“Like I said; you do what you want to do, I’ll do what I was trained to do and keep my property safe.”
I am not taking issue with your prescription for keeping your property clear. But the fact of the matter is (and we were just looking at an arial view of the neighborhood in Santa Rosa that was completely destroyed, there is just no way any “clearing” could have prevented that devastation. In a suburban neighborhood you don’t have the ability to clear 300 ft around your home. We were in Napa Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and it’s the wind that caused it all.
I already commented about front spotting and fire jumping lines; it doesn’t alter the fact that somebody, not necessarily the home owners, did not do their job on the hazard reduction required around built up areas at the urban/wildland interface.
On the Angeles NF in 68, the Liebre/Canyon fire started in the upper Big Tujunga, in less than 12 hours we lost 150,000 acres and we were cutting line in the cities of La Crescenta, Sunland, and Tujunga.
That fire started miles away from any homes or buildings.
Back then; shake, shingle and asphalt shingle roofs were the big thing, most contractors did not learn their lessons then, and they still don’t recognize the danger.
All three of the homes I own have metal roofs with the eaves boxed in with metal trim.
Some of the architectural styles in metal roofing have come a long way in the last 20 years.
Still doesn’t mean they won’t burn in a hot enough run, I just try to lessen the chances.