What I Saw in Los Angeles After the Fires.

About a month after the Palisades Fire destroyed thousands of homes and killed 12 people earlier this year, I had an opportunity to drive through the affected areas in Los Angeles. What stood out to me most were three alarming similarities with our own East Bay Hills:

• The Pacific Palisades area is very similar to the Oakland Hills and surrounding areas like Orinda and Berkeley: small streets, steep hills, expensive homes, and a lot of overgrown brush and trees.
• The Palisades area and much of the East Bay Hills are both rated at the highest severity level for fire hazard by the State Fire Marshal. (see map)
• The Palisades Fire took the #3 spot for most destructive fires in California, a spot previously held by the 1991 Tunnel Fire that destroyed nearly 3,000 structures and killed 25 people in the Oakland-Berkeley Hills.

In short: our own hill areas share much of the same deadly risk as L.A.—and not enough is being done to prevent the next disaster.

I came away with three main action items that I want to share with you. Feel free to also forward this to a neighbor:

1. Defensible Space is vital. A fire captain I spoke with who was on the front lines fighting the fires in LA said his team would just drive right past homes that didn’t have defensible space cleared, and instead target homes that had a realistic chance of defending. Although 30-foot clearing is helpful, clearing out 100-feet is what officials recommend, especially in a high fire risk area.
2. Zone Zero makes a major difference: Focusing on the first five feet of your home to make sure nothing is combustible in this zone can nearly double the chance of your home surviving a wildfire, according to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. This includes removing flammable mulches, leaf buildup, wood fences, plants and small trees. Currently this is not required — except in Berkeley after a June 17 vote — but the state fire code is expected to be updated by the end of the year to also include some form of Zone Zero requirements, with some likely exceptions.
3. Home Hardening is essential. Installing ember-resistant vents on your home, keeping roofs & gutters clean of debris, installing a Class A fire-rated roof, using ignition-resistant siding like stucco, and avoiding wood decking and fencing close to your home is key to helping your home survive. The same fire captain I spoke with said crews also take into consideration whether home hardening measures like these have been taken, when deciding what homes to defend during a wildfire.

“Having a home that fire crews see as defend-able makes the difference between whether your home stands or not.” That was the message this fire captain told me and that’s what really stuck with me.

As increased fire risk approaches with fireworks around July 4th, we’re here to help whenever you (or a neighbor) need assistance with any defensible space clearing of brush or weeds around your home or vacant property. We’re also happy to come out to assess any Zone Zero action items, give you a quote for extending your defensible space to 100ft, or take care of any regrowth clearing.

📞 Call us at 510-339-9991 to schedule an estimate, or pick a time and book online right now by clicking here. You can also just reply to this email and we’ll get right back to you.