Homes That Survived

Plants burned but the house did not. A retaining wall and a sidewalk surround the house.

Although the damage from L.A. fires is immense, not every home was lost in neighborhoods that burned.

Homes that did not burn in Palisades Highlands subdivision often were surrounded by a 5-foot zone that was clear of any vegetation.

That’s a pattern noticed by Contra Costa Fire Marshall Chris Bachman while he was in the Pacific Palisades area helping to coordinate the return of more than 20,000 people who had been evacuated. It took about two weeks to check the condition of homes and gradually allow people to return. While Bachman was there, he took about 300 photos.

Bachman gave a presentation on Feb. 10 to the West Contra Costa Fire Safe Council advisory board.

Besides having a clear 5-foot vegetation-free zone, another factor he noticed was that surviving homes tended to be newer and to have met stricter construction standards. For instance, he saw one home where the first pane of a double-paned window had cracked, but the second pane remained intact and kept fire from entering.

Evaluation of all the factors that affected the fires will take time.

Meanwhile, Bachman shared photos of homes that show compliance with the 5-foot zone zero rule that is currently being developed at the state level. (See related story at….)

The fire burned trees but not the house.

This home was untouched by fire while the house next door was destroyed.

Bachman also shared a map of the higher-density Pacific Palisades neighborhood closer to downtown, where houses were closer together and virtually all of them burned. The occasional house that survived generally was newer, Bachman said.