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Task force discusses pros and cons of fire gel incentives

Fire-retardant gel has helped save significant numbers of homes in the path of past wildfires, and on January 25 the county’s Task Force on Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services discussed whether to pursue legislation to provide incentives for homeowners to purchase such fire gels.

“I don’t have any predisposed opinion,” said County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who is also the chair of the Task Force on Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services.

Jacob noted that a homeowner could buy those gels for between $300 and $400 and wondered if it was possible to provide incentives for homeowners to purchase those gels. Jacob felt that incentives would allow for a voluntary program. “It would be the individual decision of the homeowner,” she said.

Kevin Dubler, the fire chief of the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District, informed the task force of a Julian-area homeowner who applied the gel prior to being evacuated during the 2002 Pines Fire. The evacuation lasted for several days and the gel stuck to the house while the fire didn’t spread to within two miles of the residence.

“This stuff has to be washed off in 24 to 36 hours in order to come off cleanly,” Dubler said. “It’s kind of a last-minute, just before the fire deal.”

The homeowner was forced to refurbish the house’s exterior. “It beats buying a new building,” Dubler said.

“There’s not just one product that’s out there,” said North County Fire Protection District fire chief Bill Metcalf. “Each one of them has its pros and cons.”

Most of the gels also have a shelf life of approximately five years and must be replaced in order to be effective.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection division chief Dave Nissen warns that homeowners shouldn’t get in front of advancing flames even with a gel. “It’s not an extinguishing gel,” he said.

Craig Williams, the public affairs officer of the County Service Area which provides fire protection to Campo, fears that a fire department might be liable if gel is obtained from a fire department and fails to protect a structure.

Ralph Steinhoff, who shares the County of San Diego’s fire services coordinator duties, noted that some government programs provide money to fire agencies to purchase the gel. “That seemed to be very effective,” he said.

Steinhoff is under the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use, which is working on a post-incident analysis of the October 2007 fires.

One of the areas of that analysis will be why buildings in the path of the fires were saved, and Steinhoff said that destruction of homes within the fire perimeters declined by 50 percent in comparison to the October 2003 fires.

Steinhoff also indicated that within the next six weeks a retrofit product for vents is expected to be on the market.

 

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