Some rules have been waived to encourage the swift replacement of burned-out homes. Fire experts say it’s critical that new homes be resilient to future risk.
I guess ‘tinderbox’ has a more literal application to building materials, I meant it more metaphorically…
From the article:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order on Monday to ease rebuilding nearly 3,000 houses destroyed in Pacific Palisades. The order suspends an ordinance that would have required replacement homes to be all-electric, which would have greatly reduced the use of natural gas in a high-risk fire zone.
I’d dunno if nat gas cooking fires are more or less likely than electrical cooking fires, or exactly how common home nat gas caused vs home electrical failure caused fires are, but I am fairly sure a nat gas leak caused explosion is not something that can be caused by a home electrical carastrophe.
Gas lines are buried underground, but in a fast-moving wildfire, if a gas line inside the house connected to an appliance breaks, that “could intensify a particular structure fire,” according to Alan Murray, a professor and principal investigator at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Wildfire Resilience Initiative. “Coupled with high winds, this is not good.”
Also, in an absolute disaster, failure of infrastructure maintenance scenario, nat gas lines themselves can ignite and explode. It’s happened before.
Also nat gas is a fossil fuel, electrical power at least has the possibility of being generated by something that doesn’t contribute to the chance of wildfires going up.
On Thursday he announced an executive order fast-tracking approval of temporary housing, such as accessory dwelling units and trailers, that can be placed on burned properties so residents can return.
I’m not 100% certain, but I’d be willing to bet ADUs don’t have as stringent safety requirements as actual, proper, zoned as a home or apartment or condo… and these are being fast tracked, which usually means even less due dilligence.
Competition for contractors, laborers and materials could further drive up the cost of rebuilding. “If we’re looking to rebuild in a sustainable, resilient way, the number of contractors that know how to do this is 1% to 2% and they’re going to get booked up,” said Ben Stapleton, executive director of the US Green Building Council California. “That market is going to be completely busy for the next three to four years.”
Pacific Palisades resident Steve Kalb, a retired entertainment industry lawyer, said he’s determined to rebuild but acknowledges the cost could be prohibitive for longtime residents who bought their homes decades ago. Places like Pacific Palisades may “become even more of an enclave for the super-rich,” he said.
Yeah, this is a subsidy to rich people so they can quickly rebuild their mansions by ignoring some modern building standards, I bet all the wagies in Altadena aren’t going to get any such favors.
Yes, you’re correct that the new homes have to be built properly with fireproof cladding and materials, but rich people get to ignore other climate and safety minded regulations, and get placed first in line for access to the small number of contractors that know how to build up to modern codes that do still apply to them.
… Which may or may not be negated by their old school, nat gas appliances going up in flames when the next wildfire gives LA a bearhug.
The point of not burning gas is to avoid the CO2 released when it burns, and the inevitable leakage of ~3% of the methane from the distribution system. This helps to limit the amount of warming we get, which reduces fire risk.
They are not waiving the building code requirements that make newer structures fire-resistant.
I guess ‘tinderbox’ has a more literal application to building materials, I meant it more metaphorically…
From the article:
I’d dunno if nat gas cooking fires are more or less likely than electrical cooking fires, or exactly how common home nat gas caused vs home electrical failure caused fires are, but I am fairly sure a nat gas leak caused explosion is not something that can be caused by a home electrical carastrophe.
Also, in an absolute disaster, failure of infrastructure maintenance scenario, nat gas lines themselves can ignite and explode. It’s happened before.
Also nat gas is a fossil fuel, electrical power at least has the possibility of being generated by something that doesn’t contribute to the chance of wildfires going up.
I’m not 100% certain, but I’d be willing to bet ADUs don’t have as stringent safety requirements as actual, proper, zoned as a home or apartment or condo… and these are being fast tracked, which usually means even less due dilligence.
Yeah, this is a subsidy to rich people so they can quickly rebuild their mansions by ignoring some modern building standards, I bet all the wagies in Altadena aren’t going to get any such favors.
Yes, you’re correct that the new homes have to be built properly with fireproof cladding and materials, but rich people get to ignore other climate and safety minded regulations, and get placed first in line for access to the small number of contractors that know how to build up to modern codes that do still apply to them.
… Which may or may not be negated by their old school, nat gas appliances going up in flames when the next wildfire gives LA a bearhug.
The point of not burning gas is to avoid the CO2 released when it burns, and the inevitable leakage of ~3% of the methane from the distribution system. This helps to limit the amount of warming we get, which reduces fire risk.