Wildland Urban Interface Committee: Southern Division

Co-chairs:

Rolland Crawford

25541 Barton Road

Loma Linda, CA 92354

(909) 519-7340

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Don Oaks

2650 Latigo Drive

Solvang, CA 93463

(805) 688-1121

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Committees’ activities continued to focus on code development and training during 2009. The implementation of Chapter 7a in the California Building Code (CBC) and the parallel evolution of the International Code Council (ICC) produced numerous requests for interpretation as well as requests for educational presentations, most of which were set up by the Office of the Sate Fire Marshal (OSFM).

The Committee continues to be very active in code and standards development with Co-chair Rolland Crawford sitting on the ICC Fire Code Committee and Co-chair Don Oaks sitting on the newly created WUI ASTM E5.14 Committee and associated Task Force efforts. Both Co-chairs participated in the ICC effort in Baltimore. Both Co-chairs were active in the rewrite of CBC Chapter 7a, which will soon go before the California Building Standards Commission.

During the coming year we will continue the legislative and training/education effort, in general, and particularly with respect to the development of a comprehensive WUI Code package for California.

The Committee directed additional time and energy to the improvement of attic and eave vent design, and to lesser extent, the problem of deck design and materials. Members developed and presented the WUI track at the annual California Fire Prevention Institute (CFPI) Workshop, including a presentation by well-known USFS Fire Scientist, Jack Cohen. Committee members continue to participate in the effort sponsored by San Diego County to develop a document for evaluation of fire protection planning, with particular focus on integration with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines. The Committee is experimenting with teleconferencing systems for our regular meetings, which should allow participation by a much larger percentage of the membership. Committee members were actively involved in the investigations and fact findings associated with the 2009 southern California firestorms, and will be sharing the product of those efforts at the March 2010 CFPI in Buellton. This up-coming CFPI program will feature Chris Dicus, Ph.D., a wildland fire and fuel management specialist from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, who was in Australia, working within the their Federal fire organization during the 2009 firestorm.

The Committee continues to serve the California Fire Chiefs Association – California Fire Prevention Officers (CFCA CFPO) and community at large as a brokerage and clearing house for new techniques and technologies with respect to issues associated with WUI.