Orange County Grand Jury Report, Wood Roofs are Dangerous*

There is a lack of uniformity in local building codes involving roofs for identical environmental conditions within Orange County. The City acknowledges that there are differences between cities' Building Code requirements for the fire retardancy of roofing materials. This is because most Orange County cities have recognized that their own climatic and urban-wildland interface conditions require a level of fire safety in roof construction that exceed the requirements of the California Building Code Standards. Cities have adopted local Building Code amendments to address the specific hazards within their communities and to protect their communities in a manner they believe is appropriate. Mr. Frederick P. Horn May 13, 2003 of

The testing and qualification standards of wood shakes and shingles are below the environmental conditions of Orange County. The City relies on building code standards for the fire retardancy of roofing materials contained in the California Building Code Standards adopted by the State Building Standards Commission and the International Code Council (ICC) that are based on Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. specifications. The State Fire Marshal's Office has also reviewed testing of fire retardant-treated wood shakes and shingles and requires that they comply with ICC Evaluation Service Acceptance Criteria AC107 and the weathering requirements contained in State Health and Safety Code Section 13132.7 (j). Concerns regarding these standards should be addressed to the above agencies for response.

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. The City believes that it has adequately and responsibly addressed the local climatic and topographic conditions related to the fire safety issues related to wood roofs. The City recognizes that Santa Ana winds create the potential for conflagrations and that urban- wildland interface areas need special fire safety mitigation. For all new construction, the City requires a Class A rating for wood shake and shingle roofs in all areas of the City. For re-roofing applications, the City requires a Class A rating for wood shake and shingle roofs in Very High Fire Severity Areas and a Class B rating in other parts of the City. However, it should be noted that the same fire retardant treated shake or shingle is used as the roof covering in both the Class A and Class B roofing application. The City requires a minimum of a Class B fire rating for other roofing materials for all types of occupancies, which meets and in most cases exceeds the requirements of the State Building Standards Code.

Fire conflagrations stress finite fire fighting resources especially during the period of Santa Ana winds. The City agrees with this finding. The Laguna Beach fire in 1993 threatened portions of our community and required mutual aid response from the State and federal level. Due to local Santa Ana wind conditions and urban-wildland interface areas in the City, the City has adopted codes and development standards to address these local fire safety concerns for not only wood roofs, but also for other elements of building construction. For example, the City's Building Code requires all buildings larger than 6,000 square feet, and all multifamily dwellings with 3 or more units, have an automatic fire sprinkler system - an important early fire suppression element that reduces the potential for multi- structure conflagrations. The City recognizes that these measures reduce – but do not entirely eliminate the potential for loss of life or property due to fire and therefore Mr. Frederick P. Horn May 13, 2003 actively participates in multi-agency emergency management planning. The Orange County Fire Authority provides fire department services for the City and should be contacted directly regarding specific information regarding fire fighting resources and planning for fire conflagration scenarios.