Orange County Grand Jury • 2002-2003 • Agency Response
Response to: Wood Roofs Are Dangerous 02/10/03, 90K

City of Dana Point City Council William L. Ossenmacher Mayor Joe Snyder April 23, 2003 Måvor Prof Tem Russ Chilton*

Published: April 23, 2003 2 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 4 findings

F1
There is a lack of uniformity in local building codes involving roofs for identical environmental conditions within Orange County. City's response: Based on Table 3, of the Grand Jury report, it is apparent that there is a lack of uniformity relative to the application of residential roofing requirements in Orange County. Therefore, the City of Dana Point agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The testing and qualification standards of wood shakes and shingles are below the environmental conditions of Orange County. City's response: The burning brand test (12 mph) and the flying brand test (18 mph) do not adequately simulate the conditions in Orange County during high Santa Ana wind conditions. Therefore, the City of Dana Point agrees with this finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Each responding jurisdictional agency should consider amending the building code to require the most fire retardant class of roof covering (Class A) for re-roofing of all residential structures (Group R) in all fire zones, when more than 50 percent of the roof is replaced within one year. The City of Dana Point concurs with this recommendation. The City plans to adopt an Ordinance to change Table 15-A of the California Building Code (CBC). Currently, the City requires all roofing to be under Class A. However, re-roofs and additions may continue under Class B status. In concurrence with the Grand Jury's recommendation, the City proposes to change the language for re- roofs and additions to the following: "Class A roof assemblies shall be required for re-roofing and additions on all residential structures when more than 50 percent of the roof is replaced or added onto within a one year period. All other re-roofs and additions shall have minimum Class B roof assemblies." Again, we thank the Grand Jury for addressing this important issue. The Grand Jury's attention to wood roofing has allowed us to better understand the potential fire dangers associated with wood roofs. Sincerely, William L. Ossenmacher Mayor of Dana Point Members of the Dana Point City Council cc: Douglas C. Chotkevys, City Manager Genia Garcia, Acting Director of Community Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F3
The cities' and county's roofing codes do not adequately take into account the climate, particularly the Santa Ana winds, and topographical conditions unique to Orange County. 33282 Golden Lantern, Dana Point, CA 92629 • (949) 248-3500 • FAX (949) 248-9920 Internet: www.danapoint.org April 28, 2003 City response: Not all cities and the county have roofing codes to adequately take into account the climate and topographical conditions. However, the City of Dana Point has codified more restrictive requirements than most Orange County cities and the county to deal with local climatic and topographical conditions. Therefore, the City of Dana Point generally agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Fire conflagrations stress finite fire fighting resources especially during the period of Santa Ana winds. City Response: Santa Ana winds present an extreme problem that impact the fire fighting capabilities of all Orange County fire fighters. Wood roofs have been shown to be a product that contributes to fueling fires fanned by Santa Ana winds. Therefore, the City of Dana Point agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.