Fire blankets can protect buildings from wildfires

[ergophobe]

Didn't know about the caps. So then it should end up similar to what I was describing for wildfires - you'll end up with people who are too poor to relocate and people who are rich enough to handle the risk, and nobody in the middle.

I think the fire "problem" is a bit easier to manage in that we have a lot more control. The big issue we have is that I do not own all the land within 100 feet of my house, so I can't cut and brush that land. The county is looking into changing the law to allow me to do that, but it's very complicated because of the property rights of the person next to me. The idea is that if I can't be in compliance due to brush on my neighbor's land, there would be some course of action I could take, even if that person was opposed.

So the two options are
1. We do as we do now and there is no real way to make a community fire safe.
2. We can make it fire safe with a heavy regime of fines and penalties and code reform that lets me cut all those trees around my neighbor's house if he won't do it himself.

I'm pretty sure we'll end up with Option 1 and fire blankets will be the equivalent of raising houses up another three feet.

[rcjordan]

A Forecast for a Warming World: Learn to Live With Fire - The New York Times

"The total area burned in a single year by wildfires in the United States has only exceeded 13,900 square miles — an area larger than the country of Belgium — four times since the middle of last century. All four times have happened this decade"

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/climate/california-wildfires-climate-change.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[ergophobe]

The thing is, that amount was exceeded in most years prior to 1800.

Last year in CA, 1.5 million acres burned. An *average* year pre-1800 was 4.5 million acres.

[buckworks]

I just saw this recommended by an Aussie. Might be worth a look.

The Complete Bushfire Safety Book
https://amzn.to/2pZrqwG

[ergophobe]

I just saw this recommended by an Aussie.

Looks interesting. OZ has a much different philosophy - they now encourage well-prepared people to stand and fight. Our default is to tell people to run. So the "survival in place" literature is much stronger there.

I've added it to my wishlist

[rcjordan]

Apparently, you need a herd of goats.

Goats Help Save Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, During Wildfire
https://www.newser.com/story/282455/hungry-goats-helped-save-reagan-library.html

[ergophobe]

Yeah, they use them a lot in the Berkeley hills. Doesn't help much around here - we need dragons or something that eats 100' pine trees.

[rcjordan]

I used to squirrel-hunt in a forest that was 'tended' by a herd of beef cattle.  They were never present in the mornings when I hunted, but the forest was eerily park-like.  Everything was pristine and ultra-manicured up to about 6 feet high, even the low-hanging branches had been trimmed to a uniform height.

[ergophobe]

Lots of the land around here is open range, including a good portion of what burned in the Railroad Fire. Doesn't seem to help much. Now dragons...