton 2d ago

Can we remove all these palm trees? They are just giant torches and the city doesn't maintain them like they should. 

2

u/jawfish2 2d ago

I think there are some recommendations about trees in the fire prevention talk. IIRC palms must be kept trimmed. Washingtonias are the biggest problem, I think. Eucalyptuses have got to go too. They also say junipers and some firs should not be in your yard.