County to Draft Ordinance Restricting Wood Roofs

In an effort to prevent the type of fire damage that devastated Glendale and Santa Barbara last summer, Los Angeles County supervisors Thursday ordered the drafting of an ordinance that fire officials say would outlaw new wood roofs in unincorporated hillside neighborhoods.

Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman, who proposed the ban, said it would apply to about a fourth of the county’s 4,093 square miles, including parts of the Santa Monica Mountains and hilly areas in the San Fernando, San Gabriel, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. The ordinance would apply only to new construction or replacement of 25% of an existing roof.

Although the measure does not specifically ban wood, Freeman said that shake and shingle roofs would not meet the requirement that new roofs be able to “withstand severe fire exposure.”

A representative of the wood roof industry said that shake roofs can meet the requirement if they are treated with a fire retardant and supported by two layers of plywood and one layer of fireproof plasterboard. “That will become a very expensive proposition and one that people would be reluctant to pursue,” said Fred Cook, a spokesman for the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau.

Fire officials blamed wood roofs, in part, for the destruction caused by the Santa Barbara and Glendale fires. The Santa Barbara fire destroyed 500 homes and the Glendale blaze claimed 46 residences.

The Los Angeles City Council last year banned new wood roofs throughout the city, but the industry has gone to court in a bid to overturn the law.

Paul Blackburn, a deputy fire chief, said that county fire officials are not proposing a ban on wood roofs in flatlands because “fire exposure is not as severe” as in the brush-covered hills. The board’s conservative majority has resisted a countywide ban as costly to homeowners and unnecessary.

Supervisor Pete Schabarum told Freeman at the board meeting last month, “Your representation of this new requirement being the solution to the fire in Santa Barbara is, in my judgment, plain nonsense.”

Schabarum joined the 4-0 vote to order drafting of the measure.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich said he is persuaded that “aesthetically attractive fireproof roofs are now available at a competitive price.”

Deputy Fire Chief Paul Blackburn said the proposed ordinance is “not going to ensure total protection from wildfire, but it is going to greatly increase a home’s chances of survival.”