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California Wildfires Provide Lessons in Home Fire Resistance
Southern California has been ravaged by the state’s largest ever wildfires.
The fires have destroyed nearly 3,600 homes in Southern California counties.
As residents begin to rebuild their communities, some valuable lessons in home
fire-resistance have been learned after investigating the aftermath.
The historic Southern California town of Julian was evacuated on November 4
as wildfires threatened the town. Due to the actions of San Diego County firefighters,
the community as a whole was saved but over 600 homes were lost. Julian resident
Bruce Krtek’s neighborhood was decimated by the fires, but his house remained
intact, a result he credits to the fiber-cement exterior siding installed on
his home.
“People driving through our neighborhood are amazed to see this big yellow
house standing amongst the rubble,” said Krtek. “Our fiber-cement
siding protected the structure through five days of the wildfires. On the back
of the garage the heat was so intense that the vinyl rain gutters and door frames
melted, but the fiber-cement siding did not even require repainting. Everyone
that has seen the house plans to rebuild with fiber-cement.”
Fiber-cement siding was invented by James Hardie over twenty years ago and
was introduced in the U.S. in the early 90s. Its proprietary formulation of
Portland cement, finely ground sand and natural fibers give it the durability
to resist damage from fire, as well as severe wind, termites and moisture. James
Hardie is the leading manufacturer of fiber-cement products that now protects
more than 3.5 million homes in the U.S.
The fire resistance of fiber-cement has been proven from past real-world situations.
The siding material is included on the Colorado State Forest Service’s
list of recommended building products, which excludes vinyl.
To aid in the rebuilding of homes in Southern California, James Hardie has
pledged a bulk donation of its building products to the California Office of
Emergency Services.
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