Oregon Has A New Plan To Protect Homes From Wildfire. Homebuilders Are Pushing Back

[The Heretic]

Started burning in morning and sometimes the burn was still going late a night especially with the large piles with tree stumps.

When I burned half of my slash piles (12 out of 24) in April 2018, they kept going well into August. They burned down into the ground and spread out, so every morning and evening, before and after work, I would haul five gallon containers of water over to pour on the ashes and stumps and such to keep the burning from spreading. I did that for months until it finally rained a little to lessen the fire danger, and I could no longer see any smoke coming from the ash piles.

After that, I said no more, too much work and too much danger - the remaining piles were further down in the gully, harder to get too and closer to the trees.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Sign at the downtown Albany Fire station;

burn complaints are not emergencies! Do not call 911 to complain about smoke from wildfires!

Edit.

Back to original topic. Ever notice how the building codes for residential units don't seem to allow for solid masonry/concrete/stone/steel structures unless they're historicial or specifically to be used with wood sidings or drywall paneling?? I could be wrong and its much more flexible out in the woodlands but thats something I noticed about suburban/urban buildings..

 

[The Heretic]

Sign at the downtown Albany Fire station;

Edit.

Back to original topic. Ever notice how the building codes for residential units don't seem to allow for solid masonry/concrete/stone/steel structures unless they're historicial or specifically to be used with wood sidings or drywall paneling?? I could be wrong and its much more flexible out in the woodlands but thats something I noticed about suburban/urban buildings..

My next buildings (shop and then a house for the kids), will be partially earth bermed ICF. The south facing walls (I plan to buy land with a southern exposure) will be ICF with a real stone facade and at least part of that wall will have a sunken green house attached to it. The roof will be metal - the shop will probably be a metal truss, not sure about the house. I probably will go with metal stud walls and fire resistant drywall. Windows will be triple pane with reflective film that is bullet/explosive/impact resistant. I hope to have some forest/woodland, but not have the house and shop surrounded by trees.

 

[po18guy]

When I lived in Pollock Pines, CA back in the early to mid 1990s I used get the string trimmer out and use it cut the weeds growing around our home several times a year depending on how much rain we got in spring time. I would weed whack it and then rack all of clippings up.

We could burn our green waste in spring, fall and winter time months without any burn permit. I spent the summer months creating a few burn piles and used tarps to keep the burn pile mostly dry.

We had a fire station a few miles up the road and it had a sign showing if we could burn or not. I used a bit of diesel fuel to help get the burn piles going and kept a hose on when I did the burning. Started burning in morning and sometimes the burn was still going late a night especially with the large piles with tree stumps.

Quite a confession. What, do you belong to a global waming 12-step group or something?

 

[Tony617]

Quite a confession. What, do you belong to a global waming 12-step group or something?

That was before they had any green waste and recycling containers. We had one 32 gallon garbage can back in those days.

 

[po18guy]

That was before they had any green waste and recycling containers. We had one 32 gallon garbage can back in those days.

Back when garbage was garbage. Today, it's a felony.

 

[coop44]

Surround yourself with tinder, cry when your house burns down.
Build your home next to a river, cry when it is lost in a flood.
Build your home25 feet from 100 foot trees, cry when one falls on your house.
Stupid knows no limits.

Concrete is a great building material. Ever been to Hearst Castle?
seen homes framed out of steel with concrete siding and tile roofing.
fireproof buildings? It can be done, but people is stoopid.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Surround yourself with tinder, cry when your house burns down.
Build your home next to a river, cry when it is lost in a flood.
Build your home25 feet from 100 foot trees, cry when one falls on your house.
Stupid knows no limits.

Concrete is a great building material. Ever been to Hearst Castle?
seen homes framed out of steel with concrete siding and tile roofing.
fireproof buildings? It can be done, but people is stoopid.

Steel studs I think are now cheaper than quality 2x4 studs steel siding is pretty cheap. Drywall interior is another story. However..... there's rust and corrosion to worry about. Also I think steel structures have the reputation of being hard to effectively insulate and keep fireproof

Mudhouses have worked before.
So too, the sod houses of the prairie era.
Straw bale, concrete and stucco works in the high desert of Oregon; a friend of mine' parents built their 4,000+ sq ft home out of such materials in Prineville out in the scrub.

 

[coop44]

Hardee siding is a mix of cement and cellulose, looks pretty good too. Slumpstone style block has its fans too. There are lots of creative alternatives to presto log homes painted with napalm.