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4. Consider the potential for fire After the Oakland Hills fire of 1991, there is no doubt that the potential for fre in our region can be great and that landscaping is a critical factor. Understanding the topography, fuel and local weather are critical to designing and maintaining a landscape that reduces the potential for loss to fre. Plant selection is also very important to reducing the fuel load and avoiding fire ladders. Some species "pyrophites" - ignite readily and burn intensely. Dense vegetation in hedges, screens or espaliers can be a fire hazard because the competition for limited water, nutrients and space results in a large amount of dry twiggy material. For sites adjacent to fre-sensitive slopes, open space or wildland: Create a Fire Mitigation Plan that identifies adjacent fire-sensitive wildland or open space or developments, exposure to prevailing winds during the dry season, steep slopes (especially south and west facing that can increase wind speed and convey heat), and vegetation type (particularly species that burn readily). Specify mitigations to these fre vectors, including the establishment of a "defensible zone" immediately surrounding the structure, that use one or more strategies for f rescaping, such as: • Emphasize plants with low fuel volume and/or high moisture content in planting plans. • Avoid plants with high oil content or that tend to accumulate excessive dead wood or debris (pyrophites). • Assure that trees are well-spaced and pruned to 6 feet minimum above ground, and that dense shrub plantings are separate from trees, to minimize fuel ladders. • Plant trees and tall shrubs where limbs and branches will not reach the building or grow under overhangs as they mature. • Avoid fnely shredded bark mulch. • Face and construct decks out of f re-resistant materials. ^ Contact the local f re department for assistance in understanding the fre risk at a particular site and for additional guidance in reducing that risk, particularly for sites at the urban- wildland interface. Landscapes can be designed to reduce the f re hazard, with a clearer under- standing of the risks, proper design and choice of plants. Fire-Resistant Plants "I think of each garden as an organism. That means reducing inputs and not exporting things, keeping as much of the resources -like water, energy, plants, food - on-site as possible. -Christopher Shein, Owner, Wildheart Gardens, Oakland ^ Most are broadleaf deciduous trees but some thick-leaf evergreens are also f re-resistant. ^ Leaves tend to be supple, moist and easily crushed. ^ Trees tend to be clean, not bushy, and have little deadwood. ^ Shrubs are low-growing (2') with minimal dead material. ^ Tall shrubs are clean, not bushy. ^ Sap is water-like and typically does not have a strong odor. SOURCE: R. MORITZ AND P. SVIHRA, PYROPHYTIC VS FIRE RESISTANT PLANTS, UCCE. b ~.+. ti ~ ~. ~"~., .~. ~ ~ fD ti y 15 Results of the 1991 Oakland Hills fire.