The Berkeley Fire Department has intensified its enforcement of fire safety regulations, mandating homeowners in specific Berkeley Hills neighborhoods to create defensible spaces around their properties. Homeowners have eight months to clear a 5-foot fire-protection buffer to mitigate wildfire risks. These newly established buffer zones, known as Zone 0, aim to protect structures from flames intensified by embers during high winds. The regulations outline strict requirements regarding the removal of combustible materials and emphasize that incomplete compliance does not improve fire resilience proportionately.
Establishing buffer zones around homes, colloquially referred to as Zone 0, is meant to prevent homes from going up in flames when winds hurl embers beyond a wildfire's fireline.
Defensible space is not a proportional endeavor, but an all-or-nothing one... Doing half of the ember hardening or defensible space required does not translate to a 50% increase in resilience.
Collection
[
|
...
]