Berkeley stands by strict rules for fire-safe homes as inspections ramp up

Berkeley’s ember-resistance ordinances took effect Jan. 1 and are expected to be enforced by the Berkeley Fire Department next month. The local rules require keeping the first five feet around structures, outbuildings, and attached decks or stairs free of burnable material, including clearing areas underneath decks and stairs. Exceptions allow smaller potted plants and certain mature trees that are taller than adjacent structures and trimmed away from buildings. California’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection proposed regulations that would allow more planting within the safety zone, using a variable clearance distance. Berkeley’s enforcement has so far occurred only at homeowners’ requests, while debate continues between supporters and opponents, including a recall campaign targeting a City Council member who championed the rules.

"The main thrust of Berkeley's new restrictions is to keep the first 5 feet around any structures, outbuildings or attached decks or stairs and in the cases of decks and stairs, the areas underneath them free of anything that could burn. The rules make exceptions for smaller potted plants, as well as mature trees that are taller than adjacent structures and trimmed away from buildings."

"Berkeley Fire Department Wildland Urban Interface intern Zelda Vriand clears vegetation touching a house in the Berkeley Hills during a clean-up event in April. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for Berkeleyside A state fire policy board has rolled out a new set of proposed ember-proofing regulations that would be more lenient than the rules Berkeley adopted last year requiring residents in two hillside neighborhoods to remove nearly all vegetation from the 5 feet surrounding their homes."

"The Effective Mitigation for Berkeley's Ember Resistance (EMBER) ordinances took effect Jan. 1, and enforcement was expected to begin this month. But the inspections BFD has done so far this year have all been at homeowners' requests, according to Assistant Fire Chief Colin Arnold, who leads the department's wildland urban interface division."

"California's Board of Forestry and Fire Protection last month proposed allowing more plants within zone zero than Berkeley's ordinances. The board's closely watched draft regulations would mandate a variable safety zone around homes where nothing could be planted: 1 foot around homes and under eaves; 2 feet from"

Read at www.berkeleyside.org