You probably have seen some of the devastating scenes of recent wildfires in southern California.
The first day we escaped the town, we were following the latest news about the wildfires on TV in our hotel room. In the midst of fear and anticipation one particular image was burnt into my memory, it was a scene of a standing fireplace on piles of ashes. Just like a war-torn flag in an empty battle field; Like an eyewitness, it was telling the world of the bravery and brutality that had happened there. The brick fireplace was declaring to the world that there stood a home not too long ago!
It was also telling the world something else, something very simple and basic! That I, "The Brick", can survive the wildest of wildfires while my rival "The Wood" can not!
So I wondered, in an area that is threatened by wildfires for about 5 months out of a year (due to low humidity and hot winds blowing from the deserts), why do home developers and urban planners insist on building wood-frame houses?
Sure there are many advantages to a frame house, but there are as many to one built of bricks! I am not a civil engineer and don't have much expertise in this field, but seems that the main reason that homes are built of wood in this area is that the Pacific Coast is an earthquake prone region and it is believed that a wood-frame house flexes with earth movement thus survives the quake (although a study in university of Buffalo, NY somewhat begs to differ: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6487930).
But, are wildfires less dangerous than earthquakes?
Generally speaking, there is some time to escape the fire. Experts can predict where the fire is going towards and they evacuate the area in advance and save lives. Earthquakes, on the other hand, happen fast and without any warning, that makes them more dangerous. Nevertheless, for affected individuals the monetary damage of a fire is far greater than earthquakes. If one survives a quake, one can still find valuables and belongings between the rubbles. But, nothing survives in a fire! Except for a brick fireplace!
Looking at some scientific data about the earthquake areas, it is evident that south western corner of California is far from the earthquake fault line. And because the ground is fractured in this part of the world, the chances of quakes transmitting to this area are little. But wildfires happen almost every year in this area and once every few years one of them becomes a mega fire, like the one we just had.
So until scientist and engineers can find a building material that is economical and can survive both fire and earthquake, why not make homes out of something that can at least survive the fire, like hmm, bricks!
