On the evening of October 8, 2017, the Tubbs and Atlas Fires burned through communities in Sonoma and Napa Counties. More than 6,400 buildings, primarily residential structures, were lost in these fires. In addition to these two fires, nine other significant fires started between October 8th and 9th in Northern California. In the end, there were 44 deaths, over 8,800 structures destroyed or damaged, and over 228.000 acres burned. Of these eleven fires, four rank in the top 20 most destructive fires in the history of California in terms of the number of structures lost. Since 2017, additional fire activity in California has produced four more fires ranking among the 20 most destructive in history. The intent of this paper is to relay lessons learned in the aftermath of the fire storm to better prepare design professionals to assist communities recovering from future fires. Following the initial shock of evacuation and review of property damage, the pressing issue for homeowners became the decision to either opt into the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) site cleanup program or to pursue private cleanup. The fire damaged homesites required removal of debris and hazardous materials to ensure no additional contaminants were introduced into the environment, as well as stabilization of site materials before rebuilding could begin. Before decisions could be made regarding cleanup, standards for review of the foundations needed to be developed. Because the Cal OES cleanup intended to remove all foundations not critical for slope stability, the structural viability of foundation reuse had to be balanced with the cost of private site cleanup satisfying Cal OES requirements and the homeowner's insurance coverage. This paper presents the challenges faced during rebuilding in a community displaced. They included potential reuse of existing fire damaged foundations, updated geotechnical reports, current code upgrades, property line setbacks, Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) design requirements, cost of construction, availability of labor and insurance coverage. Wildfire impacts to communities are increasing due to fuel load density in areas where residential developments have expanded into WUI areas. These lessons learned can benefit other communities responding in a post-emergency event.
展开▼
