Hedges and trees may actually reduce home exposure to radiant heat and flying embers, but they must be well maintained. Two scientists who study how plants burn explain.

As scientists who study how vegetation ignites and burns, we recognize that well-maintained plants and trees can actually help protect homes from wind-blown embers and slow the spread of fire in some cases. So, we are concerned about new wildfire protection regulations being developed by the state of California that would prohibit almost all plants and other combustible material within 5 feet of homes, an area known as “Zone 0.”

  • partial_accumen
    15•18 days ago

    that well-maintained plants

    I get it, but I wouldn’t want the existence of my house to depend on my neighbor’s grounds keeping skills and fidelity. Or even more realistically, their house depending on mine.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 English
    5•18 days ago

    Fire breaks like this are already mandatory in some parts of the state due to the danger and potential for wildfires. Though, the places I know that have this requirement, it’s 10 feet not just 5.

    • @BertramDitore@lemm.eeEnglish
      16•18 days ago

      As a general rule, I don’t recommend using ChatGPT or any LLM to learn about what to do in life and death situations. Even if (by chance) you happen to get real and useful results, isn’t your life more valuable than the time it would take to find an actual answer from an expert?

    • @bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
      5•18 days ago

      Read your reply:

      Remove dead vegetation. OP’s article specifically states that the new bill Gov. Dipshit is trying to fast track would ban all plants and vegetation from within 5’ of a dwelling, including grass. This is now likely to include wood fences, wood pergolas, etc. My question is, what about people who’s houses are sided with wood? I live in the mountains here in CA, and most houses are wood sided. We have strict weed abatement rules as well as defensible space requirements, but like the article says, removing healthy trees and other greenery is actually more of a detriment in a fire scenario. A bigger emphasis should be promoting fire-resistant building materials, and perhaps tax incentives to do so. Metal roofs, plaster/concrete siding, etc.

      • @AA5B@lemmy.world
        1•18 days ago

        That’s in the article too.

        I don’t know their reasoning for the 5’ and I live in a different climate, but ….

        • sides of my house with shrubs tend to catch dead leaves, weeds,brush
        • sides of my house without, all those dead leaves blow away

        Maybe it’s as simple as avoiding things that catch dead leaves near the house