Lines of defense

PAUL and Danielle Morra are well aware of the perilous wildfires that can roar across the wind-swept mountains and canyons of Malibu. But like others drawn to that slice of paradise, the couple couldn’t resist the solitude and the views, so they’re building their dream house out of fireproof materials and logs on a hilltop there. Yes, logs.

Crazy? Maybe not.

They’re installing an indoor sprinkler system, mandatory in unincorporated Malibu, and using cement-shingle siding instead of cedar on the exterior. Their roof material has a top fireproof rating, and an engineer is designing their landscaping with fire safety in mind. To top it off, the couple had the wood framing and other vulnerable spots on the interior and exterior of the 4,000-square-foot home -- which features log rafters and lots of windows -- sprayed with the latest fire retardants at a cost of about $7,000.

In the midst of a record-dry year, some Southern California owners and builders are turning to a new generation of fire retardants in hopes of saving their homes in a blaze or at least buying time to safely evacuate. Firefighters and building-safety officials applaud any attempt to make homes safer, especially following the recent Griffith Park and Catalina Island fires.

“If these products can keep the exterior of homes from catching fire, or retard the spread of fire on the exteriors, that’s a plus for homeowners,” said John Todd, chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s forestry division. In Los Angeles County, there were 874 home fires last year.

The latest weapon in the fire-safety arsenal is No-Burn Wood Gard, a spray-on, nontoxic fire retardant offered by No Burn of California, a Rowland Heights-based company (www.noburnca.com). The retardant, which is applied during the framing stage, can be tinted so the technician can make sure that every nook and cranny is covered. It slows the spread of flames, especially those caused by electrical shorts inside walls or in spaces with access to the framing, said the company’s chief executive, Bob Heinrich.

Retardants are not used exclusively on new construction. Although No Burn of California’s NB Plus, an interior latex paint, can be used as a base primer on new wood, it also can be tinted to match a finish coat on existing structures.

When it’s exposed to heat or flame, it creates a char barrier, providing protection and shielding underlying materials from heat and fire. No Burn also offers products for application on interior furnishings and fabrics.

NB Plus is not the same as the compressed-air foam firefighters sometimes spray on vulnerable homes in the path of a raging inferno. Fire engines typically carry only a limited amount of the temporary retardant, said Devin Trone, Los Angeles County Fire Department battalion chief, fire prevention division.

No Burn costs about $1.50 per square foot of floor space -- that includes the surrounding walls and ceilings. Treatment of a 2,000-square-foot, one-story home ranges from $600 to $1,000, depending on how many other products are used. The company also offers mold and termite protection.

Other companies nationwide provide similar services. Flame Stop Inc. (www.flamestop.com) offers flame-retardant and fireproofing products for interior and exterior woods, Formica and fabrics. National Fireproofing Inc. (www.natfire.com) sells nontoxic retardants for furnishings and fabrics and exterior coating designed to last for five to 10 years.

Reviews pending

Because the testing process of new consumer products is lengthy and this generation of retardants is relatively new, product- and public-safety organizations such as Underwriters Laboratories, the international company that tests products for public safety, and the International Code Council, have not completed their reviews yet.

No Burn products have, however, undergone and received high ratings from tests conducted at Washington-based Western Fire Center, an independent laboratory.

“These could be the best thing since sliced bread,” said Jim Tidwell, a senior vice president of the International Code Council, which writes public codes, standards and health regulations. “But you can’t just spray your house and think you don’t have to worry.”

Some of the older products washed off. Many home builders, however, are confident that using retardants can give homeowners time to evacuate a burning structure. And there are benefits for builders too.

“We’re using No-Burn to minimize our fire risk during construction and reduce our insurance costs,” said Sterling Lund, a Laguna Hills-based builder of multifamily homes. It adds value to homes in the long run, he said.

Midlands Insurance Services underwrites a nationwide program that offers policy discounts -- on average, about 25% -- to participating builders who use No Burn products during construction. Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.’ policyholders who use retardants do not get discounts, but the company in many cases will insure a house that might have been rejected otherwise.

Farmers Insurance Group, one of the nation’s largest companies, has yet to evaluate the product, but then will decide whether to give policyholders a discount, said Bill Matlock, an executive director for the Los Angeles market.

Until recently, residents in high-risk zones have depended solely on tried-and-true fire-safety methods: cutting back vegetation, enclosing eaves, installing fire-resistant roofs and interior fire sprinklers and keeping combustibles stored outside living spaces. Those strategies still are strongly recommended and often required by fire departments throughout Southern California.

It’s not if but when

For homeowners in high-risk areas, the more layers of protection, the better.

Morra, a 34-year-old television production executive, and wife Danielle, 32, are building their three-story, six-bedroom Malibu home on an acre-plus plot facing wild parkland.

Morra said he and his wife are “stressed about living in a fire zone” and know that facing a blaze is “not a matter of if but when.” Still, even given the risk, they couldn’t resist the wildlife and rustic beauty of the area.

January’s freeze and the year’s scant rainfall already have contributed to an early fire season.

Using the spray has bought them some peace of mind.

“We feel our house now has a shot at withstanding a wildfire,” Morra said.

Wildfires, however, are not the leading cause of residential fires. Most fires start inside the home, according to the National Fire Protection Assn.

The blaze that ravaged Bob Cumming’s condominium in Garden Grove was sparked by an electric fan that was plugged in but not running. The two-story condo required new framing upstairs as well as extensive work downstairs, which sustained major water damage. Three other units were also damaged.

On the recommendation of Garden Grove Building Services Manager Jim Martin, contractor Don O’Connell of ACI Inc. in Placentia had the wood in the refurbished structures sprayed with No-Burn Wood Gard. The treatment for both units cost $1,400.

Martin, who says the city does not require such spraying, urged its use on this job to meet the fire-code requirements for attached housing without having to take the building down to the studs. He and others on the front line of building safety are optimistic about the future of fire-retardant sprays.

“If I were building a house from scratch,” said Orange County Fire Capt. Mark Grundman, “I would put it in my house, for my family’s sake.”

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diane.wedner@latimes.com

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Costly residential fires often begin within

Fast-moving wildfires make headlines, especially in this record dry year. But wildfires are not the leading cause of residential fires, which last year resulted in $49.7 million worth of damage in L.A. County. Here is a list of the top culprits, based on national annual averages from 2000 to 2004:

* Cooking equipment: 32%

* Heating equipment, including confined chimneys and flues: 16%

* Intentional fires: 5%

* Candles: 4%

* Smoking materials: 4%

* Other fires, which could include wildfires: 4%

* Confined or contained trash fires: 4%

* Electrical or lighting: 3%

* Washer or dryer: 2%

-- Diane Wedner

Source: National Fire Protection Assn., www.nfpa.org.