Trump blames Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom for deadly wildfires

This is undoubtedly true as far as the spread of the fire into neighborhoods. If all homes were up to highest level codes (esp in the dense areas), there would no fuel for the fires to burn. The city environment should be a proverbial concrete wall.

But in the less dense areas where the landscape provided the fuel, assuming some # of these homes had these “fire-resistant” roofs and siding materials and burned anyway. Some of these homes must have had flame blowing directly against them, not just floating embers. That was my point as far as “fire-resistant” vs “fire-proof”.

Not sure about how many would have had fire rated windows. Maybe if you have all those pieces… I’m just saying I’d assume some of the multi-million estate properties must have had those boxes checked including the upgraded windows.

 

Residential doesn’t have fireproof windows that I’ve ever seen. We’ve installed them in high rises with windows too close to another structure. They’re extraordinarily thick and have a gel layer between layers of glass to give it a fire rating. I assume others areas are igniting on a home well before the windows become a problem though.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Found this article on making your house really fire resistant but not really fireproof. (I refuse to think it can't be done however. I bet Elon could do it).
Fire-Resistant Building Materials: 9 Ways to Build a the Most Fire-Resistant Home - NewHomeSource.com

 

in a remote setting, I would spec a pump on a well with secondary power to supply enough water to keep the roof wet.

homes with pumps set to run from pool to soak house survived due to those systems

im fairly certain the code addresses trees and landscaping in proximity to the structures a spart of the overall approach

 

It’s not something I’d ever heard of. That type of fire protection doesn’t seem to be a concern in FL, here we are worried more about hurricane impact glass and insulated windows.

It seems to exist, or at least there are product lines marketed that way. No clue if there’s any meaningful # installed or if it would even matter. I’d think at least some “spare no expense” home might have such a thing? But I can only speculate.

 

Fact check: What really happened with the Pacific Palisades water hydrants? | LAist

“There is a theoretical world, and maybe a world we're entering into, where we could pay much, much more to have redundant water and power supply — because you need both [to fight fire], especially in terrains like this,” Pierce said. “I'm not even sure that would have made a difference when it comes to these types of wildfires, but that's possible.”

Pierce said that level of financial commitment would be “incredibly expensive,” but that’s what would be needed in order to keep fire hydrants running — especially in mountainous or hilly regions where local agencies also have to contend with pumping water uphill.

“There's no reason to think that DWP was particularly ill-prepared, no one was talking about them being ill-prepared for wildfires,” he said. “This caught everyone off guard, as far as I know.”

 

Architect designs "totally fireproof" houses. $400,000 to $1,000,000. He actually calls it fire resistant but it seems close to fireproof. Can handle high winds too.

BOSTON -
For the past three and half years [architect Gary Henden has] been designing a Sustainable Alternative Modular House, better known as the SAM House. He says it's a climate responsive house made up of non-organic materials.

The wall panels themself and the roof panels are all made of the exact same material. It is a concrete, non-flammable waterproof material. Not regular concrete. This is 12,000 psi concrete very dense, which is what makes it totally fireproof," he said.

We are really calling SAM House a disaster replacement house. It's not only just the exterior skin of the building. It's every material in the building, does not have any flame spread," he said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/massachusetts-architect-fireproof

 

A species of cypress tree seems to be remarkable resistant to fires. Perhaps they could form fire barriers to slow the spread of fires in the future.
Enigma of the trees that resist wildfires

 

My former follower on X (Twitter) Scott Adams has some assumptions he wants his followers to vet:

"Scott Adams
@ScottAdamsSays
I need a fact-check on my current assumptions about rebuilding after the fire:

1. It can take years to get anything approved in normal times in California. The backlog from the fire could push it out a decade.

2. The cost of building a custom home in California is roughly double the market value of the home when done.

3. The new home will get a property tax step-up to become unaffordable for anyone who owned the original home for a decade or more.

4. The fire risk will return once everything regrows, and insurance companies will not come back. Here I assume continued state incompetence.

5. There are not enough qualified builders to rebuild.

6. Owners would be rebuilding in the midst of unchecked and growing crime."